Axel Kingman leaves his lover, the celebrated cookery writer Corinne Last, and marries a much younger woman. Corinne’s generous acceptance of Axel’s new wife impresses everyone; especially Jenny Burden whose friendship with the writer begins to cause a rift within her own marriage…

  • Means of Evil is adapted from two Ruth Rendell short stories: Means of Evil and When the Wedding Was Over.
  • George Baker: The poisonous meal Wexford recreates needed a tin of sild which we couldn’t find anywhere until I managed to get some from Budgen’s in Devizes. I made the dish up at home and took it along to the set. Not often you get the detective cooking up the murder weapon, is it?

Related Articles

Related Books

Book jacket image
  • Published by Hutchinson in 1979
  • The title is taken from book one of Paradise Lost: And out of good still to find means of evil.
  • And when the wedding was over, we’d have it put in the newspaper list of marriages… is a quote from Gabriel Oak’s marriage proposal to Bathsheba in Far from the Madding Crowd.

Cast + Credits

  • DCI Wexford

    George Baker

  • DI Burden

    Christopher Ravenscroft

  • Dora Wexford

    Louie Ramsay

  • Jenny Burden

    Diane Keen

  • Axel Kingman

    Patrick Malahide

  • Corinne Last

    Cheryl Campbell

  • Dr Crocker

    John Burgess

  • DS Martin

    Ken Kitson

  • Hannah Kingman

    Wendy Morgan

  • Sgt Willoughby

    Colin Campbell

  • John Hood

    Gerard Hood

  • Amyas Ireland

    Michael Hadley

  • Saffron

    Fay Masterson

  • Foreman

    Phil Hearne

  • Shop Owner

    Chris Sullivan

  • Kenneth Gandolph

    John Murphy

  • Script Editor

    Corinne Cartier

  • Casting Director

    Doreen Jones

  • Original music composed by

    Brian Bennett

  • Chamber music arranged by

    Lester Baines

  • Stunt Arranger

    Stuart St Paul

  • TYLER the dog trained by

    Val Tyson

  • Production Manager

    Lars MacFarlane

  • Location Manager

    Martin Robinson

  • 1st Assistant Director

    David Crabtree

  • Continuity

    Gwen Hughes

  • Production Secretary

    Cathie Willcocks

  • Graphic Designer

    The Original Graphics Company

  • Stage Manager

    Kerry Bignall

  • Costume Designer

    Kimberley Foster

  • Make up Supervisior

    Debbie McKinley

  • Designer

    Mark Ward

  • Production Buyer

    Alan Bates

  • Camera Grip

    Alan Imeson

  • Dubbing Mixers

    Tony Cunningham
    Dave Fallon

  • Dubbing Editor

    Peter Dansie

  • Sound Recordist

    Maurice Hillier

  • Camera Operator

    Julian Barber

  • Lighting Cameraman

    Michael D Smith

  • Film Editor

    Nigel Bate

  • Executive Producer

    Graham Benson

  • Producer

    Neil Zeiger

  • Directed by

    Sarah Hellings

  • A Television South Production