At a ladies-only college in Oxford, the alumni are having a gathering to send off one of their best known Professors. Bitchy asides and high-class bullying make sure that the evening is not uneventful.
A waitress finds a body after the drinks and the false laughter have faded away. The case brings back the memories of a similar incident some nine years ago for DI Lewis. The policeman is transported back to an unhappy time and a case that he was taken off.
Trying to get in touch with an old colleague proves less helpful than he expected. However, Hathaway is ever present to provide the support Lewis needs and an unexpected medical miracle gives the pair leverage to force old friends to tell the truth about their indiscretions.
As the bodies start to pile up, Midsomer style, the Oxford coppers are in a race against time to unmask the guests from a fancy dress ball that took place nearly a decade ago.
Lewis is to the mind what a warm bath is to the body. Ideal Sunday evening viewing.
“Lewis: Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things” airs on 3rd April 2011 at 8pm on ITV in the UK only.
Cast
- Kevin Whately as DI Robert Lewis
- Laurence Fox as DS James Hathaway
- Clare Holman as Dr Laura Hobson
- Rebecca Front as Innocent
- Zoë Telford as Freya Carlisle
- Stephanie Street as Lakshmi Eyre
- Melanie Kilburn as Pauline Turrill
- Juliet Stevenson as Diana Ellerby
- Shannon Tarbett as Samantha Coyle
- Joanne Pearce as Marion Ferber
- Hattie Morahan as Ruth Brooks
- Antonia Campbell Hughes as Chloe Brooks
- Saskia Reeves as Alison McLennan
- Hassani Shapi as Dr Copeland
- Ian Bleasdale as Mr Festing
- James Rochford as Edward Florey
Thanks Sam. That was a huge help.
Just saw this episode in the US. ‘Twas indeed confusing, and it took some time to figure this out; no thanks to the writers of this episode. SPOILER ALERT…..
Poppy was killed by Ellerby who was leaving for America and didn’t want to leave loose ends behind; in particular a vengeful and malevolent Poppy who wouldn’t have relished being left behind by her ticket to being accepted in Oxford. The murder of the fresher was a tougher nut to crack until I realized that she had been the server who found Poppy’s body in the first place. It is likely that she caught a glimpse of the killer (Ellerby) because she had heard a sound and looked up after coming across the late Poppy. Or, perhaps, Ellerby was paranoid enough to take out any potential witness, like the girl in the coma from the last time around. Or she might just have hated any girl in her house having it off with a man. In any case, a rather poorly written episode that had some promise.
*** Spoiler Alert ***
I think I must be missing something – who killed Poppy? And why? Surely not Ellerby, since Poppy was paying McLennan to keep the original murder quiet???
I’m also really confused. Who did what, to who and why? Very muddled
I had the exact same question – who killed Poppy, the first murder? Other than that, the person they “got” at the end for the rest of the killings made sense. Perhaps Poppy was going to tell, after all?
Who did the second murder (the girl going out the guy on the motorbike who was found on the college grounds)? And why was she killed?
Ellerby handled that by killing both Poppy and McLennan.
There was some suggestion that Poppy may have had a one-night liaison with Judd, who was Ellerby’s lover and first victim. This all seems to stem from Ellerby’s jealousy. One even wonders if Judd’s unwanted attentions to the young Ophelia spurred jealousy rather than disgust (as suggested) in Ellerby.
Ellerby handled the issue by killing both Poppy and McLennan.
There is also a secondary motivation, not adequately presented, that Ellerby was intensely jealous of anyone after whom Judd lusted. Thus Ophelia in the first place. A guess was made, but dismissed, that Poppy had slept with Judd.
It was only a bit after the immolation that my wife and I suddenly realized that we didn’t know who had killed Poppy. And we still don’t know for sure why the young waitress had to go. Motorcycles?
Very interesting and helpful. Missed the episode and would like to if it’ll be repeated soon and, if so, when so that I can fix a recording. It’d be useful if such info was always shown on Internet details given by broadcasters. [ please insert know after like – making a correction on an iPad is laborious!]
I think the episode should be on the online version of ITV (for UK viewers).