Malice Aforethought (TV series)

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Malice Aforethought
Genre Crime fiction
Based on Malice Aforethought
by Francis Iles
Written by Philip Mackie
Directed byCyril Coke
Starring
Composer Ron Grainer
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes4
Production
Producer Richard Beynon
Running time55 mins
Original release
Network BBC 2
Release15 March (1979-03-15) 
5 April 1979 (1979-04-05)
Related
Malice Aforethought (film)

Malice Aforethought is a four-part BBC TV adaptation of the novel of the same name, broadcast in 1979. [1] It was later broadcast in the US in 1981, when it was featured in the PBS series, Mystery! , introduced by Vincent Price. [2] It was praised as a faithful adaptation, which retained the atmosphere and 1920s setting of the book. Cheryl Campbell was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress for her role as Madeleine Cranmere, along with her performance in Testament of Youth, winning for the latter at the 1980 Baftas. [3]

Contents

There was a later adaptation of the novel by ITV Granada in 2005, starring Ben Miller and Megan Dodds. This version has been released on DVD, but the 1979 adaptation has never received either a video or DVD release, and has not been repeated on TV since 1981.

Plot summary

The central character is a Devon physician, Dr. Bickleigh, who is in an unhappy marriage to a domineering wife, Julia. Initially he has some hopes of divorcing Julia and marrying a younger woman, Madeleine, who he is flirting with. However his hopes of divorce fade, and he uses his medical knowledge to murder Julia, to marry Madeleine. His method is a devious and some would say unusually cruel one: he slowly feeds her a chemical which gives her blinding headaches, which leads to her taking opium painkillers, so that she apparently dies of an accidental overdose of opium. He appears to get away with it, but one person who suspects the truth is Madeleine, who marries another man, and some people in the local community wrongly suspect that Julia committed suicide because of problems in their marriage. As Dr. Bickleigh realises that Madeleine suspects what happened he attempts to poison her and her new husband. They survive, but this leads the authorities to become suspicious about the death of Julia some time earlier. Her body is exhumed and Dr. Bickleigh is put on trial for her murder.

Cast

References

  1. "Malice Aforethought". Radio Times . No. 2887. BBC. 10 March 1979. p. 61 via BBC Genome.
  2. "Malice Aforethought | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  3. "1980 BAFTA Television Awards for Best Actress". Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.