Murder Being Once Done
1991: Adapted by Matthew Jacobs from the Ruth Rendell novel.
Mike Burden has been seconded to the Met and is investigating the murder of a young woman found strangled in a London cemetery vault, when Reg Wexford - who is recuperating from a thrombosis - comes to stay. Burden's case is not going well and Wexford decides to go against doctor's orders and embark upon his own unofficial investigation… Continue reading →
Background: Wexford tries to take his mind off things by hunting down an English translation of Sir Thomas More's Utopia: 'The murder being once done, he is in less fear and more hope that the deed shall not be betrayed…'. Inspector Burden does not feature in Ruth Rendell's original story and it is Wexford’s high-flying nephew - Superintendent Howard Fortune - who takes the part of the chief investigating officer in the novel.
Audio Clip: “This is London, not Kingsmarkham…”
Audio Clip: “This is London, not Kingsmarkham…”
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Cast and Crew
- DCI Wexford
- GEORGE BAKER
- DI Burden
- CHRISTOPHER RAVENSCROFT
- Dora Wexford
- LOUIE RAMSAY
- Jenny Burden
- DIANE KEEN
- Dr Len Crocker
- JOHN BURGESS
- DI Baker
- JOHN FORGEHAM
- Brian Gregson
- PHILIP GLENISTER
- Sgt Clements
- GEORGE SWEENEY
- Ivan Teal
- IAN McNEICE
- Postman
- DEREK HICKS
- Elderly Man
- HUGH DICKSON
- Barman
- NIGEL GREGORY
- Hannah Peters
- VALERIE WHITTINGTON
- Mrs Lyle
- CONSTANCE CHAPMAN
- Mrs Foster
- BARBARA KEOGH
- Stephen Dearborn
- MICHAEL ELWYN
- Melanie Dearborn
- POLLY ADAMS
- Peggy Pope
- LIZZIE McINNERNY
- Johnny Lamont
- TOM RADCLIFFE
- Receptionist
- COLIN MEREDITH
- Script Executive
- CORINNE CARTIER
- Original music composed by
- BRIAN BENNETT
- Casting Director
- DOREEN JONES
- Production Manager
- MARK COOPER
- Location Managers
- IAN STRACHAN
DENNIS FIRMINGER - 1st Assistant Director
- FRANCESCO REIDY
- Continuity
- LIZ WEST
- Production Secretary
- CATHIE WILLCOCKS
- Stage Manager
- MIKE FISHER
- Production Buyer
- GEOFF BURFORD
- Graphic Design
- THE ORIGINAL
GRAPHICS COMPANY - Costume Designer
- WENDY McCULLAGH
- Make Up Supervisor
- TONI HOLMES
- Camera Grip
- ALAN IMESON
- Designer
- CHRISTINE RUSCOE
- Dubbing Mixer
- TONY CUNNINGHAM
- Dubbing Editor
- PETER DANSIE
- Sound Recordist
- MAURICE HILLIER
- Film Editor
- CHRISTOPHER WENTZELL
- Lighting Cameraman
- KEN BRINSLEY
- Executive Producer
- GRAHAM BENSON
- Producer
- NEIL ZEIGER
- Directed by
- JOHN GORRIE
- A Television South Production
Principle Characters
Murder Being Once Done
Wexford dreams of a baby crying in a gloomy cemetery vault. He then wakes in terrible pain and discovers that he has suffered a thrombosis in his eye. Dr Crocker (John Burgess) orders the inspector to go on a strict diet and take time off work. Dora is hoping for a few weeks by the sea but Reg opts instead to stay in London with Mike and Jenny Burden.
Mike Burden has been seconded to the Met and is attached to Detective Inspector Baker (John Forgeham) at Kenbourne Vale station. Baker is a difficult, charmless man with an unhappy private life. His sergeant, Clements (George Sweeney), is preoccupied with thoughts of a child he and his wife are hoping to adopt.
Burden is working on the case of a young woman who has been found murdered in a cemetery vault. There are few clues: nobody comes forward to claim the girl, and no links to her family can be found.
Reg, taken out of his usual milieu, and without the stimuli of good food and police work, becomes dispirited. He begins to doubt his ability and question whether he has become too old for the job that he has loved for more than thirty years. Burden wishes he could discuss the case with his chief but Dr Crocker has given stern warnings against involving the DCI in any investigation. However, Mike can see that a lack of involvement is making Reg worse, and decides to brief him on the case.
The murdered girl is Loveday Morgan. She worked in a small TV rental shop in Kenbourne Vale and Inspector Baker believes that her taciturn work colleague - Brian Gregson (Philip Glenister) - is responsible for her death. Loveday lived in a bedsit at 21 Garmishe Terrace - a squalid, six storey dwelling - run by a young woman called Peggy Pope (Lizzie McInnerny).
Peggy lives on the ground floor with her lover, Johnny Lamont (Tom Radcliffe) and their baby girl. The top flat is inhabited by Ivan Teale (Ian McNeice), a gay fashion designer. Teale is able to give Wexford an insight into the dead girl. She was shy, with a repressed manner and Teale suspects that she had lived in a closed community - possibly a religious cult.
A chance meeting - close to the scene of the crime - leads Wexford to Stephen and Melanie Dearborn. Stephen (Michael Elwyn) is chairman of Notbourne Properties and is passionate about his newborn child and the redevelopment of Kenbourne Vale. Melanie’s (Polly Adams) happiness is overshadowed by the disappearance of her estranged older daughter.
Background notes | Cast & crew »
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