Murder on the Home Front

Last updated

Murder on the Home Front
MurderontheHomeFrontDVD.jpg
Genre
Written byDavid Kane
Directed by Geoffrey Sax
Starring
ComposerRobert Lane
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes2 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producer Christopher Hall
CinematographyDavid Higgs
EditorPaul Knight
Running time60 minutes
Production company Carnival Film & Television
Original release
Network ITV
Release9 May (2013-05-09) 
16 May 2013 (2013-05-16)

Murder on the Home Front is a two-part British television crime drama, written by David Kane and directed by Geoffrey Sax, that first broadcast on ITV on 9 May 2013. [1] The series, which stars Patrick Kennedy and Tamzin Merchant in the principal roles, follows Dr. Lennox Collins (Kennedy), a home office pathologist new to murder cases who teams up with his receptionist, Molly Cooper (Merchant) to investigate a serial killer operating at the height of the Blitz. [1] The series' script was based upon the memoirs of Molly Lefebure, secretary to the former Second World War Home Office pathologist Keith Simpson. [1]

Contents

The series aired as a single presentation on PBS in the United States on 16 February 2014. [2] Executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle said of the production, "With Geoffrey Sax directing Davy Kane’s witty and fast paced script, we hope to depict London in the Blitz as a city living life on the edge." [1] The series was released on DVD via Universal Pictures on 29 July 2013. [3]

Cast

Episodes

EpisodeTitleWritten byDirected byOriginal airdateViewers
(millions) [4]
1"Part 1"David KaneGeoffrey Sax9 May 2013 (2013-05-09)5.04
When several young women are found murdered, DI Freddy Wilkins believes the obvious suspect is loner Wilfred Ziegler, but Home Office pathologist Lennox Collins and his secretary Molly Cooper have their doubts and employ ground-breaking forensic techniques to ensure the right man is brought to justice.
2"Part 2"David KaneGeoffrey Sax16 May 2013 (2013-05-16)4.30
As the story of the “Nazi Strangler” is leaked to the newspapers, Lennox and Molly face a battle not only with their bosses but also with the police when they try to save a seemingly innocent man from the gallows. As more victims of the Nazi Strangler turn up, they put their own lives at risk in a quest for the truth.

Reception

The series broadcast to strong critical acclaim, with Sarah Rainey of The Telegraph writing; "A decent, gritty portrayal of Second World War Britain - one that doesn’t pretend life on the Home Front was a cosy tea party of do-it-yourselfers and make-do-and-menders - [which] has been a long time coming." [5]

Alison Graham of the Radio Times commented; "Imagine a cross between Foyle's War and Silent Witness and you have Murder on the Home Front. It’s one of those brown, wartime dramas where lights are dim, ITMA’s on the radio and everyone is terribly plucky. A strange mix of the jaunty and the gruesome, though there’s a loving attention to period detail; even the bomb-sites look hand-crafted." [6]

Keith Watson of the Metro was however slightly more scathing, writing; "The acting is spot on, but the tone is a touch wobbly. At times a cartoonish skit on 1940s stereotypes – think The Fast Show ’s Cholmondeley Warner [sic] [7] Murder on the Home Front wants it all ways, throwing in the kind of grisly gore that’s customary in modern serial killer cases, but feels at odds with jaunty banter that’s saucily tongue-in-cheek." [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Allen (actor)</span> British actor (born 1953)

Keith Howell Charles Allen is a British actor, pantomime star, and television presenter. He is the father of singer Lily Allen and actor Alfie Allen, and brother of actor and director Kevin Allen.

Geoffrey Sax is a British film and television director, who has worked on a variety of drama productions in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Spilsbury</span> British pathologist (1877–1947)

Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury was a British pathologist. His cases include Hawley Crippen, the Seddon case, the Major Armstrong poisoning, the "Brides in the Bath" murders by George Joseph Smith, the Crumbles murders, the Podmore case, the Sidney Harry Fox matricide, the Vera Page case, and the murder trials of Louis Voisin, Jean-Pierre Vaquier, Norman Thorne, Donald Merrett, Alfred Rouse, Elvira Barney, Toni Mancini, and Gordon Cummins. Spilsbury's courtroom appearances became legendary for his demeanour of effortless dominance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Allam</span> British actor

Roger William Allam is a British actor, who has performed on stage, in film, on television and radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Alan Towers</span> British film producer (1920–2009)

Harry Alan Towers was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 feature films and continued to write and produce well into his eighties. Towers was married to the actress Maria Rohm, who appeared in many of his films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Hanley</span> English actor (1918–1970)

Jimmy Hanley was an English actor who appeared in the popular Huggetts film series, and in ITV's most popular advertising magazine programme, Jim's Inn, from 1957 to 1963.

