''Moon and Son'' is a British television

astrological Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

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 ...

, created and produced by

Robert Banks Stewart Robert Banks Stewart (16 July 1931 – 14 January 2016) was a Scottish screenwriter, television producer and former journalist. He was sometimes credited as Robert Stewart early in his career. Banks Stewart contributed extensively to drama for th ...

, that broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

from January 4, 1992. The series was Martin's first British role in fifteen years, and was considered to be a "rare misfire" for creator Banks Stewart (who destribed this series as "a light-hearted thriller"), whose previous series '' Bergerac'' and ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'' had enjoyed significant success on British television. Despite reports that the BBC had already commissioned a second series prior to the first series being broadcast, only thirteen episodes were made and the series was swiftly axed due to poor ratings, despite airing in a primetime Saturday evening slot. To date, the series has only been repeated once on Satellite TV, and has never been released on DVD.

Premise

The series starred

Millicent Martin Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer, and comedian. She was the lone female singer of topical songs on the weekly BBC Television satire show ''That Was the Week That Was'' known as TW3 (1962–1963), a ...

as clairvoyant and astrologer Gladys Moon, whose ability is more instinctive than psychic and

John Michie John Michie (born 25 October 1956) is a Scottish television and film actor, known for his roles as DI Robbie Ross in the STV detective drama series ''Taggart'', as Karl Munro in ''Coronation Street'' from 2011–2013 and his role as CEO Guy S ...

as her

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...

son, Trevor, who travel between

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, conducting readings and selling

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

and

goods from their mobile "Astral Centre Salon" called "Visions" and getting involved in various police investigations along the way.

Background

Alongside Martin and Michie,

Laure Killing Laure Killing (12 January 1959 – 18 November 2019) was a French actress who appeared in more than fifty films from 1986 on. Killing died of cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to inva ...

co-starred as Cecille Coulmier, Trevor's girlfriend. Other characters include the zany Zelda, a medium friend of Gladys' played by

Anita Graham Anita Graham (born 15 February 1948) is a British film, stage and television actress and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Graham's first television role was in an episode of '' Crossroads'' (1964). She went on to appear in '' T ...

, Sergeant Eavis, played by

Ian Redford Ian Petrie Redford (5 April 1960 – 10 January 2014) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a midfielder or forward. He played for Dundee before joining Rangers for a then Scottish record transfer fee. At Rangers he won in three d ...

, and Inspector Sardou, played by

Patrick Drury Patrick Drury (born 19 August 1945) is an English character actor best known for playing shopkeeper John O'Leary in the Channel 4 television comedy ''Father Ted'' and Ivan in ''The Beiderbecke Connection''. Early life Drury was educated at ...

. The series was mostly filmed in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and

. A variety of locations were used for filming, including

Kent and East Sussex Railway The Kent and East Sussex Railway (K&ESR) refers to both a historical private railway company in Kent and East Sussex in England, as well as a heritage railway currently running on part of the route of the historical company. Historical compa ...

Oare Marshes Oare Marshes is a Local Nature Reserve north of Faversham in Kent. It is owned and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of The Swale Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, National Nature Reserve, Ramsar internationally important we ...

Chilham Castle Chilham Castle is a Jacobean manor house and keep in the village of Chilham, between Ashford and Canterbury in the county of Kent, England. The keep is of Norman origin and dates to 1174; the manor house was completed in 1616 for Sir Dudley Di ...

, Crabble Corn Mill, Dover,

Deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, ...

Folkestone Harbour Folkestone Harbour is the main harbour of the town of Folkestone in Kent, England. History In 1541, King Henry VIII of England was about to wage a war against the French. A plan was made to use Folkestone as a port of embarkation to supplies an ...

, Dungeness Estate, The Grand Folkestone, The Leas Cliff Hall and The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. Christine Buttner of

Ravensbourne University London Ravensbourne University London (formerly Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication) is a digital media and design university, with vocational courses in fashion, television and broadcasting, interactive product design, architecture an ...

acted as astrological adviser to the programme, emphasising the astrological elements of the storyline, with crystal balls, phrenological heads, hand reading and healing crystals.

Cast

as Gladys Moon *

as Trevor Moon *

as Cecille Coulmier *

as Zelda Lee *

as Detective Sergeant Eavis *

as Inspector Sardou

Episodes

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0201387, Moon and Son 1990s British drama television series 1990s British television miniseries 1992 British television series debuts 1992 British television series endings BBC television dramas English-language television shows Fictional duos Folkestone Television shows set in France Television shows set in Kent Television shows shot in Kent