The Best Man to Die
Episode 9 / Series 3
First transmitted in three parts in 1990.
Directed by Herbert Wise 2
A Television South Production
We’ve had a lot of fun with Wexford’s clothes. I persuaded the wardrobe department to let me use one of my old suits because all Wexford’s suits are supposed to be rumpled, and he always keeps a book in his pocket. So, I threw one of my suits on the floor and walked over it for the next month. Now it looks just right.
A man is murdered on the eve of his best friend’s wedding, and a young woman is found dead at the scene of a fatal road accident in which a wealthy businessman is also killed. Wexford and Burden discover a possible connection between the deaths in this tale of adultery, blackmail and greed.
Credits
- DCI Wexford
- George Baker
- DI Burden
- Christopher Ravenscroft
- Dora Wexford
- Louie Ramsay
- Jenny Ireland
- Diane Keen
- Maurice Cullam
- Tony Haygarth 3
- Dr Crane
- John Vine
- Dr Crocker
- John Burgess 4
- Nurse Rose
- Clara Salaman
- Mrs Fanshawe
- Barbara Leigh-Hunt
- Nora Fanshawe
- Julia Ormond
- DS Martin
- Ken Kitson
- Sheila Wexford
- Deborah Poplett
- Policeman
- David Michaels
- Nurse Lewis
- Nina March
- Lillian Hatton
- Shirin Taylor
- Jack Pertwee
- Jonathan Barlow
- Marilyn Thompson
- Tracie Bennett
- Mr Pertwee
- John Carter
- George Carter
- John Bleasdale
- Jolyon Virgo
- Stephen Boxer
- Policeman
- Paul Kynman
- Charlie Hatton
- Richard Graham
- John Burden
- Noah Huntley
- Pat Burden
- Emma Smith
- Script Executive
- Corinne Cartier 5
- Music composed by
- Brian Bennett
- Casting Director
- Doreen Jones 6
- Production Manager
- Graeme MacArthur
- Location Manager
- Ian Strachan
- 1st Assistant Director
- James Greville
- P.A./Continuity
- Alison Black
- Stage Manager
- Mike Fisher
- Production Secretary
- Debra Tomlinson
- Production Buyer
- Graham Curtis
- Costume Designer
- Rita Angell
- Makeup Supervisor
- Toni Holmes
- Dubbing Mixer
- Tony Cunningham
- Dubbing Editor
- Peter Dansie
- Sound Recordist
- Maurice Hillier
- Camera Operator
- Julian Barber
- Lighting Cameraman
- Michael D Smith
- Designer
- Mark Ward
- Film Editor
- Christopher Wentzell
- Executive Producer
- Graham Benson
- Producer
- Neil Zeiger
Soundtrack
- Wexford’s Theme
- Suite from The Best Man to Die
- Wexford’s Theme (Reprise)
Notes
Burden started off as extraordinarily prudish and right-wing. Then he gradually loosened up, partly because of what happened to him. His first wife died, and that put him through the mill but gave him a real insight into life. He found he couldn’t control everything. He had made a success of his life but then discovered that he was not infallible. His second wife is a teacher, fairly left-wing, and a feminist and this new situation has opened up possibilities he would never have imagined.
—Christopher RavenscroftMike and Jenny’s wedding was taken from the short story When the Wedding Was Over. The scene with Inspector Burden and the stripper did not appear in Ruth Rendell’s original story.
The filming of Dora’s cancer scare in Southampton General Hospital cruelly coincided with George Baker’s wife, Sally Home’s struggle with the disease. “Louie asked for news of Sal, and I told her that Sal was in the hospital at that very moment and was about to see the surgeon. She was very concerned and a little tearful.”
Two months before shooting The Best Man to Die, 15-year-old Noah Huntley, who plays John Burden, was involved in a motorbike crash that left him with a damaged pancreas. “The doctors wanted me to stay on at the hospital for a couple more weeks, but I had to rush off to shoot Wexford. I threw myself into the work and coped somehow.”
Wexford and Burden travel to Bournemouth to interview Nurse Lewis. The detectives are later seen discussing the case on the promenade.
Footnotes
John Brown 1944-2006: obituary by David Bruce, Independent. ↩︎
Herbert Wise 1931-2016: obituary by Philip Purser, The Guardian. ↩︎
Tony Haygarth 1945 - 2017: obituary by Michael Coveney, The Guardian. ↩︎
John Burgess 1933-2010: obituary by Mike Leigh, The Guardian. ↩︎
Doreen Jones 1940-2017: obituary by Derek Granger, The Guardian. ↩︎