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Updated 3/8/11

Wycliffe

Detective Superintendent Wycliffe is a quiet brooding man. He is married and has two teenaged children, a son and daughter, who he rarely sees because of his job. Wycliffe has responsibility for a wide area in Cornwall and must spend many a lonely night in various inns and bed & breakfasts. The settings are interesting and add to the show. He is aided by his two primary assistants: DI Doug Kersey and DI Lucy Lane. They are also affected by this life on the road. As the series goes on, the relationship between Kersey and Lane becomes very interesting. I really like this program.

The series is based on novels by William John Burley. Charles Wycliffe is played by Jack Shepherd. Doug Kersey is played by Jimmy Yuill and Lucy Lane is played by Helen Masters. Jack Shepherd plays Wycliffe in an understated way. It reminds we of the way Michael Kitchen played Foyle in "Foyle's War".

1st Season -1994

(DVD set 1)

"The Four Jacks"

An archeology student is found shot in a small rented room. She has been working on the excavation of a ruin located on a local estate. She is not dead but the head wound is serious. Detective Superintendent Wycliffe is called in to investigate. When it is discovered that the girl may have been engaged in intimate activities either during or just before the crime, the framework for possible motives begins to develop. The investigation has hoarding begun when a man is found shot to death on a near by beach. The same type of car was seen near the sites for both crimes. Are the crimes related?

"The Dead Flautist"

An estate manager is found dead in his cottage. It is an apparent suicide. Detective Superintendent Wycliffe begins his investigation. An analysis of the gunshot wound indicates that the victim did not kill himself. Wycliffe and his team are in the process of interviewing everyone the victim knew or had any interaction with when they discover that one of the people they wanted to speak with has disappeared. Wycliffe feels the missing person may be another victim. The relationships been the victim, possible victims and suspects turn out to be very sordid.

"The Scapegoat"

A local undertaker goes missing around the time of an annual ritual. A wheel is decorated and a dummy is attached to the wheel. The dummy is known as the "scapegoat". The wheel is set ablaze and rolled into the sea. One of the local revelers claims the face on the dummy resembled the missing man. Shortly after Detective Superintendent Wycliffe begins his investigation, the missing mans clothes are found on the farm where the wheel was built. The farm is owned by a man who did not get along with the undertaker.

"The Tangled Web"

Detective Superintendent Wycliffe receives a call that an elderly woman's body has been found in a freezer. A young mildly retarded man who was also a relative has gone missing. As the investigation begins, Wycliffe also wants to interview a teenage girl who had been visiting and helping the elderly victim. She is also a relative and she is also missing.

"The Last Rites"

A woman is found bludgeon to death in a church and her body is positioned in front of the alter. As Wycliffe begins his investigation, he becomes aware that the woman was known to be very promiscuous and was not well liked in the village. She was especially disliked by a group of self-righteous fundamentalist Christians. Was the murder committed by a member of this group or was jealousy resulting from of one of the victim's numerous affairs the motive?

"The Pea Green Boat"

A boat explodes and sinks killing the owner. It is quickly determined that the boat was destroyed by a bomb. His wayward son is immediately suspected. However, Wycliffe's investigation turns up many possible motives including: The victim's refusal to sell property to a local developer; The victim's relationships with his wife and partner. A possible ongoing blackmail of victim. Wycliffe and his team have a lot to sort out to solve the crime.

2nd Season -1995

(DVD set 2)

"All for Love"

A convicted killer escapes while being transported to another prison. The man had been convicted of killing his wife and her lover. He uses a fake pistol to facilitate his escape. Wycliffe is sure he had inside help and that the escape was well planned. The prisoner is considered violent and within days of the escape a murder is committed. Wycliffe has to find the answer to many questions fast: Who helped the man escape? What was the relationship between the prisoner and the murder victim? Does the man intend to kill others?

"The Trojan Horse"

A woman is kidnapped and within days a ransom note is received threatening to kill her if a ransom demand is not met. The victim and her husband own a riding stable and the woman had planned to ride in a local race. The obvious motive for the kidnapping is money; however, could the real reason be to keep the woman from riding in the race?

"Charades"

A couple arrives at their country home to find a dead man that their back door. Wycliffe discovers during the investigation that some of the people in the village resent city folks buying up homes for weekend and vacation retreats. DI Lane is approached by a local man who wants Lucy to see him socially and offers information about the crime to entice her. What was the motive for this murder?

"Lost Contact"

A man's body is washed ashore along the Cornish coast. The ravages of the sea have made it impossible to make a visual identification of the body. Starting with missing persons reports of two men, Wycliffe and his team begin their investigation by interviewing the families of the missing men. Both families exhibit unusual behavior. Who is the man? Was this an accident, suicide or crime?

