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A very unwise decision The death of Dalziel - the BBC took the title of the most recent Dalziel and Pascoe novel very literal. After 12 seasons the curtain falls for the iluster detective duo. Also the future of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries is very uncertain. Thursday the BBC shows the last of the two new Lynley episodes. "I heard about it the usual way, my agency or something like that." tells Nathaniel Parker, by phone from his house in London. "It is striking because I was told by the BBC last year that they thought about making six new programs. Eventually that become two, and now the series comes to an end." Parker was surprised when he heard the news, but was very disappointed to know that he will never again play opposite Sharon Small, who plays Barbara Havers. "A final closing episode would have been nice." Parker can just guess for the reason the BBC wants to stop with Lynley. "Cutting the costs? I should think that the international sales for Lynley, there is enough money. But the BBC got a lot of new managers, and they want to reinvent themselves. Cutting the costs. Colin Buchanan (Peter Pascoe) was equally surprised. "I was told on July 6 that the BBC were reconsidering the way they operate." he says on the phone from Birmingham. "Dalziel and Pascoe are not part of that reconsideration.The exact reason is unknown."One of the posibilities for the end of the series is the still very unknown and complicated idea of hdtv that BBC Drama is going to use. Buchanan: "A very unwise decision, because it is still a very unknown and complicated part of TV technique for which you need the right people. The BBC doesn’t have enough of these people. And Dalziel and Pascoe is a very expensive program and they don't want to give any more money to it. Since 1995 we were working with the same budget, while they did cut the costs more and more. We didn’t see any of the money the series makes when it is internationally sold." Buchanan sees new carreer moves but feels sad that he can no longer work with Warren Clark (Dalziel), who is privately his good friend. "And I will miss the crew from Birmingham, that faces an uncertain future." The chance that the team comes back together for filming the novel The death of Dalziel, even as a special is very small, according to Buchanan. "There should be a script somewhere, but I have to see it." Petitions Mignon Huisman, who bought both Lynley and Dalziel and Pascoe for the KRO Television, talks about a great loss if this is really true. "We had a great time with Dalziel and Pascoe. But at one point you see some fatigue. But that was not the case for Lynley. To miss two great and household series could be a big problem. I have to wait and see what more will be produced but there could be a gap in the program schedule. I am glad to say that we have episodes left to show from both series." But it could be a problem, because they are cutting more detective series: Foyle's War is ending, and Prime Suspect and Murder City. Huisman: "We have some time left with Foyle's War. For Prime Suspect it is all over. But on the other hand there is a new production like Lewis. In the years that I have done this kind of work things got thrilling. In the end, new things came or more episodes were made." Doesn't Huisman find it odd that BBC Worldwide, the company that distributes the series, doesn't put the money back in the series it sells? "The BBC is a public channel. The sales department functions like a different commercial office. They want to keep it that way, because the decision whether or not to make such a program or not has nothing to do with the public function, it is commercial. But it is a missed opportunity to stop these great programs, that are worldwide bestsellers. Maybe we should start a petition." Nobody at the Press center of BBC World wide is aware of the fact that Lynley and Dalzie and Pascoe are axed. After asking for a very long time someone finally tells us that both series are "under review" and that they are not aware of a definite decision about the future of both series. Great riddle for gentlemen Dalziel and Pascoe and their much appreciated colleague Lynley: how can it be that the leading actors says otherwise? Kro Magazine week 11 - 17 august 2007 www.theinspectorlynleymysteries.net © 2007 - 2010 Debby Phielix. All rights reserved. |
