A Death in the Family (27 Aug. 2012)

The team is less than pleased when arrogant civil servant Stephen Fisher coerces them into investigating the murder - in 1851 - of Abigail Padua,a mathematical expert whose death led to the... See full summary »

Director:

Julian Simpson

Writers:

Julian Simpson, Roy Mitchell (creator),

Stars:

Alun Armstrong, James Bolam, Amanda Redman

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Alun Armstrong	...	Brian Lane
James Bolam	...	Jack Halford
Amanda Redman	...	Det.Supt.Sandra Pullman
Dennis Waterman	...	Gerry Standing
Anthony Calf	...	DAC Robert Strickland
Tim McInnerny	...	Stephen Fisher

Storyline

The team is less than pleased when arrogant civil servant Stephen Fisher coerces them into investigating the murder - in 1851 - of Abigail Padua,a mathematical expert whose death led to the collapse of her family business and a widespread financial crisis. With no living witnesses and a different geography to the time the team must pore over the original statements to prove that the killer was a witness who lied to the police. However,they,with Strickland's backing,have another mystery on their hands - Fisher's obsession with cracking the case,which itself could have far-reaching effects in the modern business world. Jack however is able to thwart Fisher before he leaves the unit for good to spend his last days in France.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

---

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 August 2012 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wall to Wall, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
Coachman John Harper: [his horses rear, startled by a running lady] Whoa! Whoa!

---

Crazy Credits

The actors and actresses in the reconstruction from 1851 were not credited, even though some of them had speaking parts.

User Reviews

A sad opening to the ninth series

The OCOS team is used to being asked to solve old cases, after all that is their job, however even they don't expect to be asked to investigate the murder of a woman who died when Queen Victoria was still on the throne! The case isn't just old it is shrouded in secrecy as Stephen Fisher, who works for a shadowy unnamed government department orders them to discover what happened then hand over all of the information they turn up so he can burn it! As they investigate they learn that the original witness statements were contradictory and more than one of those witnesses were murdered shortly after the original crime. The main suspect is her brother; a man running an investment scheme which failed soon after the murder; his sister was a mathematical genius so it was likely that she had spotted some sort of error on his part. The secrecy seems strange at first; then it is established that the company the benefited most from the financial failure is still in operation and is bidding for a large government contract the Chinese. Away from the crime Jack has announced that he is quitting the team to move to France; the others try to talk him out of it but he is determined.

This was an interesting and entertaining open to the series; Tim McInnerny was great as Fisher; the sort of role he seems to have made his own these days. It is a shame that it looks as though this will be James Bolam's character Jack's last case with the team… he was still alive at the end but it certainly looked as if he will be leaving. The case itself was interesting as they obviously couldn't interview any witnesses; they just had to plough through the reports and news items until they figured out what is most likely to have happened. The ending had a double twist although I'm sure many viewers will not have been too surprised with either. This may not have had the number of laughs other episodes have provided but it was still well worth watching; I hope the rest of the series is as good... although hopefully there will be more laughs; the more sober tone suited this episode but wouldn't be welcome in most episodes.