Wycliffe (TV series)

Wycliffe is a British television series based on W. J. Burley's novels about Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe. It was produced by HTV and broadcast on the ITV Network, after a pilot episode on 7 August 1993, between 24 July 1994 and 5 July 1998. The series was filmed in Cornwall, with a production office in Truro. Music for the series was composed by Nigel Hess, who was nominated for the Royal Television Society award for the best original television theme in 1997.<ref>Website of Nigel Hess, Awards Page</ref> Charles Wycliffe, played by Jack Shepherd, is assisted by DI Doug Kersey (Jimmy Yuill) and DI Lucy Lane (Helen Masters).

Each episode deals with a murder investigation. In the early series, stories were adapted from Burley's books and were in classic whodunit style, often with quirky characters and plot elements. In later seasons, the tone became more naturalistic, and there was more emphasis on internal politics within the police force.

Setting and characters

The setting in Cornwall is an important feature of the series, providing both picturesque landscapes and glimpses into the local way of life. Some characters work in the tourist industry. Some of the problems of the county, such as the struggling fishing industry, long-term unemployment, and prejudice against new age travellers, are shown in various episodes. Wycliffe and his team are responsible for a large geographical area and often have to spend time away from home during an investigation. This can cause problems for Wycliffe, who is shown as a contented family man married to a teacher (Lynn Farleigh) and with two teenage children. It also makes it difficult for Lane and Kersey, who are both single, to form relationships outside work.

Wycliffe's beat appears to cover mainly central and west Cornwall. There are frequent references to certain major towns, including Truro, Newquay, Camborne and Penzance (these places were also used as filming locations). Other towns in the same area, such as Falmouth, St Austell or St Ives, figure less frequently, although Falmouth probably provided some of the backgrounds to scenes in "Time Out", the only episode for which a fictional Cornish town ("Carrick") was invented, complete with a red-light district, called Eastgate. Bodmin (actually mainly Bodmin Moor) features strongly in one episode, "Number of the Beast", which is about the so-called Beast of Bodmin (said to be a big cat). In the final episode, "Land's End", Wycliffe refers to Wadebridge, near Bodmin, as being on "the other side of the county".

Devon and Cornwall Police is no longer organised into divisions. The Major Crime Investigation Team in Cornwall, which would presumably be headed by Wycliffe, was actually based at Newquay during the period in which the series was made, but Wycliffe's divisional headquarters appears to be in the Camborne area.

Cast

• Jack Shepherd as Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe
• Jimmy Yuill as DI Doug Kersey (played by Kevin Quarmby in the pilot)
• Helen Masters as DI Lucy Lane (played by Carla Mendonça in the pilot)
• Lynn Farleigh as Helen Wycliffe (played by Lucy Fleming in the pilot)
• Tim Wylton as Dr. Franks (played by Peter Settelen in the pilot)
• Aaron Harris as DS Dixon (Series 1–3)
• Adam Barker as DC Potter (Series 1–3)
• Michael Attwell as Deputy Chief Constable Stevens (series 4–5)

List of episodes

Wycliffe ran for five series from 24 July 1994 to 5 July 1998, and included a pilot episode (originally shown on 7 August 1993) and a Christmas special shown between the fourth and fifth series.

Series		Episodes	Originally Aired		DVD Releases			DVD Runtime
			From	To	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
	One	7†	24 July 1994	28 August 1994	17 February 2009	27 July 2009	2 February 2008	380 mins
	Two	8	18 June 1995	6 August 1995	13 October 2009	5 April 2010	3 May 2008	400 mins
	Three	8	9 June 1996	11 August 1996	29 June 2010	30 August 2010	2 August 2008	400 mins
	Four	8	29 June 1997	17 August 1997	16 November 2010	18 October 2010	1 November 2008	400 mins
	Five	7‡	17 May 1998	5 July 1998	16 November 2010	21 February 2011	28 February 2009	375 mins
	The Complete Collection	38† ‡	24 July 1994	5 July 1998	-	17 July 2017	31 July 2007 27 November 2009 (Repackaged) 5 February 2014 (ITV Release) November 18, 2020 <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>(Via Vision Entertainment)	1955 mins

Notes:
^† includes the pilot episode originally aired on 7 August 1993.
^‡ includes the Christmas special originally aired on 27 December 1997.

Series 1 (1993–1994)

The first series of Wycliffe was originally aired on the ITV network in the summer of 1994.

The pilot episode was originally aired one year earlier than the commissioned first series, in the summer of 1993. The cast of the pilot differs from that used for the commissioned series; Jack Shepherd plays Wycliffe both in the pilot and in the commissioned series.

Series No.	Episode No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original Air Date	Length

Series 2 (1995)

The second series of Wycliffe was originally aired on the ITV network in the summer of 1995.

Series No.	Episode No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Length

Series 3 (1996)

The third series of Wycliffe was originally aired on the ITV network in the summer of 1996. There was a short hiatus in the third series due to ITV's coverage of the Euro '96 football tournament.

Series No.	Episode No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Length

Series 4 (1997)

The fourth series of Wycliffe was originally aired on the ITV network in the summer of 1997.

Series No.	Episode No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Length

Series 5 (1997–1998)

The final series of Wycliffe was originally aired on the ITV network in the summer of 1998. The Christmas special was originally aired about five months earlier in December 1997.

The fifth and final series saw Jack Shepherd directing two episodes: "On Offer"; and "Standing Stone". During the filming of this series Jimmy Yuill fell ill with meningitis. While he was in hospital the production company, HTV, terminated his contract. Though he made a full recovery HTV then refused to allow him to return to the programme, apparently for insurance reasons. This caused considerable ill-feeling and Jack Shepherd made it clear that he did not wish to continue as Wycliffe. ITV did not recommission the programme.Template:Cn

Series No.	Episode No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Length

Notes:
^† Christmas Special.

Home media

All five series were released individually on DVD in the UK by Network between 27 July 2009 and 21 February 2011.Template:Citation needed

All five series were released individually on DVD in Australia through Time Life, distributed by Shock Entertainment. The Complete Collection DVD containing five individual seasons in a slip box was released first, followed later in the same year by a new collection slimmed down to a single case with new artwork. In 2014 ITV released The Complete Collection in a single case.Template:Citation needed

External links

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• Template:Epguides
• "Wycliffe on Television" page at www.wjburley.com