Su just wrote in a comment the other day which I have decided to post as an entry. She has a question about a British mystery show that aired about ten years ago, and wondered if any of us know the name of the series.
“This is really a long shot, but maybe you mystery fans could help me remember the name of a British Television mini-series (or multi-part movie) that I completely loved and want to see in it’s entirety. It was maybe 10 years ago give or take a decade 😉
I can’t remember anything but snippets and bits of memories. So I thought I’d throw out those bits and pieces and see if anyone can put the clues together and figure out what show it is. A mystery challenge for you!
OK so here it is – these are all the things I can remember about the show.
The title of the show was a play on words.
The main character was a woman maybe in her 30s.
She ended up driving through Scotland searching for something – i think it had to do with her father.
There was a man she met who joined in the quest. The letter K suggests itself here.
The banter between them was such clever repartee that it reminded me of Robert Heinlein’s dialogue writing.
Now is where I get really confused. I remember a young side-kick who either was the same actor as the young Scot who played Merry in Lord of the Rings or looked a lot like him. But this may be from another show altogether. Double score if you can name both shows.”
If any of you think that you might know the name of the show, please feel free to send us a comment!
PS… Dominic Monaghan is the actor who played Merry in Lord of the Rings. The first time I saw him was when he played Hetty Wainthropp’s very young, detective side-kick on the Hetty Wainthropp Investigates series, which if you haven’t seen, you should definitely check out.
Su says
Yeah, that’s what I thought… I’m getting this mystery mini-series mixed up with Hetty Wainthropp’s. OK, that part of the mystery is solved. Take Dominic out of the list of clues.
-V- says
I am drawing a honkin’ big blank on the show in question, but I do love Hetty!
Tania says
Hi
Could it be Oliver’s Travels by Alan Platter, which was turned into a five part series in Britain in 1995 and shown in America in 1996. It starred Alan Bates and Sinead Cusack.
It starts with the Oliver being made redundant in his University in America coming over to Britain meeting a Policewoman in Wales travelling up to Orkney in Scotland and along the way getting involved in various adventures including arson murder, etc.
Take a look at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112109/episodes
Sandra says
Su, what era did this mystery take place? Not when it was aired but when were the characters doing these searches etc? I asked because I am doing some searches for answers on this and found one that MAY be what you are looking for…..How about this: The Sally Lockhart Mysteries??? It was about Fearless young Sally Lockhart (Billie Piper, Doctor Who) has a mind for numbers and for sleuthing, and in Phillip Pullman’s quartet of novels, set in Victorian London, she is put through the paces of melodrama and mystery. In this vivid adaptation of the first book in the series, recently orphaned Sally Lockhart, armed with a pearl-handled pistol and her keen mind, uncovers the secrets of her father’s death aboard the sunken schooner Lavinia, discovers hidden cursed jewels, and faces England’s deadliest villains with bold courage. Sally’s friends, the street-smart Jim and besotted photographer Frederick, help her expose the truth – no matter how dangerous. Sally navigates through the constantly twisting plots with the savvy dexterity of a sharp-eyed detective. These were 4 novels that were made into tv movies by BBC Drama and aired on BBC One and evidently aired on Masterpiece Mystery in the USA. Let me know if this could possibly be it….if not then I will continue to search. I do some good investigative searches at the times on the internet!! LOL.
Sandra says
I also found on wikepedia a list of all the current and old British TV mysteries….here is the link but there are many many of them so it will take a long time to search them all although they do have subcatagories but nothing to sift thru them faster, links at least so can look up each one and they are alphabetized. I searched K since you thought there may be a K involved but didn’t see any possibilities there. I DO HAVE time to look at each of these for you if you want as I am currently bedridden so…just say the word and I will continue on this mystery quest!! Oh, by the way, before I retired I worked for quite a long time for a large international corp and one of my fav task was investigating intl fraud….even found a Columbian Drug Cartel once when I was looking for keys to how a customer’s calling card had been stolen and used world wide with most calls going from Columbia….so it’s in my experience to do these searches when I can….and today is a great day healthwise so let me know.
Sandra says
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_television_series
FORGOT TO GIVE YOU THE LINK FOR THE UK MYSTERIES
Anne says
I have no idea what the show is that Su is looking for but thank you, Sandra, I now have more movies in my Netflix queue. Sally sounds intriguing.
Su says
OMG you guys are amazing!! Oliver’s Travels is it!!! I tip my deerstalker to you. Thanks so much.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
I am so glad you wrote about this series, Su. Looks like a lot of us are going to benefit from all of these suggestions! Thanks to all!