''The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries'' is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

television series, broadcast on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

, which was adapted from nine of the novels by

Dame Ngaio Marsh Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh ( ; 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982) was a New Zealand writer. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Marsh is known as one of the "Queens of Crime", along with Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. S ...

, featuring the character Chief Inspector

Roderick Alleyn Roderick Alleyn (pronounced "Allen") is a fictional character who first appeared in 1934. He is the policeman hero of the 32 detective novels of Ngaio Marsh. Marsh and her gentleman detective belong firmly in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, ...

. The pilot episode was shown in 1990, with Simon Williams playing the part of Alleyn. Two series followed in 1993 and 1994, with

Patrick Malahide Patrick Gerald Duggan (born 24 March 1945), known professionally as Patrick Malahide, is a British actor of stage and screen. His acting credits include '' The New Avengers'' (1976), '' ITV Playhouse'' (1977), '' The Eagle of the Ninth'' (1977) ...

replacing Williams in the title role.

Premise

In the pilot episode, the character of Alleyn was played by Simon Williams.

William Simons Clifford William Cumberbatch Simons (17 November 1940 – 21 June 2019) was a Welsh actor best known for his role as PC Alf Ventress in '' Heartbeat'', a role he played from 1992 to 2010. Early life Simons was born on 17 November 1940 in Swansea ...

was cast as Alleyn's right-hand man and "

Dr Watson Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). " The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" (19 ...

", Detective Inspector Fox, and

Belinda Lang Belinda Lucy Lange Fraser (born 23 December 1953), known professionally as Belinda Lang, is an English actress. She starred as Kate in the BBC sitcom '' Dear John'', Liza in the ITV sitcom '' Second Thoughts'' (1991–94), and Bill Porter in t ...

starred as painter Agatha Troy, Alleyn's love interest. When a full series finally came to screen three years later, Simon Williams was unavailable, and the role of Alleyn was filled by

, while Simons and Lang reprised their roles. Over the course of two series, eight episodes were broadcast, each focusing on a separate novel in the series. Both Malahide series were released on DVD in 2007, via Acorn Media. In 2011, Acorn acquired the rights to the pilot, and in 2012, issued a repackaged version of the set containing the Williams pilot. This set was also released in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Unlike the original novels, whose first story takes place as early as 1934, after World War I, the pilot and thus all subsequent episodes take place after World War II, with "Artists in Crime" being set in late 1948.

Cast

* Simon Williams as Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn (pilot only) *

as Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn *

as Inspector Fox *

as Agatha Troy *

Tim Dutton Tim Dutton (born 1967) is a British stage, film, and television actor. Dutton's films include '' Darkness Falls'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), The Infiltrator (2016) and ''The Detonator''. He starred in the Academy Award and BAFTA n ...

as D.S. Bailey *

Sandy Welch Sandra Elizabeth "Sandy" Welch (born 6 December 1953 in Chester, Cheshire) is a British television writer and screenwriter. Career As a screenwriter, Welch has developed many serials for the BBC, including ''The Magnificent 7'', adaptations of ...

as D.C. Robinson *

Leslie Schofield Leslie Schofield (born 12 December 1938) is an English actor who is most famous in the UK for his role as Jeff Healy in the soap opera ''EastEnders'', which he played from 1997 to 2000. Early life Some of Schofield's earlier acting experienc ...

as A.C.C. Connors * Mark Penfold as Doctor Curtis *

Derek Benfield Derek Benfield (11 March 1926 – 10 March 2009) was a British playwright and actor. He was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, and educated at Bingley Grammar School. He was the author of the stage farce ''Running Riot'' and pla ...

as Alfred Belt * James Aitken as James

Episodes

Pilot (1990)

Series 1 (1993)

Series 2 (1994)

Syndication

The series aired in the United States on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

's '

Mystery! ''Mystery!'' is an anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston for PBS in the United States. The series was created as a mystery, police and crime drama spin-off of the PBS show ''Masterpiece Theatre''. From 1980 to 2007, ''Mystery!' ...

' and later on Amazon Prime.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Inspector Alleyn Mysteries, The 1990 British television series debuts 1994 British television series endings 1990s British drama television series Television shows based on British novels British detective television series 1990s British crime television series BBC mystery television shows British English-language television shows 1990s British mystery television series