''Charters and Caldicott'' is a 1985 BBC mystery series featuring the characters

Charters and Caldicott Charters and Caldicott started out as two supporting characters in the 1938 Alfred Hitchcock film '' The Lady Vanishes''. The pair of cricket-obsessed characters were played by Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford. The characters were created by F ...

from the Hitchcock film ''

The Lady Vanishes ''The Lady Vanishes'' is a 1938 British mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave. Written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, based on the 1936 novel ''The Wheel Spins'' by Ethel L ...

'' updated to a 1980s setting. It comprised six 50 minute episodes broadcast on BBC1 at 9.25pm on Thursdays from 10 January to 14 February 1985.

Plot

The story shows the pair in their retirement. Caldicott lives in the splendid Viceroy Court in Marylebone, whilst Charters is a widower living in a country cottage near

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...

, travelling up to his Pall Mall club on a Green Line bus (hailing it on the street as if it were a taxi). When a young girl is found murdered in Caldicott's flat, Charters and Caldicott forsake their regular Friday lunch and cinema visit to involve themselves in solving the crime. Inevitably, the plot involves the game of cricket, with the two finding coded messages in a letter that purports to correct errors in the description of a game in the

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

, the official Bible of first-class cricket.

Cast

Robin Bailey William Henry Mettam "Robin" Bailey (5 October 1919 – 14 January 1999) was an English actor. He was born in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. Often cast in upper class and tradition-bound roles such as Mr Justice Graves in Thames Television's '' ...

–

Charters A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

Michael Aldridge Michael William ffolliott Aldridge (9 September 1920 – 10 January 1994) was an English actor. He was known for playing Seymour Utterthwaite in the television series ''Last of the Summer Wine'' from 1986 to 1990 and he had a long career as a ...

–

Caldicott Caldicott, also known as Vessey House and Essex Farm, is a historic home located at Rehobeth, Somerset County, Maryland, United States. It is a large frame dwelling constructed between 1784 and 1798. The house stands two stories above a raise ...

Granville Saxton Granville may refer to: People and fictional characters *Granville (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Earl Granville, a title in the Peerage of Great Britain and of the UK * Baron Granville, a title in the ...

– Gregory * Caroline Blakiston – Margaret Mottram * Patrick Carter – Grimes *

Tessa Peake-Jones Tessa Peake-Jones (born 9 May 1957) is an English actress having appeared in ''The Danedyke Mystery'' (1979), ''Pride and Prejudice'' (1980), '' When We Are Married'' (1987), '' Up the Garden Path'' (1990–1993), '' So Haunt Me'' (1992–1994), ...

– Jenny * Gerard Murphy – Inspector Snow

Crew

*Keith Waterhouse – Writer *Julian Amyes – Director *Ron Craddock – Producer

External links

* * Comedy Guide BBC television comedy 1985 British television series debuts 1985 British television series endings {{BBC-tv-prog-stub