Driven to Distraction (17 Jan. 1990)

After two beautiful women are stabbed to death a month apart by the same killer, the only connection between the pair is their car dealership.

Director:

Sandy Johnson

Writers:

Anthony Minghella, Colin Dexter (characters created by),

Stars:

John Thaw, Kevin Whately, Julia Lane

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
John Thaw	...	Chief Inspector Morse
Kevin Whately	...	Detective Sergeant Lewis
Julia Lane	...	Jackie Thorn
Tariq Yunus	...	George
Tessa Wojtczak	...	Angie Howe
Patrick Malahide	...	Jeremy Boynton
Richard Huw	...	Detective Constable Dearden
Al Ashton	...	Detective
Will Brenton	...	Detective
Chris Jenkinson	...	Detective
David Lonsdale	...	Detective
Christopher Fulford	...	Tim Ablett
Carolyn Choa	...	Phillipa Lau
Ken Nazarin	...	Whyting Lau
Mary Jo Randle	...	Detective Sergeant Maitland

Storyline

Morse and Lewis investigate the death of Jackie Thorn who was found bound and stabbed in her flat. The murder is a carbon copy of one that occurred 27 days previously and they assume both were committed by the same man. The team is joined by Sgt. Siobhan Maitland, a expert in crimes against women. In the course of the investigation, they find that both women had purchased their cars from the same dealer and Morse becomes convinced that the owner, Jeremy Boynton, is the culprit. When they find a third assault victim who survived an attack some 5 years previously, Morse is more convinced than ever. The only thing now is that Morse needs evidence, provided he has the right man of course.

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Plot Keywords:

stabbed to death | car dealership | murder | laundry | reference to shakespeare's macbeth | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 1990 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Castlebar Hill, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zenith Entertainment, Central Independent Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 104 min (dvd release)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Morse tells Lewis about a friend who was terminally ill but was concerned that the battery on his car would go flat with not being driven so he got Morse to drive the car each week to keep the battery charged. Anthony Minghella, writer of the episode, included this story as a tribute to the late Kenny McBain, producer of Series 1 and 2, who had asked Minghella to perform this service on his newly-bought Saab when he discovered that he was dying of Hodgkin's disease.

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Quotes

Chief Superintendent Strange: I'm taking you for a drink.
Chief Inspector Morse: It's funny, you're the second person to say that to me today. I turned the first one down.
Chief Superintendent Strange: This one you'll need.

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Soundtracks

Why Can't You Behave" (uncredited
Written by Cole Porter (1948)
Killer plays on audio cassette in car

User Reviews

One of the better episodes

I don't usually like Morse very much but this one episode was one of the better ones.

The plot is about 2 woman who get killed in the same way. Their mouths are taped and they are stabbed to death. The victims knew their killer. They had let the person into their apartment, there was no breakin.

Patrick Malahide who played Chief Inspector Alleyn in the Alleyn Mysteries Series is a bad guy in this. He is Jeremy Boynton. He cheats on his wife and one of the woman that is killed was his girlfriend.

He also is the main suspect because 2 of the women bought a car from his auto sales business.

There is a lot of mystery in this and Morse cannot get anywhere a female detective and him work together and they both feel the same about a suspect.

In this episode Morse is more direct with what he wants to do. Lewis is opposing him because he feels Morse is breaking the law without a search warrant and also accusing someone without evidence

Makes for a very interesting episode.