''The Aphrodite Inheritance'' is a BBC television series broadcast in 1979. The eight-part serial, written by

Michael J. Bird Michael J. Bird (31 October 1928, in London – 11 May 2001, in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire) was an English writer. In addition to several novels, he is best remembered for his television drama series for the BBC, usually set in the Mediterra ...

, followed his previous successful

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

-set series '' The Lotus Eaters'' and '' Who Pays the Ferryman?''. Whereas the two previous productions had been set and filmed in

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

, the action (and location filming) in ''The Aphrodite Inheritance'' took place in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

. The series starred

Peter McEnery Peter Robert McEnery (born 21 February 1940) is a retired English stage and film actor. Early life McEnery was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, to Charles and Ada Mary (née Brinson) McEnery. He was educated at Ellesmere College, Shropshire. ...

as a man visiting Cyprus to investigate the death of his brother and subsequently being drawn into a strange conspiracy, with the narrative twists of the serial employing various supernatural and mythological motifs. Other major cast members included Alexandra Bastedo,

Brian Blessed Brian Blessed (; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer. Blessed is known for portraying PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars'', Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of ''I, Claudius'', King Richard IV ...

, Paul Maxwell and

Stefan Gryff Stefan Gryff (5 May 1938 - 3 June 2017) was a Poland, Polish-Australian actor. He specialised in playing Poles, Russians, Greeks and other Mediterranean types. Gryff studied law at the University of Sydney and during his studies appeared in seve ...

Credits

Main cast

as David Collier * Alexandra Bastedo as Helene *

as Charalambos * Paul Maxwell as Eugene Hellman *

as Basileos *

Godfrey James Godfrey James (16 April 1931 – 29 October 2019) was an English actor. His film appearances include: '' Séance on a Wet Afternoon'' (1964), '' Witchfinder General'' (1968), '' The Oblong Box'' (1969), '' Cry of the Banshee'' (1970), '' The Bl ...

as Inspector Dimas * Tony Doyle as Martin Preece *William Wilde as Eric Morrison * Ray Jewers as Olsen * Karl Held as Travis

Crew

* Series Created & Written by:

* Produced by: Andrew Osborn * Directed by: Terence Williams (eps. 1-4) & Viktors Ritelis (eps. 5-8) * Designed by: Jon Pusey * Theme music composed by: George Kotsonis

Episodes

References

External links

Michael J. Bird Tribute Site

Review, pictures and clips from the show
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aphrodite Inheritance Aphrodite Inheritance, The

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion (emotion), passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman god ...

English-language television shows 1970s British drama television series