A black comedy to die for
MARION McMULLEN discovers how Dawn French had murder in mind 30 years ago with the launch of her new comedy series
DEATH became Dawn French 30 years ago when she went solo to star in Murder Most Horrid.
The wonderfully twisted black comedies saw her play different characters in every episode in a series of self-contained stories that all had one theme linking them – death and murder.
She knew where all the bodies were buried as she appeared in a host of guises, from police officers and a granny to a surgeon with a secret in her past and an au pair from Brazil.
The BBC2 comedy series launched on November 14, 1991, with The Case Of The Missing, which saw Dawn as WPC Diane Softly who was suddenly moved from traffic duties to head a murder investigation.
Another episode, Frozen, saw her and Joanna Scanlan as sisters who did not seem to be affected by post-war rationing due to their freezer being full of cakes baked by their late mother. However, when they ran out of food after the freezer broke down, a repairman provided the unique and morbid answer to their problem.
A total of 24 episodes were made over four series with Dawn being joined by top guest stars including Hugh Laurie, Ray Winstone, Timothy Spall, Minnie Driver and Hugh Bonneville.
Dexter Fletcher joined her in Murder At Tea Time which saw her as veteran children’s TV presenter Bunty Breslaw who begins to feel threatened when young rival Colin joins the show, so she decides to put him in his place.
Girl Friday had Dawn as a super-efficient PA to Nigel Havers as businessman Harvey Stafford. The 30-minute offerings offered a lot of scope for Dawn’s acting talents and she once said: “I am a kid in the dressing-up box at heart.”