''The Coroner'' is a

BBC Birmingham BBC Birmingham is one of the oldest regional arms of the BBC, located in Birmingham. It was the first region outside London to start broadcasting both the corporation's radio (in 1922) and television (in 1949) transmissions, the latter from th ...

drama series starring

Claire Goose Claire Goose (born 10 February 1975) is a British actress. She played Tina Seabrook, a nurse in BBC One's ''Casualty'', DS Mel Silver in '' Waking the Dead'', and Sergeant (later Inspector) Rachel Weston in ITV's ''The Bill''. She also narrated ...

as Jane Kennedy, a

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

based in a fictional

South Devon South Devon is the southern part of Devon, England. Because Devon has its major population centres on its two coasts, the county is divided informally into North Devon and South Devon.For exampleNorth DevonanSouth Devonnews sites. In a narrower se ...

coastal town.

Matt Bardock Matthew Arthur Bardock was born in 1969 in Croydon. He is an English actor who is known for playing Jeff Collier in ''Casualty'', DS Clive Barnard in ''A Touch of Frost'', DS Davey Higgins in '' The Coroner'', Albie in '' The Lakes'', Mark Craig ...

stars as Detective Sergeant Davey Higgins. On 2 March 2017, the BBC announced that the series had been cancelled after two series.

Synopsis

Jane Kennedy returns to Lighthaven as the local

. She works with Davey Higgins, a Detective Sergeant in the South Dart police; they were

childhood sweetheart Childhood sweetheart is a reciprocating phrase for a relationship (but not a partnership) between young persons. This may come about by an extension of friendship, physical attraction or develop from natural affinity. The relationship is usually ...

s until he broke her heart. They investigate any sudden, violent or unexplained deaths in the

South Hams South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Services divide between those provided by its own Council headquartered in Totnes, and those provided by Devon County Council headquartered in the city of Exete ...

district of South Devon. Also featuring are Beth, Kennedy's 15-year-old daughter; Judith, Kennedy's mother; Judith's boyfriend, Mick Sturrock; and Clint Holman, Coroner's Officer.

Cast

as Jane Kennedy, Coroner *

as Davey Higgins, Detective Sergeant *

Beatie Edney Beatrice Edney (born 23 October 1962) is an English television actress. Born in London, she is the daughter of actress Sylvia Syms and her husband Alan Edney. Her brother is Benjamin Edney and her cousin is musician Nick Webb. Edney first came ...

as Judith Kennedy, Jane's mother *

Ivan Kaye Ivan Blakeley Kaye (born 1 July 1961) is an English actor and producer. His international fame came with roles in historical drama shows like the Duke of Milan in all three seasons of '' The Borgias'', and King Aelle in the first four Seasons o ...

as Mick Sturrock, landlord of ''The Black Dog'' * Oliver Gomm as Clint Holman, Coroner’s Officer * Grace Hogg-Robinson as Beth Kennedy, Jane's daughter

Production

Sally Abbott created ''The Coroner'' from an idea by Will Trotter, executive producer and head of BBC Drama Birmingham, about a woman coroner aged about 40 and in a location such as the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

or Devon. The series would have self-contained stories with drama and humour; a formula successfully used in ''

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuiti ...

'' from the same production team. The characters, Jane and Davey, were based on

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...

and

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

in ''

Adam's Rib ''Adam's Rib'' is a 1949 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor from a screenplay written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin. It stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as married lawyers who come to oppose each other in ...

'' with the unresolved sexual tension between them. Abbott wrote the Davey character with Matt Bardock in mind. She created four other characters to complete the cast. According to the BBC, the series is not based on, or inspired by,

M R Hall Matthew Hall (born 1 May 1967) is a British screenwriter and novelist. He is sometimes credited as M. R. Hall. Education Hall was educated at Hereford Cathedral School and Worcester College, Oxford (1985–88) where he graduated in law. He was ...

's best-selling books including '' The Coroner''. Hall stated he was "unhappy" about the "enormous similarities", but the BBC say any resemblance with his booksalso about an unusually pro-active, Land Rover driving, forty-something female solicitor who after a failed relationship returns to the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

to take up the post of coronerare purely coincidental. The production office was located at Dartington where some interior scenes were filmed. Filming began in mid-April 2015 for 15 weeks. The episodes were divided into blocks of two with the same director, assistant director, and director of photography. Locations included

Hope Cove Hope Cove is a small seaside village within the civil parish of South Huish in South Hams District, Devon, England. It is located west of Salcombe and south west of Kingsbridge. It has two beaches, and is sheltered by the headland of Bolt T ...

, Dartmouth,

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...

, and Broadsands Beach,

Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignt ...

. The Mansion, now a community building, in

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-so ...

was used as the Coroner's Court. A brass plate was attached to the brickwork. The exterior and interior of Oldway Mansion is used as Lighthaven's town hall. The Old

Customs House A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...

in Bayard's Cove, Dartmouth is the location of the Coroners office. The set for The Black Dog Inn is the derelict Crooked Spaniards Inn,

Cargreen Cargreen ( kw, Karrekreun) is a small settlement in southeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated beside the River Tamar approximately two miles (3 km) north of Saltash. It is in the civil parish of Landulph. Cargreen has a ya ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. The tower at Gribben Head, Cornwall featured in the first episode. The Old Custom House Bayards Cove Dartmouth Devon.JPG, The Old Custom House, Bayards Cove File:The Crooked Spaniards public house, Cargreen.jpg, The derelict Crooked Spaniards File:Gribbin Tower - geograph.org.uk - 1239648.jpg, Gribben Tower, Gribben Head

Episodes

Series 1 (2015)

Series 2 (2016)

DVD

Both series are available on DVD in the UK. They have also been released in Germany and Australia. All of these releases are PAL format. NTSC format DVDs will be released in the USA in 2018. Although being one of the first BBC drama series to be shot in 4K resolution, there have been no blu-rays released in either 4K or high definition in any region to date.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coroner (TV series), The 2015 British television series debuts 2016 British television series endings 2010s British crime drama television series 2010s British legal television series BBC crime television shows BBC high definition shows BBC television dramas Detective television series English-language television shows Television shows about death Television shows set in Devon BBC Daytime television series