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Updated 4/23/10 WycliffeDetective Superintendent Wycliffe is a quiet brooding man. He is married and has two teenaged daughters 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.
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Series based on books by William John Burley |
Wycliffe |
Wycliffe |