''Oliver's Travels'' is a five-part television serial written by

Alan Plater Alan Frederick Plater (15 April 1935 – 25 June 2010) was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s. Career Plater was born in Jarrow, County Durham, although his family ...

and starring Alan Bates,

Sinéad Cusack Sinéad Moira Cusack ( ) is an Irish actress. Her first acting roles were at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, before moving to London in 1969 to join the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has won the Critics' Circle and ''Evening Standard'' Awards f ...

, Bill Paterson, and

Miles Anderson Miles Anderson (born 23 October 1947) is a British stage and screen actor, born in the colony of Southern Rhodesia, who has appeared in television serials both in the United Kingdom, and North America. He recently appeared as Alistair the phot ...

. It first aired in the UK in 1995.

Plot

Bates plays the titular Oliver (it is never made clear whether this is his first or last name), a keen word-game enthusiast and lecturer in

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

. After his teaching post is made redundant, he resolves to make use of his new wealth of free time by going to visit his favourite

crossword A crossword is a word puzzle that usually takes the form of a square or a rectangular grid of white- and black-shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answ ...

compiler, 'Aristotle', with whom he has corresponded but whom he has never met. When he arrives, however, he finds Aristotle's house has been ransacked and its occupant has departed for parts unknown, and he sets out to discover why. Accompanied by WPC Diane Priest (Cusack) (suspended from the police for voicing suspicions about a senior officer), and doggedly pursued by the mysterious Mr. Baxter (Paterson), he finds himself caught up in all manner of nefarious activities, leading from South Wales to a surprising twist ending in the

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

islands.

Cast

* Alan Bates as Oliver *

as WPC Diane Priest * Bill Paterson as Baxter * Morgan Jones as Michael Priest *

as Baron Kite *

Peter Vaughan Peter Vaughan (born Peter Ewart Ohm; 4 April 1923 – 6 December 2016) was an English character actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on the stage. He is perhaps best know ...

as Delaney *

Charlotte Coleman Charlotte Ninon Coleman (3 April 1968 – 14 November 2001) was an English actress best known for playing Scarlett in the film ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'', Jess in the television drama '' Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'', and her childhood ...

as Cathy

Production

The series was developed from Alan Plater's own novel.

External links

* *
Oliver's Travels
' at the PBS ''

Mystery! ''Mystery!'' (also written ''MYSTERY!'') is a television anthology series produced by WGBH Boston for PBS in the United States. The series was created as a mystery, police and crime drama spin-off of the already established PBS show ''Masterpi ...

'' web site 1995 British television series debuts 1995 British television series endings 1990s British drama television series BBC television dramas 1990s British television miniseries Television shows set in Wales English-language television shows 1990s British mystery television series {{BBC-tv-prog-stub