Achilles Heel
Episode 16 / Series 4
First transmitted in one part in 1991
Adapted from a short story by Guy Hibbert
Directed by Sandy Johnson
A Blue Heaven Production for TVS
It was shown on Christmas Eve, and we burst the electrical grid. We’ve got 18 million viewers, and when they got up to make their tea, they all switched on, and boom! … the grid went up.
Wexford and Burden are holidaying with their wives in Corsica when they encounter Philip and Iris Blackstock, a charismatic young couple from Hampshire. Wexford cuts his holiday short when Philip receives a ransom note from someone claiming to be his wife’s kidnapper.
Credits
- DCI Wexford
- George Baker
- DI Burden
- Christopher Ravenscroft
- Dora Wexford
- Louie Ramsay
- Jenny Burden
- Diane Keen
- Philip Blackstock
- Stephen Dillane
- Iris Blackstock
- Kim Barclay
- Ange
- André Oumansky
- Anna
- Julia Lane
- PC Stevens
- Robert Hands
- Linda Blackstock
- Charlotte Howard
- Jon Walsh
- Norman Eshley
- Cleaner
- Sadie Shimmin
- Lucy Rieux
- Saira Todd
- Jane Conway
- Katie O’Connell
- Auden
- Preston Lockwood 2
- Mrs Penn
- Anna Wayne
- Forensic Scientist
- Philip McGough
- Photographer
- Richard Strange
- Model
- Angie Hill
- Hospital Porter
- Mark Chapman
- Script Executive
- Corinne Cartier 3
- Casting Director
- Doreen Jones 4
- Original music composed by
- Brian Bennett
- Corsican featured music
- I Muvrini
- Stunt Arranger (UK)
- Mark Boyle
- Stunt Arranger (Corsica)
- Gareth Milne
- Stunt Performers
- Jim Dowdall, Andrew Bradford
- Corsican facilities
- Corsican Film Services
- Production Manager
- Graeme MacArthur
- Location Manager (UK)
- Barry Beckett
- Location Manager (Corsica)
- Noel Costa
- 1st Assistant Director
- Francesco Reidy
- Continuity
- Alison Black
- Production Secretary
- Susan Irish
- Stage Manager
- Mike Fisher
- Graphic Design
- The Original Graphics Company
- Costume Designer
- Rita Angell
- Production Secretary
- Theresa Smith
- Producer’s Secretary
- Cathie Willcocks
- Makeup
- Toni Holmes
- Production Buyer
- Graham Curtis
- Designer
- Christine Ruscoe
- Camera Grip
- Alan Imeson
- Sound Recordist
- Maurice Hillier
- Camera Operator
- Julian Barber
- Dubbing Editor
- Peter Dansie
- Dubbing Mixer
- Tony Cunningham
- Film Editor
- Christopher Wentzell
- Lighting Cameraman
- Ken Brinsley BSC
- Executive Producer
- Graham Benson
- Producer
- Neil Zeiger
Soundtrack
- Wexford’s Theme
- Corsica
- A Day in Provence
- Achilles Heel
- Wexford’s Theme (Reprise)
Notes
The original story is set in Dubrovnik. The Croatian War of Independence meant that the production team had to move this location to the island of Corsica.
The cast and crew had to endure terrible weather conditions during the shoot on location in Corsica in September 1991. A stunt driver nearly went over the edge of a cliff, and a helicopter carrying Sandy Johnson and his crew, was caught in a Mistral wind current and suddenly dropped 120 feet in height. 5
Wexford and Burden holidayed with their wives at the beautiful Le Maquis hotel in Porticcio.
The Corsican music is taken from the album In Core by I Muvrini.
The Roof House in East Dorset doubled as Philip Blackstock’s home in Downhampton.
The Lepe Estate on the northern shore of the Beaulieu River estuary overlooking the Solent is the location for Linda Blackstock’s house.
Inspector Burden’s investigations take him to Pylewell Park near Lymington in Hampshire.
The background music playing at Lucy Rieux’s house in Provence is the first movement of Danses sacrée et profane, a piece for harp and strings by Claude Debussy.
The photo shoot in Hampshire was filmed at Bell House Studios (now The Joneses’ Studio) in Alton.
Footnotes
Wexford and Me, ITV3 2008. ↩︎
Preston Lockwood 1912-1996: obituary by Adam Benedick, independent. ↩︎
Doreen Jones 1940-2017: obituary by Derek Granger, The Guardian. ↩︎
George Baker, The Way to Wexford (Headline, 2002), p.316. ↩︎