''Anna Lee'' is a British

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

series, first broadcast on 10 January 1993, that ran for a total of six episodes on ITV. The series, loosely based on the detective novels of Liza Cody, starred Imogen Stubbs as the title character, alongside

Brian Glover Brian Glover (2 April 1934 – 24 July 1997) was an English actor and writer. He worked as a teacher and professional wrestler before commencing an acting career which included films, many roles on British television and work on the stage. His ...

, John Rowe, Peter Wight and Wil Johnson. The series was produced by Brian Eastman, in conjunction with

Carnival Films Carnival Film & Television Limited, trading as Carnival Films, is a British production company based in London, UK, founded in 1978. It has produced television series for all the major UK networks including the BBC, ITV (TV network), ITV, Chann ...

for

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...

. Following a single pilot episode, broadcast in 1993, London Weekend Television commissioned a full-length five-episode series, to be filmed later that year for broadcast in 1994. All six episodes were later broadcast in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on the A&E cable network. The series had a mostly different cast from the pilot, apart from Stubbs and Glover. Despite much detail being removed for the television adaptations, one of LWT's contributions to the series was the casting of Brian Glover; like his character Selwyn Price, Glover was an ex-professional wrestler, and his room full of wrestling posters seen in the series were in fact real posters featuring Leon Arras, the name Glover used when wrestling. Music for the series was provided by Anne Dudley, while the theme tune, "Sister, Sister", was performed by Luciana, who also appeared in the final episode. Despite all six episodes being adapted from their source books, considerable alterations were made for television, much to the dismay of writer Liza Cody. Reportedly, this prompted Cody to abandon writing any further ''Anna Lee'' books; as she had previously signed a contract with LWT to allow for any further books to be adapted for television.

Cast

* Imogen Stubbs as Anna Lee; a former policewoman now working as a private detective *

as Selwyn Price; an ex-wrestler who lives in Anna's apartment building * Michael Bryant/ John Rowe as Commander Martin Brierly; Anna's boss *

Ken Stott Kenneth Campbell Stott (born 19 October 1954) is a Scottish stage, television and film actor who won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1995 in the play ''Broken Glass (play), Broken Glass'' at Royal National Thea ...

/ Peter Wight as Bernie Schiller; a fellow detective * David Harewood/ Wil Johnson as Stevie Johnson; another fellow detective * Barbara Leigh-Hunt/ Sonia Graham as Beryl Doyle; Commander Brierly's secretary * Ceri Jackson as Ros Russell; a former police colleague, who is still on the force

Episodes

Pilot (1993)

Series (1994)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anna Lee (Tv Series) 1993 British television series debuts 1994 British television series endings 1990s British crime television series 1990s British drama television series ITV television dramas Television series by ITV Studios London Weekend Television shows British English-language television shows Television shows set in London Television shows set in Sussex