The Gift of Promise (9 Oct. 2011)
"Lewis" The Gift of Promise (original title)

When a retired MI5 official writes her best-selling memoirs, a chapter in her book about an unsolved IRA cold case causes consternation and ultimately several murders.

Director:

Metin Hüseyin

Writers:

Colin Dexter (inspired by the Inspector Morse novels of), Dusty Hughes (screenplay),

Stars:

Matt Orton, Cherie Lunghi, Lucy Boynton

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Orton	...	Elmo Woodeson
Cherie Lunghi	...	Grace Orde
Lucy Boynton	...	Zoe Suskin
David Westhead	...	Leon Suskin
Anna Chancellor	...	Judith Suskin
Lorcan Cranitch	...	Liam Cullen
Charlie Roe	...	Ronald Marsden
Mark Aiken	...	Dr. Donald Voss
Laurence Fox	...	DS James Hathaway
Kevin Whately	...	DI Robert Lewis
Elize du Toit	...	Andrea De Ritter (as Elize Du Toit)
Clare Holman	...	Dr. Laura Hobson
Gabrielle Lloyd	...	Eileen Norman
Leanne Rowe	...	Carly Cliff
Rebecca Front	...	Ch. Supt. Innocent

Storyline

Andrea De Ritter, founder of an organization that supports gifted children, is murdered after making a presentation to Zoe Suskin, only fifteen but an Oxford student. That night Andrea had resisted the advances of young student Elmo Woodeson as well as sending a copy of the autobiography of former spy mistress Dame Grace Orde to Zoe's publisher father Leon. She had added inside the book "Who Killed Mary? See Chapter 8." Both Leon and Elmo are killed shortly after and Zoe's tutor Donald Voss is poisoned though not fatally. Suskin had punched Liam Cullen, Andrea's lover, wrongly believing he was having an affair with his wife Judith following a text message to her and indeed sexual affairs, with Andrea at their hub, would seem to motivate the killings. However Dame Grace eventually tells Lewis that Mary, a naive young informant, was sacrificed by her IRA lover back in Belfast in 1987, when Grace was an operative and Liam worked for a pro-Republican lawyer.Revenge on the gunman is the ...

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Plot Keywords:

oxford | ira | scholarship | tutor | mi5 | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 October 2011 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Natural History Museum, Parks Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

ITV Studios, WGBH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Lewis finds Grace's book in Suskin's office, Hathaway recognizes the handwriting of the note inserted in chapter 8, but earlier shots of the note showed it to be typed or computer-generated with boldface text.

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Quotes

DI Robert Lewis: [reading aloud as they walk] Gifted children use long words, enjoy problem solving, are very sensitive emotionally, and often prone to deny the obvious.
[to Hathaway]
DI Robert Lewis: Remind you of anyone?
DS James Hathaway: [sharing Lewis's enjoyment] No.
DI Robert Lewis: I made the last bit up.

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Soundtracks

"A Nation Once Again"
(uncredited)
Written by Thomas Osborne Davis (early 1840s)
Recorded version played in Cullen's pub.

User Reviews

"A Detective's Job - to Speculate"

Nice soap-opera-ish screen-story to send-off Season Five, as Detective Inspector Robert Lewis (Kevin Whately), Detective Sergeant James Hathaway (Laurence Fox), Forensic Pathologist Doctor Laura Hobson (Clare Holman), and Chief Superintendent Jean Innocent (Rebecca Front) to investigate the case of "Who Killed Mary? - Chapter 8," with DC Madge (Joy Blakeman) on this episode's computer duty.

In the back-story, Mary Keene, an innocent recruited as an agent for an IRA operative, is believed slain, and so her story, subsequently, becomes fodder for a non-fiction account penned by memoir author Dame Grace Orde (Cherie Lunghi), who arrives at Oxford one Monday for a book-signing event, attended by James Hathaway. But by Thursday, four additional victims of murder or attempted murder would surface, which quite naturally rates as par for the course for any given week at Oxford Campus.

Leon Suskin (David Westhead), Publisher at Suskin Press, attempts to negotiate to represent a reluctant Grace Orde for a follow-up book, while his second wife, Judith Suskin (Anna Chancellor), supervises the education of their teenage daughter, Zoe Suskin (Lucy Boynton), who receives a scholarship award for gifted children, as the element of soap suds come into play.

It would seem as though Andrea De Ritter (Elize du Toit), a young lady who founds the scholarship organization, plays Leon against Liam Cullen (Lorcan Cranitch), her associate from Belfast, as well as acrobatic student Elmo Woodeson (Matt Orton), who also shares an interest in Zoe, while Zoe and Elmo's tutor, Donald Voss (Mark Aiken), seems to play Zoe against her mother, Judith, who suspects Leon of cheating, who suspects Judith of cheating, before the trail of bodies begins to surface.

So, between Monday and Thursday, the first body is discovered upon a residence floor with various notes scattered about; the second body is discovered on outdoor steps before LSD is detected in the system (although acid is usually not detectable); the third victim receives arsenic poisoning, regularly and deliberately administered; and the fourth body is discovered outside of a park, a murder resulting from multiple stabbing wounds.

Inspector Lewis and Sergeant Hathaway interview surviving suspects, and also question Eileen Norman (Gabrielle Lloyd) a campus cafeteria waitress. Carly Cliff (Leanne Rowe) serves as secretary at Suskin Press, with Ronald Marsden (Charlie Roe) an associate of Leon Suskin. Doctor (Sagar Arya), Nurse (Michelle Luther), and Karolina (Natalia Ryumina) round out the cast.

Tensions mount, and plot twists develop at a rapid pace, climaxing in a compelling showdown scene, with one suspect aiming the barrel of a pistol toward another, as Hathaway and Lewis race on foot to attempt to prevent additional murders.

Matt Orton delivers an impressive turn as Elmo Woodeson here, in his first television (or film) role, while Clare Holman and Kevin Whately provide another hint toward the direction of their Laura/Robbie association. Laurence Fox also continues to add his nice professional touch to the series as the innocent, scholarly but ambitious James Hathaway.