''Blue Murder'' is a British
crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
television series based in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, originally broadcast on
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
from 2003 until 2009, starring
Caroline Quentin
Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in ...
as
DCI Janine Lewis and
Ian Kelsey
Ian Kelsey (born 17 December 1966) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Dave Glover in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', Patrick Spiller in the BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', DI Richard Mayne in the ITV crime drama '' Blue Mur ...
as DI Richard Mayne. Five series of the programme were broadcast over the course of six years. Reruns have aired on
ITV3
ITV3 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was first launched on Monday 1 November 2004 at 9pm, replacing Plus (Granada). ITV3 is the sixth-largest UK television channel by ...
.
Background
''Blue Murder'' centres on a single mother of four, DCI Janine Lewis (
Caroline Quentin
Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in ...
), trying to balance a demanding career with raising her young family, whilst constantly battling with her former husband, who has since started a new family of his own.
The series was created by Cath Staincliffe, a novelist and radio playwright. Staincliffe pitched the idea for ''Blue Murder'' to
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
and a two-part first series was commissioned by the network. The first series began broadcasting on 18 May 2003. Due to strong ratings, a second series of four episodes was subsequently commissioned and began broadcasting in 2004. Staincliffe was principal writer for the first two series, with
John Fay, Jeff Povey and Matthew Hall also contributing scripts for the second series.
The fifth and final series debuted on 7 September 2009. The series was regarded by the cast as the best series yet, and Quentin described the series as having "finally cracked it". The final series included a number of guest stars
Mark Benton
Mark Benton (born 16 November 1965) is an English actor and television presenter known for his roles as Eddie in ''Early Doors'', Howard in '' Northern Lights'' and Martin Pond in '' Barbara''. Benton has also starred in the BBC One school-based ...
,
Lee Boardman
Lee Boardman (born 2 July 1972) is an English actor and narrator. He has appeared in the films ''Jack the Giant Slayer'' and ''Love's Kitchen'', and the television series ''Rome''.
Career
Boardman played Murray Priestman in '' Drop Dead Gorge ...
,
Kieran O'Brien
Kieran O'Brien (born 1973) is an English actor.
Early life and education
Born in Oldham, Lancashire, O'Brien grew up in nearby Royton, and was educated at the Bishop Henshaw Roman Catholic Memorial High School in Rochdale.
Career
O'Brien began ...
,
Brendan Coyle
David "Brendan" Coyle (born 2 December 1962) is an English-Irish actor. He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for ''The Weir'' in 1999. He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries '' North & South'', Robert T ...
,
Heather Peace
Heather Mary Peace (born 16 June 1975) is a British actress, musician and LGBT rights activist from Bradford, England. She is best known for her hit role as Nikki Boston in the BBC One school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' from 2012 to 20 ...
,
Tina O'Brien
Tina Michelle O'Brien (born 7 August 1983) is an English actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Sarah Platt in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (1999–2008, 2015–present). She also appeared in the BBC One drama s ...
,
Sylvia Syms and
Anthony Flanagan
Anthony Flanagan (born 11 April 1972) is an English actor most widely known for his portrayal of policeman Tony in Channel 4's comedy-drama series '' Shameless''.
Biography
Flanagan was born in Stockport, Cheshire. At school he was called Anth ...
.
Cast
*
Caroline Quentin
Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in ...
as DCI Janine Lewis
*
Ian Kelsey
Ian Kelsey (born 17 December 1966) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Dave Glover in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', Patrick Spiller in the BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', DI Richard Mayne in the ITV crime drama '' Blue Mur ...
as DI Richard Mayne
* Nicholas Murchie as DS Tony Shap
*
Paul Loughran
Paul Anthony Martin Loughran (born 7 July 1969 in Belfast) is a Northern Irish actor. He was educated at Methodist College Belfast. He is best known for portraying Butch Dingle in ITV Soap Opera ''Emmerdale'' in which his character died in a b ...
as DS Ian Butchers
*
Rhea Bailey
Rhea Bailey (born 12 July 1983) is a British actress. She is the younger sister of singer Corinne Bailey Rae. Her father is Kittitian and her mother is English. She is best known for her roles as PC Mel Ryder in ''The Bill'' between 2008 and ...
as DC Lisa Goodall (Series 3–4)
* Belinda Everett as DC Kat Skerton (Series 5)
*
David Schofield as DCS James Hackett (Series 1–2)
*
Saskia Wickham
Saskia Wickham (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress best known for playing Alex Wilton in the drama series ''Boon'' and Dr. Erica Matthews in the ITV television drama series ''Peak Practice'' between 1996 and 1998.
Early and personal li ...
as DCS Louise Hogg (Series 3–5)
*
Ceallach Spellman
Ceallach Spellman ( ; born 31 August 1995) is an English actor and presenter best known for playing Matthew Williams in the revival of ITV drama '' Cold Feet'', Harry Fisher in the BBC One school-based drama '' Waterloo Road'' from 2010 to 2011 ...
as Tom Lewis
* Catherine Jenkins as Eleanor Lewis (Series 1–2)
* Eden Garrity as Ellie Lewis (Series 3–5)
*
Joe Tucker
Joe Tucker is a British comedy writer, director and animator known for directing and co-writing the award-winning short film '' For the Love of God''. He has also directed a number of music videos for Hot Club de Paris and, together with Lloyd W ...
as Pete Lewis (Series 1–4)
*
Geoff Breton as Michael Lewis
Series overview
Episode list
Series 1 (2003)
Blue Murder began as two 90-minute (advertisements included) episodes
first shown in May 2003, which gained enough viewers for a full series. This two-part pilot later became known as series one and released as such on DVD in the UK.
Series 2 (2004)
Series 3 (2006)
Roy Mitchell also contributed to the script for episode one, "Steady Eddie".
Series 4 (2007)
Series 5 (2009)
Beginning with this series, the format changed from 90-minute episodes to 60-minute episodes.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Murder episodes, List of
2003 British television series debuts
2009 British television series endings
2000s British crime drama television series
2000s British mystery television series
2000s British police procedural television series
2000s British workplace drama television series
British detective television series
English-language television shows
ITV crime dramas
ITV mystery shows
Murder in television
Television shows produced by Granada Television
Television series by ITV Studios
Television shows set in Manchester