A Pinch of Snuff (TV series)

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A Pinch of Snuff
A Pinch of Snuff (TV series) title card.jpg
Genre Crime drama
Created by Reginald Hill
Written by Robin Chapman
Directed by Sandy Johnson
Starring Gareth Hale
Norman Pace
Christopher Fairbank
Freddie Jones
John McGlynn
Malcolm Storry
John Woodvine
Composer John E. Keane
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series1
No. of episodes3 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer Keith Richardson
ProducerEmma Hayter
CinematographySean Van Hales
EditorJaney Walklin
Running time50 minutes
Production company Yorkshire Television
Original release
Network ITV
Release9 April (1994-04-09) –
23 April 1994 (1994-04-23)

A Pinch of Snuff is a British television crime drama miniseries, consisting of three fifty-minute episodes, that broadcast on ITV network from 9 to 23 April 1994. [1] The series, adapted from the 1978 novel of the same name by author Reginald Hill, was the first Dalziel and Pascoe adaptation for TV, arriving two years before the more widely known BBC adaptation that followed in 1996. In this miniseries, the characters of Dalziel and Pascoe were played by comedians Gareth Hale and Norman Pace, with Christopher Fairbank as loyal sidekick Edgar Wield, and Malcolm Storry as Insp. Ray Crabtree. [2]

Contents

Reception

The series broadcast over three consecutive Saturday nights, from 9 April 1994. Reginald Hill was said to have been unhappy with the series, and so prevented ITV from creating any further adaptations for television. The Independent went on to describe the "critical contempt heaped on the first television version" of the legendary characters. It described how "a complex story of pornography and murder was turned into a vehicle for the dramatic talents of Hale and Pace, by common consent breathtakingly miscast as the chalk-and-cheese Yorkshire coppers. While either of them might conceivably have scraped by as the blunt, earthy Dalziel, it's hard to see how anybody could have imagined one of them playing the sensitive, intellectual Pascoe". [3]

BBC Worldwide subsequently approached Hill with a view to creating a new TV adaptation, to which Hill agreed. Actors Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan were subsequently cast in the roles of Dalziel and Pascoe, and between 16 March 1996 and 22 June 2007, eleven series consisting of both novel adaptations and original stories were produced. [4]

Cast

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Episode 1" Sandy Johnson Robert Chapman 9 April 1994 (1994-04-09)
2"Episode 2"Sandy JohnsonRobert Chapman16 April 1994 (1994-04-16)
3"Episode 3"Sandy JohnsonRobert Chapman23 April 1994 (1994-04-23)

Related Research Articles

Reginald Charles Hill FRSL was an English crime writer and the winner in 1995 of the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement. He was inducted into the prestigious Detection Club in 1978.

Detective Superintendent Andrew "Andy" Dalziel and Detective Sergeant, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe are two fictional Yorkshire detectives featuring in a series of novels by Reginald Hill.

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<i>Dalziel and Pascoe</i> (TV series) British TV detective series

Dalziel and Pascoe is a British television crime drama based on the mystery novels of the same name, written by Reginald Hill. The series was first broadcast on 16 March 1996, with Warren Clarke being cast as Dalziel and Colin Buchanan being cast as Pascoe. The series is primarily set in the fictional town of Wetherton in Yorkshire, and "follows the work of two detectives who are thrown together as partners. Complete opposites. Different backgrounds, different beliefs, different styles. They get on each other's nerves. They are continually embarrassed by each other. But their differences make them a stunningly brilliant crime-solving team."

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Colin Buchanan is a Scottish actor who is best known for playing Detective Peter Pascoe in the BBC television series Dalziel and Pascoe which commenced in March 1996 and ran until June 2007.

Pascoe is a Cornish given name and surname which means "Easter children" from the Cornish language Pask, cognate of Latin Pascha ("Easter"). Pascoe is a Cornish pet form of the name Pascal, introduced by the Norman knights into England after the Conquest started in 1066, and derives from the Latin paschalis, which means "relating to Easter" from Latin Pascha ("Easter"). Alternative spellings are Pasco, Pascow and Pascho. Pascoe is the most common Cornish name.

<i>A Pinch of Snuff</i> (novel)

A Pinch of Snuff is a 1978 crime novel by Reginald Hill, the fifth novel in the Dalziel and Pascoe series.

Christopher Fulford is a British actor who is best known for his supporting roles in many British TV shows, one of the earliest being punk Alex in the short lived sitcom Sorry, I'm A Stranger Here Myself (1981–82).

<i>Pictures of Perfection</i>

Pictures of Perfection is a 1994 crime novel by Reginald Hill, and part of the Dalziel and Pascoe series. The title is a quote from a letter by Jane Austen—"Pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked." A quote from Austen's letters is included at the beginning of each chapter, and the story itself makes innumerable references to Austen's novels.

A Pinch of Snuff may refer to:

References

  1. ↑ "ITV Studios – A Pinch of Snuff". itvstudios.com. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  2. ↑ "Stojo – A Pinch of Snuff (Dalziel and Pascoe) 1994". stojo.com. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  3. ↑ "Unlikely partners in crime" . Independent.co.uk . 15 March 1996. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  4. ↑ BBC. "About the Show" . Retrieved 25 January 2018.
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