''Pie in the Sky'' is a British
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
comedy drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...
starring
Richard Griffiths
Richard Thomas Griffiths (31 July 1947 – 28 March 2013) was an English actor of film, television, and stage. For his performance in the stage play ''The History Boys'', Griffiths won a Tony Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, the Drama Desk Aw ...
and
Maggie Steed
Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret.
Maggie may refer to:
People
Women
* Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician
* Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist
* Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Aust ...
, created by Andrew Payne and first broadcast in five series on
BBC1
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, ...
between 13 March 1994 and 17 August 1997, as well as being syndicated on other channels in other countries.
The
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
, Henry Crabbe, while still being an on-duty, "semi-retired" policeman (much against his will), is also the head chef at his wife's restaurant "Pie in the Sky", set in the fictional town of Middleton and county of Westershire.
Premise
![AlexisSoyerPic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/AlexisSoyerPic.jpg)
The series focuses on the life of
Detective Inspector
Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it.
Australia
In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...
Henry Crabbe, who serves in the police force for the fictional county of Westershire. After 25 years on the job, Crabbe wishes to retire and set up his own restaurant, and is brought one step closer after an attempt to catch a high-profile criminal backfires, leaving him shot in the leg. His boss,
Assistant Chief Constable Freddie Fisher, is unwilling to let Crabbe leave the Westershire force, and so frames him for taking a bribe, effectively blackmailing him into taking on occasional cases when required.
As a result, Crabbe effectively finds his life divided between his duties as a police detective, and a chef in his new restaurant — "Pie in the Sky" — which he runs with his wife Margaret. Each episode thus focuses on two separate plotlines, in which one sees Crabbe investigating a case, while the other sees him, his wife and their staff dealing with a problem that affects their restaurant.
Cast
*
Richard Griffiths
Richard Thomas Griffiths (31 July 1947 – 28 March 2013) was an English actor of film, television, and stage. For his performance in the stage play ''The History Boys'', Griffiths won a Tony Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, the Drama Desk Aw ...
as DI Henry Crabbe, detective and restaurant owner. He is an astute detective, a lover of food, and a great cook.
*
Maggie Steed
Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret.
Maggie may refer to:
People
Women
* Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician
* Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist
* Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Aust ...
as Margaret Crabbe, Henry's wife. She is an accountant and cares little for good food herself, but works in the restaurant and supports Henry's venture, as long as it makes a profit.
*
Malcolm Sinclair as ACC Freddy Fisher, Assistant Chief Constable of Police, Henry's boss. He is most concerned with furthering his career, but recognises that Crabbe is an excellent detective.
* Bella Enahoro as WPC
ater DSSophia Cambridge, detective (Series 1—4). She is a trustworthy officer who accompanies Crabbe on most cases.
*
Mary Woodvine
Mary Louise Woodvine (born 14 July 1967) is a British television actress who appeared as Mary Harkinson in the BBC soap ''EastEnders'' in 2003. Her father is the actor John Woodvine.
Life and career
Woodvine was born in Queen Charlotte's Hos ...
as WPC Jane Morton, police constable (Series 5), accompanies Crabbe on most cases in Series 5.
*
Derren Litten
Derren Ronald Litten (born 21 December 1970) is an English comedy writer and actor, best known as the creator and writer of the sitcom ''Benidorm''. Litten also co-wrote ''The Catherine Tate Show'', for which he both wrote and appeared as seve ...
as PC Ed Guthrie, police constable (Series 5), accompanies Crabbe on most cases in Series 5.
*
Joe Duttine
Joe Duttine, sometimes credited as Jo Duttine (born 30 June 1970), is an English film, theatre and television actor. He currently plays Tim Metcalfe in '' Coronation Street''. He is also known for his role in '' Shameless'' as Cameron Donnell ...
as Steve Turner, chef (Series 1—2). He is an ex-criminal but an honest worker, and a good young chef.
* Nicholas Lamont as Gary Palmer, chef (Series 3—5). Like Steve, he is an ex-criminal, an honest worker and a good young chef.
* Nick Raggett as Leon Henderson, a food supplier for the restaurant, and occasional worker in the restaurant.