" Four and Twenty Blackbirds"

A motorist driving down a country road strikes a person running across the road. He stops immediately to help whomever he hit but there is no one there. He goes for help and finds a farm house a half mile down the road with its animal shed on fire. A mysterious man is in a phone booth on the road a few hundred yards for the farm. The motorist asks the man to call for help and then runs to the house to find the door ajar, broken glass and blood but no one there. Wycliffe is called. Where is the farmer? Was the farmer the person the motorist struck with his car? Who was the mysterious man?

" Happy Families"

A young girl is found dead. It may be a murder or it may be a suicide. Wycliffe and his team investigate. Nothing is more tragic than the death of a child and it affects Wycliffe's team. They become sensitized to the stress children endure during their teen years: sibling rivalry, peer pressure, the need to find approval and love.

" Wild Oats"

Two local men are seen digging near an archeology site in the middle of the night. They are scared off when discovered by a local farmer. When the archeologist comes to the scene, she discovers that the grave is not that old. Wycliffe is called to investigate. It is determined that the grave is from the 1960s. Wycliffe's team discovers that the village has a 30 year old secret and no one wants to talk about it.

"Breaking Point"

A badly injured surfer is found on the beach. The young woman is unconscious with head wounds probably from the surf pushing her against the rocks. However, bruises on her neck can only be explained by someone attempting to strangle her. She is in a coma so she cannot provide any information about what happen to her. Wycliffe and team need to determine what happen and what was the motive.

3rd Season -1996

(DVD set 3)

"Dead on Arrival"

A customs officer is patrolling a truck parking area near where trucks offload from the ferry from Europe. His dog appears to be excited about the contents of the trailer of one of the trucks. On closer examination, a number of bodies are found inside. Wycliffe is called away from his wedding anniversary to investigate.

"Number of the Beast"

A local school teacher is found dead. It appears that he was killed by a wild animal. Some local people believe there is a beast living on the moor. Wycliffe believes this supernatural explanation for the death is nonsense. After a second similar death, Wycliffe not only must find the person responsible but he has to control the hysteria of the local people and the press.

"Slave of Duty"

A local diver is found buried in a shallow grave and his car is found in the sea. The investigation leads Wycliffe's team to believe the death may have to do with the story of a lost treasure. D.I. Lane's relationship with a man she met during the investigation makes things difficult for her.

"Total Loss"

A fish trawler is lost at sea. The captain and his engineer are found in a lift raft. The engineer is dead. It appears that he died of a heart attack; however, the medical examiner finds that the man has broken ribs and bruises. The captain's recount of the events leading up to the sinking do not account for how the engineer received his injuries. DIs Lane and Kersey take the lead on the investigation well Wycliffe is away dealing with budget issues. He arrives back in time to help resolve issues between Lane and Kersey.

"Crazy for You"

The wife of a psychiatrist and criminal profiler is found murdered in a horrific manner. Not only is she badly mutilated but the clothes in her closet have been ripped to shreds. Obviously the murderer has mental problems. When asked, the murdered woman's husband reluctantly agrees to help find the killer. The outcome of this case may bother Wycliffe for the rest of his life.

"Faith"

A baby is found in a box on the steps of a church. The child had been strangled. I man comes forward to say he witnessed a pagan ceremony in the woods that involved a baby. The pagans are very secretive and not cooperative. Wycliffe believes if he can identify the baby, he will be able to solve the crime.

"Last Judgment"

A local magistrate is found hanged in the woods. The medical examiner rules the death a suicide. Wycliffe does not believe it because he can find no reason why the man would take his own life: No money problems; No marital problems; Active at church; Well liked; No medical or mental problems. NO NOTE.

"Old Habits"

When the body of murdered girl is found along the side of the road, Wycliffe wonders if a serial killer that has been inactive for 11 years has returned. He is under great pressure from his boss to solve the crime as quickly as possible before anyone else is killed and the media has a chance to work the public into a frenzy.

4th Season -1997

(DVD set 4)

"Strangers"

A young couple goes to the local registrars office to get married. They have asked a local pub owner and his wife to be witnesses. A strange group of people show up at the wedding and attend the party after. None of the guests know the bride and groom or one another and the wedding couple do not know them either. The newlyweds have only know each other for about three weeks. The couple goes to an expensive seaside hotel for their wedding night during which someone is murdered.

"Close to Home"

A local business man is stabbed to death next to his parked car. There are witnesses to the crime and the assailant is captured quickly. DI Kersey has known the man who committed the crime of years. He is a petty criminal and Kersey cannot believe he is a murder even though there is no question that he stabbed the man. Wycliffe's investigation leads him to investigate how the victim made a living. It is not even clear to the victim's wife how exactly her husband mad his money. Wycliffe's son is a friend of the victim's son and does not understand how his father can seem so unfeeling during his investigation.

