MASTERPIECE THEATRE: A MURDER OF QUALITY {EPISODE 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of dramas presented under the umbrella of "Masterpiece Theatre," hosted by Alistair Cooke. This two-part production is based on the novel by John Le Carré, his only non-spy-related work. The first portion opens as students at Carne College, a British boys' independent school, go about their daily schedule, while elsewhere a woman named Stella Rode is murdered by an unseen assailant. Her husband Stanley, a science teacher at Carne, returns home from a dinner party and discovers her body. Inspector Rigby and his sergeants examine the scene, observing that she was killed with some kind of chain or something "bendy," and that her necklace and blue coat are missing. Elsewhere, Ailsa "Brim" Brimley visits her old friend George Smiley and reveals that Stella, her niece, wrote her a letter claiming that her husband was trying to kill her. She adds that Terence Fielding, brother of their former colleague Adrian, also works at the school, and asks Smiley to travel to Carne and investigate. When Smiley telephones Fielding, however, he learns that Stella is already dead. Smiley and Brim hurry to the school, and Smiley talks with Reverend Fergus, who dismisses Stella's claims as nonsense. A Mr. D'Arcy admits that he wrote a threatening letter to Stella after she interrogated a student about his parents' divorce and asked prying questions. At the same time, the police investigate a local madwoman named Janie and also learn that D'Arcy is carrying on an affair with Alice, the assistant of the veterinarian, who apparently recently put down the Rodes' dog.
Stanley, still in shock, observes that one student, Tim Perkins, received an unusually good grade on a recent test. Rigby learns that Stella was killed with a coaxial cable, and the coroner reports that the killer was likely a man of considerable strength. Stanley admits that he owned a coaxial cable for his experiments, but that it recently went missing. During a moment alone, Alice reveals that she told Stella about her affair with D'Arcy, which worries him. Rigby walks Smiley through the crime scene, explaining that Stella too was at the dinner party, hosted by Fielding, but left early by herself and walked home. Sergeant Mundy finds the murder weapon, and the police note its extreme weight. At another of Fielding's parties, the Carne staff talks about Stella, and despite her charity work, they conclude that she had a "holier-than-thou" attitude and was generally unlikable. Fielding ruminates miserably on his dislike of Carne and its attitudes, and when Perkins stops by, Smiley notes that he is the same boy who possibly cheated on Stanley's test. When asked, Smiley downplays Stella's accusatory letter and asks Fielding about his upcoming retirement. Fielding reveals that because of a former arrest for "indecency," he will receive no pension when his career ends, also adding that he was rejected by the British government as a spy, unlike Adrian. Rigby arrives and asks about Stanley's briefcase on the night of the murder, asking if it was particularly heavy and therefore possibly contained the cable. Perkins hovers around Fielding's home as Smiley departs, but declines to speak further. Smiley then tests the distance between Fielding's home and the Rodes', then breaking into the home and finding a number of clothing donation tags—and also another body. Commercials deleted. Continued on B:30351.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: October 13, 1991 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:30352
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1971-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Brian Walcroft … Executive Producer
- Eric Abraham … Producer
- Gavin Millar … Director
- John le Carré … Writer
- Stanley Myers … Music by
- Alistair Cooke … Host
- Denholm Elliott … Cast, George Smiley
- Joss Ackland … Cast, Terence Fielding
- Glenda Jackson … Cast, Ailsa Brimley
- Billie Whitelaw … Cast, Mad Janie
- David Threlfall … Cast, Stanley Rode
- Ronald Pickup … Cast, Felix D'Arcy
- Matthew Scurfield … Cast, Inspector Rigby
- Christian Bale … Cast, Tim Perkins
- Diane Fletcher … Cast, Shane Hecht
- Fiona Walker … Cast, Dorothy D'Arcy
- Nick Reding … Cast, Sergeant Mellor
- Michael Cochrane … Cast, Charles Hecht
- Charles Pemberton … Cast, Sergeant Ted Mundy
- William Armstrong … Cast, The Reverend Fergus
- Moray Watson … Cast, Major Harriman
- Helen Lindsay … Cast, Mrs. Harlowe
- Samantha Janus … Cast, Alice Lowry
- John Grillo … Cast, The Pathologist
- Jane Montgomery … Cast, Mandy
- Emily Raymond … Cast, Ann Snow
- Tim Dutton … Cast, Simon Snow
- George Raistrick … Cast, Samuel Glaston
- George Winter … Cast, Constable Dai
- Joanna Jacobs … Cast, Stella Rode
- Ben Lushbrook … Cast, Boxer
- B. Davis … Cast, Plum
- Nick Lewis … Cast, Friend of Perkins
- Peter Snelling … Cast, Friend of Perkins
- Thorley Walters … Cast, Bishop Harry