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IMDbPro

Alleyn Mysteries

  • TV Series
  • 1990–1994
  • TV-14
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
928
YOUR RATING
Patrick Malahide and William Simons in Alleyn Mysteries (1990)
Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: Death At The Bar
Play trailer1:09
10 Videos
11 Photos
Period DramaWhodunnitCrimeDramaMystery

Drawing on her love of theatre and art, New Zealand author Ngaio Marsh created elegant crime-puzzlers full of quirky characters with hidden agendas, all brought meticulously to life in this ... Read allDrawing on her love of theatre and art, New Zealand author Ngaio Marsh created elegant crime-puzzlers full of quirky characters with hidden agendas, all brought meticulously to life in this BBC series.Drawing on her love of theatre and art, New Zealand author Ngaio Marsh created elegant crime-puzzlers full of quirky characters with hidden agendas, all brought meticulously to life in this BBC series.

  • Stars
    • William Simons
    • Patrick Malahide
    • Belinda Lang
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    928
    YOUR RATING
    • Stars
      • William Simons
      • Patrick Malahide
      • Belinda Lang
    • 21User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Episodes9

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated

    Videos10

    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: Death At The Bar
    Trailer 1:09
    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: Death At The Bar
    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: Set 2-Dead Water
    Trailer 1:13
    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: Set 2-Dead Water
    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: Set 2-Dead Water
    Trailer 1:13
    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: Set 2-Dead Water
    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: Set 2-Hand In Glove
    Trailer 1:07
    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: Set 2-Hand In Glove
    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: The Nursing Home Murder
    Trailer 1:03
    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: The Nursing Home Murder
    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: A Man Lay Dead
    Trailer 1:03
    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: A Man Lay Dead
    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: Final Curtain
    Trailer 1:02
    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: Final Curtain

    Photos11

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    Top cast99+

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    William Simons
    William Simons
    • Inspector Fox
    • 1990–1994
    Patrick Malahide
    Patrick Malahide
    • Chief Inspector Alleyn
    • 1993–1994
    Belinda Lang
    Belinda Lang
    • Agatha Troy
    • 1990–1994
    Tim Dutton
    Tim Dutton
    • D.S. Bailey…
    • 1990–1994
    Sandy Welch
    • D.C. Robinson…
    • 1993–1994
    Leslie Schofield
    Leslie Schofield
    • Assistant Commissioner Connors
    • 1993–1994
    Mark Penfold
    • Doctor Curtis…
    • 1993–1994
    Andrew Robertson
    Andrew Robertson
    • Police Doctor
    • 1990–1993
    Simon Williams
    Simon Williams
    • Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn
    • 1990
    David Sibley
    David Sibley
    • Harold Sage
    • 1993
    Alan Gilchrist
    • PC Oates
    • 1993
    Martin Carroll
    Martin Carroll
    • Corporal Billings
    • 1993
    Ewen Bremner
    Ewen Bremner
    • Walter McNabb
    • 1994
    Christopher Northey
    Christopher Northey
    • Barker
    • 1994
    John Bennett
    John Bennett
    • Aaron Blautwicz
    • 1993
    Paul Brooke
    Paul Brooke
    • Abel Pomeroy
    • 1993
    Michael Feast
    Michael Feast
    • Dieter Kranz
    • 1993
    Michael Elwyn
    Michael Elwyn
    • Trumper
    • 1993
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews21

    7.5928
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    Featured reviews

    8blanche-2

    another British mystery series, and as usual, I like it!

    What is it with these British mystery series? They're all wonderful in their own way.

    I haven't researched this totally, but I believe that Alleyn, Campion, and Inspector Lynley were all inspired by Lord Peter Wimsey to some extent. And that's okay, because their characters and stories were tackled by good writers.

    This series stars Patrick Malahide, Belinda Lang, and William Simons. The first episode that I saw, I kept staring at Patrick Malahide and saying to myself, why is it that I distinctly remember seeing another actor in this part? Well, I had, and it was Simon Williams - years ago.

    In the books, Alleyn is known as Handsome Alleyn. I don't think Malahide is handsome, and I notice it's not mentioned in these episodes. He is, however, very elegant, and Malahide underplays, giving him a somewhat mysterious quality. Belinda Lang for me is perfect as Agatha. Remember, this is the '40s, not 2015. It was a more formal time. And these are mature people, taking their romance slowly. There's an undertone of flirtation, wryness, insouciance -- they have both been around the block a few times. As a couple, they are marvelous.

    The mysteries are very good, normally taking place among the upper crust. I love William Simons as Fox - rough and tough, no nonsense.

    These are engrossing mysteries. They're not filled with car chases, things blowing up, or over the top characters. It's not bombastic. It's British upper class, after all.
    10hayesbook

    How could it be better?

    Malahide is an excellent Alleyn. I think the restraint, classiness, and beauty of these productions are unparalleled. I wish there were more of them. The actor playing Fox is a little scary at first but he grows on you. I wish that he had been bearded, though, as in the books.