"On Account"

When a mother opens a jar of baby food, she is overcome by a foul smell. She contacts the store who pulls the food from the shelf, contacts suppliers and calls police on the suspicion that the jar may have been tampered with. Wycliffe and his team quickly determine that poison was added to the jar and that in all seven jars may have been poisoned. Only four are accounted for. Someone demands money from the store owner to tell where that other 3 jars are located. It is a race against time.

"Lone Voyager"

A wealthy well known yachtswoman has gone missing. Her boat is missing also. Wycliffe discovers that she has been receiving threatening notes and has been feuding with two brothers that lease land from her. Also the woman's much younger husband does not seem upset that his wife is missing. In fact, he seems to be interested in DI lane.

"Seen a Ghost"

A young woman for no apparent reason runs a pedestrian down. During questioning, she claims she only ran over a ghost. During the investigation, Wycliffe's team finds the woman's family to be extremely strange. Her mother does not seem upset that the woman is being held on serious charges. She does not even go to see her daughter or go to court with her.

"Bad Blood"

A farmer has been trying to evict a tenant. The tenant's family has lived in the cottage on the farmer's land for decades. Today only a young man, his slightly retarded wife and his child live there. On the day the farmer wants the young family out, the police are called to the cottage. It appears to have been the scene of a violate crime. The young mother claims she does not know what happen. Her husband and the farmer are missing.

"To Sup with the Devil"

A local pub owner is found dead at the bottom of the stairs in his pub. He was not a popular man. The pub was considered a nuisance by the people who lived near by. The parents of his young barmaid where suspicious of him. His ex-wife's husband was unhappy that he kept pestering his wife for money. The victim was broke and owned a lot of money. Wycliffe's team must find the killer among all the people who would have a motive to commit this crime.

"Old Crimes, New Times"

Wycliffe's boss appears to be out to force him to retire. A young acting DS under Wycliffe's control makes a mistake that sets a possible murderer free. An internal investigation is ordered and DCC Stevens hopes they will find fault with Wycliffe's management style. Stevens ordered DI Lane to reinvestigate a murder 10 years before in hopes of finding that Wycliffe made a mistake when heading up the original investigation. He also cannot forget that Wycliffe stifled his attempt to have DI Kersey removed from duty.

5th Season -1998

(DVD set 5)

"On Offer"

Wycliffe has been seriously wounded and is recovering at a police nursing facility. DCC Stevens has put DI Lane in charge of the team in Wycliffe's absence. Lane's new position has created a lot of friction between her and DI Kersey. In addition, DCC Stevens will be leaving soon and wants to take Lucy with him.

With all that going on in the background, DI Kersey is asked to deal with a local farmer who has been harassing people fishing on a local trout stream on his property and feuding with the resort that owns the fishing rights. When a body is found in the stream, acting Chief Inspector Lane gets involved in the case much to Kersey's chagrin.

"Time Out"

A prostitute reports to police that one of her customers told her that he had killed one of the other girls. DI Kersey is assigned the case. No one has been reported missing, no body has been found and the vice officer says all the know prostitutes are accounted for. Initially the girl who made the report is not taken seriously even though she seems to be extremely scared.

At home Wycliffe has become obsessed with a man he has seen around town. He is certain that the man is up to something. Everyone else believes his recent trauma has made him delusional.

"Standing Stone"

A friend of DI Kersey reports that his wife is missing. She had been out walking near the coast. The woman had been taking a class and there was speculation that she may have been involved with the instructor. When a person is found murdered and it is staged like a suicide, it becomes imperative that the woman is found soon.

"Feeding the Rat"

I local rock climber falls to his death while out climbing with a close friend. The death is ruled an accident. However, a local bird watcher and falcon keeper tells people at the local pub that he saw everything and it was no accident. The victim's girlfriend who also happens to be a close friend of the man accused by the man in the pub asks Wycliffe to clear things up by proving the drunken man in the pub is wrong.

"Scope"

A policeman is shot to death. Wycliffe is called in to investigate the murder. The local police want him to focus on a man who was under investigation for criminal activity. The investigation leads Wycliffe's team to believe that actually a local policeman was involved. Unlike most episodes, the viewer is privy to more information than the detectives.

"Land's End"

A woman who Wycliffe had helped establish a new identity after she provided valuable information in the past suddenly reappears. The reappearance of this woman leads to Wycliffe being accused of corruption. The new DCC tries to use this development to force Wycliffe out. DCI Lane decides to help Wycliffe clear his name.

This is the last episode of the series! Unfortunately, because of unresolved issues between the cast and producer the series ended abruptly. The last episode does wrap things up nicely as most series do after a long run. That does not take anything away from the series and I enjoyed all the available episodes. Was a very good series!

For a full list of available DVDs see below!

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Wycliffe

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Series based on books by William John Burley