<i>Lewis</i> (TV series) British television detective series (2006–2015)

Lewis is a British television detective drama produced for ITV, first airing in 2006 (pilot) then 2007. It is a spin-off from Inspector Morse and, like that series, it is set in Oxford. Kevin Whately reprises his character Robert "Robbie" Lewis, who was Morse's sergeant in the original series. Lewis has now been promoted to detective inspector and is assisted by DS James Hathaway, portrayed by Laurence Fox, who was promoted to inspector before the eighth series. The series also stars Clare Holman as forensic pathologist Dr. Laura Hobson, likewise reprising her role from Inspector Morse; and, from the eighth season, Angela Griffin as DS Lizzie Maddox.

Patrick Kennedy is an English actor and director.

Tamzin Malleson is an English actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanna McCallum</span> English film actress

Joanna McCallum is an English theatre, film and television actress.

Inspector Morse is a British detective drama television series based on a series of novels by Colin Dexter. It starred John Thaw as Detective Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. The series comprises 33 two-hour episodes produced between 6 January 1987 and 15 November 2000. Dexter made uncredited cameo appearances in all but three of the episodes.

Molly Lefebure FRSL was a British writer with an interest in the English Lake District and the Lake Poets.

Colonel March of Scotland Yard is a British television series consisting of a single season of 26 episodes first broadcast in the United States from December 1954 to Spring of 1955. The series premiered on British television on 24 September 1955 on the newly opened ITV London station for the weekends Associated Television. It is based on author John Dickson Carr's fictional detective Colonel March from his book The Department of Queer Complaints (1940). Carr was a mystery author who specialised in locked-room whodunnits and other 'impossible' crimes: murder mysteries that seemed to defy possibility. The stories of the television series followed in the same vein with March solving cases that baffle Scotland Yard and the British police. The department itself is sometimes referred to as "D3". Boris Karloff starred as Colonel March.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominic Mafham</span> English actor (born 1968)

Dominic Mafham is an English stage, film and television actor. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

<i>Endeavour</i> (TV series) British television detective series (2012–2023)

Endeavour is a British television detective drama series on ITV. It is a prequel to the long-running Inspector Morse series. Shaun Evans portrays the young Endeavour Morse beginning his career as a detective constable, and later as a detective sergeant, with the Oxford City Police CID. Endeavour is the third of the Inspector Morse series following the original Inspector Morse (1987–2000) and its spin-off, Lewis (2006–2015).

Karla Patsy Crome is a British actress and writer, best known for her work on Sky Atlantic's Hit & Miss, playing series regular Jess on E4's Misfits, and appearances in a number of other television series and films, mainly in the United Kingdom, including the award-winning Murder. In 2012, Screen International named Crome as one of the "UK Stars of Tomorrow".

The 66th Writers Guild of America Awards honor the best film, television, radio and video-game writers of 2013. The television and radio nominees were announced on December 5, 2013. Film nominees were announced on January 3, 2014. All winners were announced on February 1, 2014, at the JW Marriott hotel in the L.A. Live entertainment complex.

<i>Marcella</i> (TV series) British television series

Marcella is a British Nordic noir detective series, written, directed and produced by Swedish screenwriter Hans Rosenfeldt, creator of The Bridge. The series is produced by Buccaneer Media for ITV and distributed worldwide by Buccaneer's parent company Cineflix. It was first shown on ITV on 4 April 2016, with seven further episodes released weekly.

<i>Ridley</i> (TV series) British TV series

Ridley is a British police procedural drama created and written by Paul Matthew Thompson, a screenwriter on the police drama Vera, and Jonathan Fisher. It is produced by Juliet Charlesworth, Adrian Dunbar, associate producer, and Mike Noble, line producer. The first of the 120-minute feature-length mysteries aired on ITV on 28 August 2022.

Tom Jones is an ITV four-part television drama reimagining Henry Fielding's 1749 novel The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling. It is directed by Georgia Parris and adapted by Gwyneth Hughes, with Solly McLeod playing the eponymous hero Tom Jones. The show premiered on PBS in the United States from 30 April 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Murder on the Home Front". ITV Press Centre. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  2. "Murder on the Home Front | PBS" via www.pbs.org.
  3. "Murder on the Home Front" via Amazon.
  4. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". BARB. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  5. "Murder on the Home Front, ITV, review". www.telegraph.co.uk.
  6. "Murder on the Home Front Season 1". Radio Times.
  7. Mr Miles Cholmondley-Warner was actually a character in Harry Enfield & Chums#Mr Cholmondley-Warner , not The Fast Show.
  8. Watson, Keith (10 May 2013). "Into the unknown with Murder On The Home Front".