A Guilty Thing Surprised
Episode 2 / Series 1
First transmitted in three parts in 1988
Adapted from the Ruth Rendell novel by Clive Exton 1
Directed by Mary McMurray
Produced for ITV by Television South
In 1988 I was asked to submit a piece for a new Ruth Rendell TV series. Script in hand I drove to my weekend retreat in Somerset and started to read and get the feel for the story, characters and Chief Inspector Wexford.
The owners of Myfleet Manor, Quentin Nightingale and his beautiful wife Elizabeth, appeared to be a golden couple with many friends and few enemies. But when Elizabeth is found dead in Cheriton Forest, Wexford and Burden uncover dark family secrets and discover the key to solving the crime within the life story of a great poet.
Credits
- DCI Wexford
- George Baker
- DI Burden
- Christopher Ravenscroft
- Quentin Nightingale
- Michael Jayston
- Elizabeth Nightingale
- Catherine Neilson
- Denys Villiers
- Nigel Terry 2
- Georgina Villiers
- Karen Meagher
- Katje Doorn
- Ellis van Maarseveen
- Sean Lovell
- Pádraig O’Loingsigh
- Will Palmer
- Matthew Scurfield
- Lionel Marriot
- David Swift 3
- Mrs Catrip
- Sandra Voe
- Mrs Lovell
- Kate David
- Dr Len Crocker
- John Burgess 4
- Dora Wexford
- Louie Ramsay
- Jean Burden
- Ann Penfold
- John Burden
- Noah Huntley
- Pat Burden
- Emma Smith
- DS Martin
- Ken Kitson
- Alf Tawney
- John Tams
- DC Bryant
- Jonathan Magnanti
- Hypatia Hancock
- Christina Greatrex
- Production Manager
- Clive Hedges
- 1st Assistant Director
- Jon Older
- 2nd Assistant Director
- Stephanie Sullivan
- Stage Manager
- Tiggi Trethowan
- Production Secretary
- Jill Partington
- Music composed by
- Brian Bennett
- Script Executive
- Corinne Cartier 5
- Casting Director
- Doreen Jones
- Costume Designer
- Rita Angell
- Makeup
- Marian Durnford
- Graphic Designer
- Freddie Triccas
- Designer
- Brian Ashbrooke-Motte
- Production Buyer
- Ray Warwick
- Vision Engineer
- Peter Mills
- Sound Recordist
- Peter Pardo 6
- Dubbing Mixer
- Tony Cunningham
- Videotape Editor
- Christopher Wentzell
- Electrician
- Reg Tanner
- Camera Grip
- Alan Imeson
- Cameraman
- Mike Hutton
- Lighting Director
- Brian Turner
- Executive Producer
- Graham Benson
- Producer
- Neil Zeiger
Soundtrack
Notes
The Wexford soundtrack was composed, performed, arranged and produced by Brian Bennett at Honeyhill Studios in Hertfordshire.
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries theme won Brian Bennett his third Ivor Novello Award in 1990.7
I have spent many happy years in Honeyhill Studios listening to Brian Bennett’s ingenious musical scores. Always a source of gratification, the day spent mixing down the music and listening to picture represents the penultimate and most satisfying stage of the production process.
—Neil ZeigerMary McMurray has a wonderful sense of humour and likes to keep things very light. We’d been talking about how many red herrings there are in the show. I went to Kenny Props (Kenny Palmer) and asked whether he would make me a red herring. He made this fish out of balsa with a little tail and painted it red. I put it under my jacket. We play the scene, and then,
—George Baker 8was it this red herring you were looking for?
The Mottisfont Estate near Romsey was used as the backdrop for the investigation into Elizabeth Nightingale’s murder at Myfleet Manor.
The scenes featuring Wexford and Burden discussing the case at their favourite pub, the Olive and Dove, were filmed at the Abbey Hotel in Romsey.
Footnotes
John Burgess 1933-2010: obituary by Mike Leigh, The Guardian. ↩︎
Wexford and Me, ITV3 2008. ↩︎