The Murder Room (2004) (TV)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Diarmuid Lawrence

Writers:

P.D. James (novel)
Robert Jones (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 October 2004 (Australia)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

The lease on the Dupayne Museum is almost up and under the terms of their father's will, all three of...

Plot Keywords:

Museum | Tabby Cat | Copycat Murder | Murder Mystery | Based On Novel

Cast

Martin Shaw	...	Adam Dalgliesh
Janie Dee	...	Emma Lavenham
Samantha Bond	...	Caroline Dupayne
Kerry Fox	...	Muriel Godby
Siân Phillips	...	Marie Strickland
Michael Maloney	...	Neville Dupayne
Nicholas Le Prevost	...	Marcus Dupayne (as Nicholas le Prevost)
Jack Shepherd	...	James Calder-Hale
Anita Carey	...	Tally Clutton
Tilly Blackwood	...	DI Kate Miskin
William Beck	...	DI Piers Tarrant
Sid Mitchell	...	Ryan Archer
Lisa Kay	...	Angela Faraday
Kate Alderton	...	Sara Dupayne
Lesley Vickerage	...	Clara

Runtime:

180 min (2 parts)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

BBC Drama Group

Trivia:

While on location, the school children extras were kept in a hired bus with a radiation heater because there were so few of them.

An excellent adaptation of the book - and a more human Dalgliesh than Roy Marsden's portrayal

As always, P D James has written a very good and intriguing story. The adaptation is faithful to the book: nothing much is added or taken out. However maybe the explanation of the murderer's motives was glossed over a little.

I actually prefer Martin Shaw rather than Roy Marsden as Adam Dalgliesh. Martin Shaw's portrayal is arguably less faithful to the character as P D James writes it, but portrays him as a more human, likable character. I always found Roy Marsden's portrayal (and his description in P D James's books) to be stern, humourless, aloof, distant and with no likable qualities or little human failings that I could identify with.

I liked the subplot about his girlfriend. It showed his vulnerability and his awkwardness with women; the letter that he wrote to her at the end (I won't spoil it by mentioning the subject) was very moving.

I agree that characters of Dalgliesh's two inspectors weren't really developed properly (they aren't in the book either). One of the slight failings of the Dalgliesh books and TV series are that the relationship between Dalgliesh and his sidekicks isn't strong enough that they can confide in each other, in the way that Morse and Lewis or Wexford and Burden do. The acid test of a "good" TV detective, aside from their deductive qualities, is whether you like them as a person and could imagine yourself discussing a case with them over a pint. With Morse, Frost or Wexford, this is easy to imagine; with Dalgliesh, especially as portrayed by Roy Marsden, I suspect that the conversation would be a bit tense and there would be lots of long silences! At least it is easier to imagine having a drink and a chat with Martin Shaw's version of Dalgliesh.