Shadow Play

Episode aired May 13, 2002
1h 40m

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

YOUR RATING

Drama

Mystery

Mr. Lycett is obsessed with the daughter he 'lost' many years before when his wife and child left him without warning. As a result he tends to follow young girls who resemble her leading to ... Read allMr. Lycett is obsessed with the daughter he 'lost' many years before when his wife and child left him without warning. As a result he tends to follow young girls who resemble her leading to numerous arrests for lewd behavior. He's always represented himself in court and he's alwa... Read allMr. Lycett is obsessed with the daughter he 'lost' many years before when his wife and child left him without warning. As a result he tends to follow young girls who resemble her leading to numerous arrests for lewd behavior. He's always represented himself in court and he's always managed to get the case thrown out. Helen West prosecuted him in the most recent charge... Read all

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

YOUR RATING

Director
- Coky Giedroyc
Writers
- Frances Fyfield(books)
- Shelagh Stephenson(adapted for television by)
Stars

Top credits

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1User review

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Top review

6/10

You're a British mystery series - act like one!

No wonder this only lasted one season. And the sad thing is, the stories are quite good.

This episode had several plots going on: Rose the secretary's erratic behavior and her love life; one Mr. Lycett, who since his wife and daughter fled has been dragged to court several times for following young girls but has always been able to have his cases dismissed; and someone stealing files from the office. And on a side note, we have Helen's situation with her boyfriend.

The problem is that none of these plots came to any kind of a boil until 1 hour and 15 minutes into the episode. Until then we had Helen cooking, her boyfriend somewhat flirting with another woman, Mr. Lycett walking around town, Rose and her new policeman boyfriend - until finally everything came together. And when it did, it was good.

But was it worth the wait? This show was murderously paced, with nice but unexciting performances (basically because the actors didn't have much to work with).

A British mystery-suspense series is something special to us in America anyway - Poirot, MI5, Rumpole, Inspector Morse, Endeavor - foisting something like this on us is a disappointment.

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