Cop show with a touch of class...
Crime drama looked at the great class divide with the launch of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries 20 years ago. MARION investigates further
SHE came from working class roots and was used to a life of hard graft and he was the 8th Earl of Asherton and used to a life of privilege.
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries were based on the bestselling books by American Elizabeth George and launched on the BBC on March 12, 2001.
Elizabeth originally thought Sharon Small was too pretty to play the mousy Sergeant Barbara Havers, but she was won over when she saw her performance.
It was reported that Sharon even hacked off her own hair to create her dishevelled look.
Nathaniel Parker was cast as the aristocratic Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley who was used to getting things his own way and his partnership with Havers began with a two-part special called A Great Deliverance.
It was based on the first Inspector Lynley novel and saw the duo called to the murder of a farmer on the Yorkshire
Moors. He had been killed in a
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barn with his own axe by his teenage daughter.
The chalk and cheese partnership proved so popular that they continued working on cases together over 23 episodes until the series came to an end in 2008.
Future superman star Henry Cavill, Idris Elba, James Mcavoy and Samantha Bond, best known as Miss Moneypenny from the James Bond movies, were among those who appeared in the hit series.
Nathaniel, who has gone on to appear in the likes of Stardust and Merlin, was disappointed when the series came to an abrupt end and said: “I wish they’d given us the chance to do a sign-off to tie up all the loose ends. Instead it’s just been abandoned. I find that quite sad.”
Fans of the crime drama even launched a petition to try and save the show, but it was cancelled by the BBC.