* Alison McKenna as Linda Walker, waitress, and girlfriend of Steve (Series 1)
* Ashley Russell as John Dawson, waiter (Series 1—2)
*
Samantha Janus
Samantha Zoe Womack (''née'' Janus; born 2 November 1972) is an English actress, singer, model and director who has worked in film, television and stage. Womack initially planned a career in singing and she represented the United Kingdom in ...
as Nicola Dooley, waitress (Series 2—4)
*
Marsha Thomason
Marsha Lisa Thomason Sykes (born 19 January 1976) is a British television and film actress who is best known for playing Sara Evers in Disney's ''The Haunted Mansion'', Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series ''Las Vegas'', Naomi D ...
as Sally Nicholls, waitress (Series 5)
* Robert Putt as Chief Constable Braithwaite, Fisher's boss (Recurring; Series 4—5)
* Caroline Loncq as Jenny Drabble (Recurring; Series 4—5)
*
Michael Kitchen
Michael Roy Kitchen (born 31 October 1948) is an English actor and television producer, best known for his starring role as Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle in the ITV drama ''Foyle's War'', which comprised eight series betwee ...
as Dudley Hooperman (Series 1)
Episodes
Series 1 (1994)
Series 2 (1995)
Series 3 (1996)
Series 4 (1996)
Series 5 (1997)
Filming locations
Westershire, the fictional county where the series is set, is based on
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
in southern England. Although scenes in Middleton were often filmed in
Marlow in
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
, the exterior of the restaurant, Pie in the Sky, was filmed outside numbe
64 High Streetin the Old Town in
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...
,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
. Originally, a florist and then a toy shop, the building became a minor tourist attraction while the series ran, then housed the business of a dolls’-house maker, and as of 2019, a hair salon. A nearby restaurant at 80 High Street renamed itself "Pie in the Sky" (later becoming "Les Amants") to capitalise on the programme's popularity. In
Olinda, Victoria
Olinda is a town within the Dandenong Ranges in central-south Victoria, Australia, located east of Melbourne's CBD, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Olinda recorded a population of 1,773 at the 2021 census.
It ...
in Australia, a very successful restaurant calle
"Pie in the Sky"also serves many of the TV series' recipes and especially its famous crusty steak and kidney pies. All internal filming at the restaurant was carried out at
Bray Studios
Bray Productions was a pioneering American animation studio that produced several popular cartoons during the years of World War I and the early interwar era, becoming a springboard for several key animators of the 20th century, including the ...
at
Water Oakley
Water Oakley is a hamlet on the River Thames in the civil parish of Bray in the county of Berkshire, England. It is the location of both Bray Studios and the Oakley Court Hotel.
History
It first appeared on maps around 1800. However, the name 'O ...
, near
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
in
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
. The local newspaper, the
Maidenhead Advertiser
The ''Maidenhead Advertiser'' is a weekly local paper which has been published in the Berkshire town of Maidenhead since 1869.
It is an independent publication run by the family firm Baylis Media Ltd, and is unique in that it is owned by a ...
, occasionally appears in the series redubbed the 'Barstock and Middleton Advertiser'. Freddie Fisher plays golf at
Stoke Park Golf Club at
Stoke Poges
Stoke Poges () is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is centred north-north-east of Slough, its post town, and southeast of Farnham Common.
Etymology
In the name Stoke Poges, ''stoke'' means " stockaded (p ...
.
Broadcast, DVD and streaming
The series was originally broadcast in the UK on
BBC1
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, ...
between 13 March 1994 and 17 August 1997.
In Australia, it was originally broadcast on the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
. In 2021, it was broadcast on
7two and streamed on
7plus
7plus (stylised as 7+) is a video on demand, catch-up TV service run by the Seven Network. The service became available on 27 November 2017. 7plus also offers online live streaming of Channel 7, 7two, 7mate, 7flix, Racing.com and 7Sport.
7p ...
.
The entire series is available on DVD in the UK.
In the United States, Acorn Media has released separate sets of all five series on 12 May 2009 (Series 1), 26 January 2010 (Series 2), 7 September 2010 (Series 3), 25 January 2011 (Series 4) and 2 August 2011 (Series 5). The complete series was released on DVD by Acorn Media on 11 November 2011.
The entire series is available for streaming through
AcornTV.
Browse all shows on Acorn TV
accessed 9 September 2021
In Australia, Via Vision Entertainment have released series 1 & 2 on 21 July 2021 and will release series 3-5 on 15 September 2021.
All episodes are currently available to watch in the UK via the UKTV Play platform.
Notes
External links
*
* {{epguides, PieintheSky, Pie in the Sky
BBC television dramas
BBC television comedy
Fictional restaurants
Television series by Fremantle (company)
1994 British television series debuts
1997 British television series endings
1990s British drama television series
1990s British comedy-drama television series
English-language television shows
British detective television series