The Murder Room 

Adam Dalgliesh looks into the connection between the grisly exhibits at the Dupayne family museum and the murder of adopted son Neville.

Stars:

Martin Shaw, Janie Dee, Samantha Bond

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Martin Shaw	...	Adam Dalgliesh 2 episodes, 2005
Janie Dee	...	Emma Lavenham 2 episodes, 2005
Samantha Bond	...	Caroline Dupayne 2 episodes, 2005
Kerry Fox	...	Muriel Godby 2 episodes, 2005
Siân Phillips	...	Marie Strickland 2 episodes, 2005
Michael Maloney	...	Neville Dupayne 2 episodes, 2005
Nicholas Le Prevost	...	Marcus Dupayne 2 episodes, 2005
Jack Shepherd	...	James Calder-Hale 2 episodes, 2005
Anita Carey	...	Tally Clutton 2 episodes, 2005
Tilly Blackwood	...	DI Kate Miskin 2 episodes, 2005
William Beck	...	DI Piers Tarrant 2 episodes, 2005
Sid Mitchell	...	Ryan Archer 2 episodes, 2005
Lisa Kay	...	Angela Faraday 2 episodes, 2005
Kate Alderton	...	Sara Dupayne 2 episodes, 2005
Lesley Vickerage	...	Clara 2 episodes, 2005
Anthony Calf	...	Lord Martlesham 2 episodes, 2005
Thomas Wheatley	...	A / ... 2 episodes, 2005
Harry Burton	...	Bruno Denholm 2 episodes, 2005
Ty Glaser	...	Celia Mellock 2 episodes, 2005
Richard Cubison	...	Nobby Clarke 2 episodes, 2005
Sara Carver	...	Dalgliesh's P.A. 2 episodes, 2005
Greg Wakeham	...	Ryan's Flatmate 2 episodes, 2005

Storyline

The lease on the Dupayne Museum is almost up and under the terms of their father's will, all three of the Dupayne children must agree to continue or the museum is to close. Neville Dupayne is dead set against continuing the museum when the money could be used for a much better purpose. One of the museum's key attractions is the Murder Room, displaying information on a series of notorious murders from between the two World Wars. When Neville dies in a way reminiscent of one of the murders on display in the Murder Room, Commander Adam Dalgleish is asked to investigate. There are any number of suspects: his siblings, several museum employees who will lose their job, his secretary with whom he once had an affair and his daughter who felt he was an absentee father. A second murder reveals some of the activities of the upper classes and the solution lies in a long-ago wrong that someone is seeking to right.

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Plot Keywords:

museum | tv mini series | tabby cat | murder mystery | copycat murder | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

User Reviews

I guess it's just me and this actor

"The Murder Room," from a novel by P.D. James, is an excellent whodunit starring Martin Shaw as Adam Dalgliesh, and that's the problem right there. Though a fine actor, he just isn't Dalgliesh for me. I remember the old series starring Roy Marsden as being more exciting.

The story concerns a lease about to expire on a family museum, and there is one holdout, Neville Dupayne, who does not want to re-sign. The museum features a Murder Room, which displays information on notorious murders that took place between World War I and World War II. Neville, a doctor, thinks the money could be put to medical use.

When Neville dies in what appears to be a copycat murder of a display in the Murder Room, Commander Dalgleish is brought in. He has a lot of suspects to choose from -- the victim's brother and sister, museum employees who stood to lose their jobs, his secretary who is also his ex-mistress, and others. The solution, however, won't be found by investigating only the present day.

Though a good mystery and well-done, it was too long, in part because a subplot dealt with Dalgleish's love life, which I, for one, couldn't have cared less about. I didn't even understand why this woman was so interested in him, as the character was emotionally very uptight and a workaholic.

I found Dalgleish's relationship with his associates unpleasant, and both of them uninteresting.

I can only ask, where's Roy Marsden when you need him. He's only four years older than Shaw.

Details

Official Sites:

BBC [UK] PBS [United States]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 January 2005 (UK)

Also Known As:

Camera crimei

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Drama Group, WGBH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min (2 parts)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1