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.
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.
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