A Sleeping Life
Episode 6 / series 2
First transmitted in three parts in November 1989
Adapted from the novel by Roger Marshall
Directed by Bill Hays 1
Produced for ITV by Television South
Wexford and I went over to Honfleur to film some of A Sleeping Life. We hugely enjoyed the Normandy lobsters, oysters, sea urchins and crab, the Langue de Boeuf and the Tripes à la mode de Caen.
The body of Rhoda Comfrey is found on a lonely canal towpath. Subsequent investigations reveal very little about the dead woman or her life. The only clue is a wallet belonging to historical novelist Grenville West that leads Wexford firstly to London and then to France.
Credits
- DCI Wexford
- George Baker
- DI Burden
- Christopher Ravenscroft
- Dora Wexford
- Louie Ramsay
- Polly Flinders
- Imelda Staunton
- Lilian Crown
- Sylvia Syms 3
- Chief Constable Freeborn
- Dave Hill
- Malina Patel
- Mamta Kaash
- Chief Supt Howard Fortune
- Patrick Drury
- DI Baker
- William Simons 4
- Commissaire Laquin
- Olivier Pierre 5
- Sylvia Fairfax
- Charon Bourke
- Neil Fairfax
- James Fleet
- Victor Vivian
- Niall Buggy
- DS Martin
- Ken Kitson
- Dr Len Crocker
- John Burgess 6
- Alex
- George Rossi 7
- Mrs Cohen
- Lesley Joseph
- Rose Farriner
- Linda Marlowe
- Hetherington
- Iain Mitchell
- Sheila Wexford
- Deborah Poplett
- Charles West
- Neil McCaul
- Stella Parker
- Caroline Berry
- Brian Parker
- Mark Aspinall
- Rhoda Comfrey
- Su Douglas
- Shop Assistant
- Richard Dixon
- Crossdresser
- Liz Kettle
- Hospital Secretary
- Josie Kidd 8
- Clerk of the Court
- Peter Harri
- Sgt Clements
- Gordon Kane
- Robin Fairfax
- Matthew Grundy
- Production Manager
- Lars MacFarlane 9
- 1st Assistant Director
- John Wright
- 2nd Assistant Director
- Stephanie Sullivan
- Location Manager
- Graeme MacArthur
- P.A./Continuity
- Gillian Wheeler
- Stage Manager
- Mike Fisher
- Production Secretary
- Theresa Smith
- Original music composed by
- Brian Bennett
- Script Executive
- Corinne Cartier 10
- Casting Director
- Doreen Jones 11
- Dialect Coach
- Joan Washington 12
- Costume
- Serena Brown
- Makeup
- Anne Townley
- Graphic Design
- Freddie Triccas
- Designer
- Mark Ward
- Production Buyer
- Alan Bates
- Technical Supervisor
- Roger Chambers
- Chief Electrician
- Steve Williams
- Camera Grip
- Steve Imeson
- Sound Recordist
- A. Graham Fitzgerald
- Dubbing Mixer
- Danny Curtis
- Dubbing Editor
- Mark Thomas
- Camera Operator
- Julian Barber
- Lighting Director
- Brian Turner
- Videotape Editor
- Christopher Wentzell
- 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 Watercress Line in Alresford was used as the setting for Kingsmarkham railway station.
Wexford and Burden are seen investigating Grenville West’s life at the Barkston Gardens Hotel in Earl’s Court.
The interior shots of the Old Vic were filmed at The Kings Theatre in Southsea.
Wexford dines with Commissaire Laquin at Le Vieux Honfleur.
Footnotes
Bill Hays 1938-2006: obituary by Alan Plater, The Guardian. ↩︎
George Baker, A Cook for all Seasons (Boxtree, 1989), p.120 ↩︎
Sylvia Syms 1934 - 2023: obituary by Andrew Pulver, The Guardian. ↩︎
William Simons 1940-2018: obituary by Anthony Haywood, The Guardian. ↩︎
John Burgess 1933-2010: obituary by Mike Leigh, The Guardian. ↩︎
George Rossi 1961 - 2022, Independent. ↩︎
Doreen Jones 1940-2017: obituary by Derek Granger, The Guardian. ↩︎