''Resort to Murder'' is a five-part British television

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, written and created by

Tony McHale Tony McHale (born Anthony John Wright, Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire) is a British actor, screenwriter, writer, television director, director and producer, who is known for starring in ''Coronation Street'' and also known as a "stooge" to J ...

, first 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 ...

on 27 July 1995. The series, directed by Bruce MacDonald, follows Joshua Penny (

Ben Chaplin Benedict John Greenwood (born 31 July 1969),''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com better known as Ben Chaplin, is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in films, including '' Feast of Ju ...

), a post-graduate student whose mother, Harriet, is herself murdered after having been the sole eyewitness to another murder. The series is set in and around

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. ''Resort to Murder'' was first commissioned as an eight-part series in 1991 under the working title of ''Brighton Boy'', and took over two years for writer Tony McHale to complete. In 1993, then-head of drama at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, Charles Denton, green-lighted the series and awarded it a £4.5 million budget. The series was filmed over the course of 17 weeks from September to December 1993. Several members of the cast were hand-picked by McHale. After shooting completed, producer Barry Hanson arranged a viewing of all eight episodes for executive producer

Michael Wearing Michael Howard Wearing (12 March 1939 – 5 May 2017) was a British television producer, who spent much of his career working on drama productions for the BBC. He is best known as the producer of the well received serials ''Boys from the Blackstuff ...

, and both concluded following the viewing that "the series just didn't work." Then controller of

Alan Yentob Alan Yentob (11 March 1947 – 24 May 2025) was an English television executive and presenter. He held senior roles at the BBC, including head of music and arts, controller of BBC1 and BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadca ...

, was later invited to a viewing of a director's cut of the first three episodes, heavily reworked by Wearing and Hanson. Yentob reportedly told them "he did not want such rubbish on his channel". Director Bruce MacDonald was then sacked from the project by Yentob, and the series was re-worked into five episodes, with writer McHale heavily involved in the editing process. More than eighteen months after completion, the series was finally listed for transmission on 27 July 1995, with episodes airing at 10pm on Thursdays. The series has never been released on VHS or DVD, although a soundtrack to the series was released via Debonair Records on 7 August 1995.

Cast

as Joshua Penny *

Steven Waddington Steven Waddington (born 30 December 1967) is an English film and television actor. He is best known for his starring role as the title role of Derek Jarman's '' Edward II'' and supporting role in Michael Mann's ''The Last of the Mohicans''. E ...

as Neville Ilingworth *

Kelly Hunter Kelly Hunter (born 21 July 1963) is a British film, television, radio, stage and musical actress, a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. She is a Laurence Olivier Award nominee and Radio Academy Award and TMA Awa ...

as Lucy Chapman * Mairead McKinley as Tracey/Adrienne Saunders *

Peter Firth Peter Macintosh Firth (born 27 October 1953) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Sir Harry Pearce in the BBC One programme '' Spooks''; he is the only actor to have appeared in every episode of the programme's ten-series lif ...

as Peter Dennigan *

Robert Pugh Robert Pugh (born 3 November 1948) is a Welsh actor, known for his many television appearances, including the role of Craster in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones''. Life and career Pugh was born in Tyntetown, Mountain Ash and attended Ynysbo ...

as Danny McCrae * David Daker as Sam Penny *

Neil Stuke Neil Robert Stuke ( ; born 22 February 1966 in Deal, Kent) is an English actor best known for his role of Matthew in the TV sitcom '' Game On'' and more recently for playing Billy Lamb in the BBC legal drama ''Silk''. Career Stuke played Matth ...

as Lee “Skins” Skinner *

Nigel Terry Peter Nigel Terry (15 August 1945 – 30 April 2015) was an English stage, film, and television actor, typically in historical and period roles. He played Prince John in Anthony Harvey's film '' The Lion in Winter'' (1968) and King Arthur in ...

as Kepler *

Brett Fancy Brett Fancy (born 4 January 1964 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England) is an English film, TV, and theatre actor. Early life Born and raised in Portsmouth, he is the son of Brian Fancy, a HMNB Portsmouth dockyard worker. Fancy attended Horndea ...

as The Leveller * John Gillett as David Rossler * John Stahl as DI Reed *

Sean Gilder Sean Brian Gilder (born 1 March 1964) is an English stage, film and screen actor and playwright. Gilder was born in Brampton, Cumberland, England. He is best known for his portrayal of Styles on '' Hornblower'' and Paddy Maguire on '' Shamele ...

as PC/DC Graham * Eileen Nicholas as Harriet Penny

Episodes

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0112139, title=Resort to Murder 1995 British television series debuts 1995 British television series endings 1990s British drama television series 1990s British crime television series BBC television dramas 1990s British television miniseries British English-language television shows Television shows set in Sussex