    Lang as Troy is wonderful. She's not as young as I imagined, but that does not detract from the attractiveness of the character at all.

    The sets and settings are beautiful. The conversations well-transferred from the books to the screen.

    I just love this series. I think anyone who loves the books will love them. Even though certain things are changed from the books (like the introduction of Troy in A Man Lay Dead) they are so well done it doesn't spoil the stories a bit. Every bit of it from beginning to end is believable.
    10jimmullinaux

    Inspector Alleyn Mysteries - Highly Recommended!

    When it comes to crafting intelligent and entertaining television mysteries, the English simply do it better than anyone else. This excellent 1993 BBC1 series takes place in post-WWII England (c. 1948), even though Dame Ngaio Marsh's novels were set prior to the war. The production effectively captures the rather gray atmosphere so prevalent throughout the country after the war, from the drabness of the period's clothes to the exhaustion in the character's personalities. Patrick Malahide plays Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn, and Belinda Lang portrays his love interest Agatha Troy, both remnants of Britain's post-war fading upper class. William Simons rounds out the cast as Alleyn's working-class assistant Detective Inspector Fox. The crimes are clever and their solutions sensible, surely to satisfy any mystery fan. My wife and I have viewed this series many times and find something new and enjoyable with each viewing. Highly recommended!
    iedsri

    How unfair!

    Having read the two previous comments, both of which read as though they had been written by two citizens of Superman's Bizarro World (where everything is exactly the opposite of how it is in real life), I felt I had to come to this fine series' defense. Taking the accusations one by one:

    Ngaio Marsh was indeed a brilliant writer; her detective stories have in fact made a great TV series, and this is it. Patrick Malahide is a gifted actor, it's true, and he was perfectly cast as Roderick Alleyn, precisely because he makes of him so much more than "a stereotype toff." I agree that Marsh's Alleyn remains elusive as a personality throughout the series of novels; and Malahide, sensing this essential quality of Marsh's hero, allows a cloud of reticence to hover around his Alleyn to exquisitely ambiguous and subtle effect. Troy, played with equal finesse and discretion by Belinda Lang, is, in fact, portrayed as "an individualist with her own career as a painter" -- in fact, one episode (Final Curtain) features her prominently, on her own, noting many crucial clues while fulfilling a portrait commission! (Needless to say, she never says "You never have time for me!" or anything of the sort.) The adaptations are extremely clever and elegant, managing to retain much of the loveliness of Marsh's unparalleled drawing-room conversation while keeping within the time limits set by a 98- minute format. Period detail is not "ladled on," at all. On the contrary, the art direction, cinematography (a nearly subliminal sepia filter tints the series) and set decoration are, as we've come to expect of these British productions, impeccable and always convincing. The comparison of Marsh's stories -- and this production of them -- with those of P. D. James is useless: Marsh's readership and tone were entirely unlike those of James, and their books are apples and oranges. It's childish to rank one over the other. The pace is leisurely -- not "slow and badly done." The "interplay of characters" is extraordinarily full and complex throughout the series -- but it is subtle, discreet and low-key, all evidently the sort of virtues which threaten to put some critics and their wives to sleep.

    In short, if you enjoy civilized old-school British mystery of the very best sort, you can't do much better than Malahide and Lang in The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries. I for one can't wait for the second DVD set.
    9runsfast2002

    It's a shame so few were made.

    After watching the eight episodes made with Patrick Malahide, I began re-reading Ngaio Marsh's books. I discovered her as a teenager, probably around the time this series aired, but never had an inclination to read them again. And after watching this series I know why. Marsh's description of Alleyn was so nebulous- basically tall, dark, thin, and handsome with a fastidious face in one instance or a monkish one in the other. He's a dapper silhouette, complete with hat and an excellently cut suit, but still a shadowy figure. Troy and Fox were easy to visualize, in fact apart from Belinda Lang's longer hair and William Simons' lack of a mustache, they are exactly as I pictured them, but Alleyn remained elusive. After seeing Malahide as Alleyn, it's so much easier to read the books because Malahide gives Alleyn a face and voice. I must admit I wasn't thrilled with Simon Williams' performance of Alleyn in the first episode. At times he had the "Handsome Alleyn" look, but that's about all.

    The episodes take liberties with some of Marsh's plots (Troy wasn't in A Man Lay Dead, subplots are added or changed), but overall very well done and worth a watch (or two or three). Of course, this is not your more current type of entertainment where the scenes shift constantly to keep up with an audience that has an attention span of 30 seconds. Characters and plots develop at a more leisurely pace, rather like a train ride through the English countryside, but never to the point where one feels the writers were padding the script to fill the time slot. Malahide, Simons, and Lang have wonderful chemistry in their scenes together, and the supporting actors are top notch.

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • December 23, 1990 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Ngaio Marsh's Alleyn Mysteries
    • Filming locations
      • Tintagel, Cornwall, England, UK
    • Production company
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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