Question about the Linley Mysteries on PBS

BarnOwl · September 15, 2007, 2:16pm

Inspector Linley’s wife, Helen, is being played this year by a different actress. I liked the original better. Does anyone know why she’s no longer in the show?

Antonius_Block · September 16, 2007, 2:35am

Sorry I don’t have any inside scoop on Inspector Lynley, BarnOwl, but since this had dropped off the front page of CS I thought I’d bump it and add some new content, even if only hearsay.

I just took a brief look at the Yahoo! Group devoted to the TV series. [The moderator apparently “believes the TV characters are real and Elizabeth George makes her stories up”. ;)] Posting questions is for members only, but subscription is free of course.

A quick search of past threads produced this:

I presume that the references are:
[ul]
[li]“Nat” is (?) Nathaniel Parker, who plays Inspector Lynley [note spelling, BarnOwl, for future Internet searches… :)][/li][li]“Leslie Vickers” (sic) is Lesley Vickerage, who was actually the second actress to play Helen (Emma Fielding had the role in the pilot episode, and Catherine Russell plays her now). [/li][/ul]I wouldn’t claim to be a devoted fan by any means; I’ve probably seen four episodes. Although I find Lynley himself to be rather bland, I really enjoy Sharon Small’s performance as (misnamed?[sup][/sup])* Detective Sergeant Havers, whose working-class roots don’t hold her back from snarking on Lynley’s aristocratic manners. IMHO, the second-best female performance I’ve seen in a British TV cop series. (#1.)

[[sup]*[/sup]DS Havers rarely havers.]

Encinitas · September 16, 2007, 5:03am

I ador DS Havers and the actress who plays her. I await her elevation to DI! Regarding this season, it seemed to me rather too easy for Tommy and Helen to just bump into each other and get back together.

ouryL · September 17, 2007, 7:40am

Because he plays him like that. I was pleasantly surprised to see him in Stardust.

BarnOwl · September 17, 2007, 1:33pm

Antonius Block:

Sorry I don’t have any inside scoop on Inspector Lynley, BarnOwl, but since this had dropped off the front page of CS I thought I’d bump it and add some new content, even if only hearsay.

I just took a brief look at the Yahoo! Group devoted to the TV series. [The moderator apparently “believes the TV characters are real and Elizabeth George makes her stories up”. ;)] Posting questions is for members only, but subscription is free of course.

A quick search of past threads produced this:I presume that the references are:
[ul]
[li]“Nat” is (?) Nathaniel Parker, who plays Inspector Lynley [note spelling, BarnOwl, for future Internet searches… :)][/li][li]“Leslie Vickers” (sic) is Lesley Vickerage, who was actually the second actress to play Helen (Emma Fielding had the role in the pilot episode, and Catherine Russell plays her now). [/li][/ul]I wouldn’t claim to be a devoted fan by any means; I’ve probably seen four episodes. Although I find Lynley himself to be rather bland, I really enjoy Sharon Small’s performance as (misnamed?[sup][/sup])* Detective Sergeant Havers, whose working-class roots don’t hold her back from snarking on Lynley’s aristocratic manners. IMHO, the second-best female performance I’ve seen in a British TV cop series. (#1.)

[[sup]*[/sup]DS Havers rarely havers.]

Thanks very very much for the information about the second Helen. And you’re spot on about Ms. Mirren. She is indeed the best woman in all of crime drama. If you can rent The Long Good Friday, you’ll see Helen as she looked in 1980 (I think) as the mistress of a Cockney thug. She was quite beautiful, and of course the best actor in the movie.

BarnOwl · September 17, 2007, 1:35pm

I agree with both your observations.

BarnOwl · September 17, 2007, 2:02pm

You can see a topless Lesley Vickerage at

http://members.fortunecity.com/noops283/lesley_vickerage0002.jpg

I didn’t expect this. I set Google to Images and Googled on her name.