Hilariously mismatched, the detective duo of sunny Luella Shakespeare (Jo Joyner, Murdoch Mysteries) and grumpy Frank Hathaway (Mark Benton, Death in Paradise) are back on the case in tourist town Stratford-Upon Avon. You might think the birthplace of William Shakespeare would be safe from fraud, extortion, vice, identity theft, and ransom, but you would be wrong. 10 episodes, 7 ½ hrs, 2 DVDs.
Episodes
Episode 1 - Outrageous Fortune
Lawyer George Gonzalo seeks out Frank and Lu to help a client with a difference - he's got four paws and is worth his weight in gold. Mongrel Tim, heir to the late Theodore Athenaeus' vast shipping fortune, has run away from his life of luxury at the opulent Miranda Park. With the promise of a £25,000 reward for his safe recovery, Frank and Lu vow to suss out where, and why, Tim would flee.
Episode 2 - The Play's the Thing
Adrian Messenger, creator of The Legends of Engelworld, successfully controls the loves and lives of his LARP characters, but struggles with his own; he suspects wife Maggie, aka Queen Margaret, of having an affair with the Duke of Yorcastria, aka Major Tony Suffolk, and employs Frank and Lu to find proof. Undercover in the game, our PIs witness a devastated Maggie threatening to kill Tony when he breaks things off.
Episode 3 - This Cursed Hand
Failed actor Harold Hamworthy has a penchant for mischief and hogging the limelight, but when he absconds with Sebastian's tourists during a Shakespearean ghost walk, something finally upstages him - in the form of a dismembered human hand. Harold finds himself in hot water when sinister figures Alek and Dimitri try to snatch the hand, but he manages to give them the slip.
Episode 4 - Beware the Ides of March
When a falling studio light nearly kills Julienne Fortby live on air during psychic TV show, The Fortby Sisters, the horrified psychic visits Frank and Lu - someone's trying to kill her. Frank's sceptical of the medium, although Lu's impressed when Julienne gets a "message" from her late grandmother.
Episode 5 - No More Cakes and Ale
Late one night at Touchstone Farm, farmer Eddie Dogberry's violently assaulted when he accosts three thieves attempting to steal his quad bike. The thieves leave Eddie for dead, witnessed by bag lady, Cynthia Sly, concealed in a haystack... 6 months later Portia Montgomery, Solicitor Advocate, visits Frank and Lu with a plea for help. She's defending Ant Donohue in court for burglary and assault of Eddie Dogberry.
Episode 6 - The Offered Fallacy
Arden Constabulary's inundated with complaints about con-artists doing the rounds - and there's something familiar about the duo. At HQ, Frank and Lu haven't had any new clients in over a week, although Sebastian's inundated with complaints. Relieved to finally have a client, Frank and Lu visit Emelia Merchant about her missing husband, but she seems to think they've met before...
Episode 7 - Nothing Will Come of Nothing
Devastatingly handsome compulsive gambler Lorenzo Foyle's luck may have run out - watching a spinning roulette wheel land on black, he manically laughs that he's a dead man. 3 days later, Lorenzo's pregnant wife, Ava, approaches Frank and Lu, desperate to find him. Frank wonders whether Lorenzo, who owes money all over town, has left her, but Ava's adamant he was excited at the prospect of fatherhood.
Episode 8 - In My Memory Lock'd
Bored during a stake-out, Frank and Lu spot a befuddled-looking man with a head wound wandering the streets; when questioned, the man hasn't a clue who he is. When DI Marlowe can't offer much help, Frank and Lu set out to discover his identity.
Episode 9 - The Envious Court
When Runningbrook Tennis Club's owner Frederick Greenwood, new beau of Lu's mother Genevieve, receives a death threat, he hires Frank and a reluctant Lu to find the culprit and go undercover as potential new members.
Episode 10 - Too Cold For Hell
Newlyweds Anthony and Bianca Percy's new home dreams turn to nightmares on moving day when their removal men abscond with all their worldly goods. Frank and Lu are hired to track down the felons who've been giving Arden Constabulary the run around and operating under a variety of aliases; our PIs respond to a newspaper ad for 'Florian Fortescue' and pose as a warring separated couple to catch the perpetrators.
Details
Packaging: Boxed
Run Time: 7 ½ hours
Format: Widescreen
Number of discs: 2
Language: English
Foreign Language Subtitles: No
Color or B&W: Color
CC: No
SDH: Yes
Region Code: 1
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Audio Format: 5.1 Surround
Rating: NR
Cast
• Mark Benton
• Jo Joyner
• Patrick Walshe McBride
