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Poster for Wycliffe

Wycliffe

Seen it?

1994 | 5 seasons | 50 min | Crime, Drama

Weeknight Watchearly rating

Why it’s a Weeknight Watch

With a short run with a modest audience, it's a mixed bag. Fine if it's on; don't plan your night around it.

Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.

Is it for you?

Who'll love it
Made for crime-drama fans. If you loved Agatha Christie's Poirot, start here.
The mood
Dark and gritty.
The pace
5 seasons: a few months of evenings, episodes of about 50 minutes, about 30 hours in all.
What might put you off
Rated TV-14. Probably too much for younger kids.

Wycliffe is a British television series, based on W. J. Burley's novels about Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe. It was produced by HTV and broadcast on the ITV Network, following a pilot episode on 7 August 1993, between 24 July 1994 and 5 July 1998. The series was filmed in Cornwall, with a production office in Truro. Music for the series was composed by Nigel Hess and was awarded the Royal Television Society award for the best television theme. Wycliffe is played by Jack Shepherd, assisted by DI Doug Kersey and DI Lucy Lane. Each episode deals with a murder investigation. In the early series, the stories are adapted from Burley's books and are in classic whodunit style, often with quirky characters and plot elements. In later seasons, the tone becomes more naturalistic and there is more emphasis on internal politics within the police.

How it earned its rating

  • CriticsNot counted

    Not enough reviews on record yet

  • AudiencesNot counted

    Not measured yet: not enough ratings

  • AwardsNot counted

    No major awards or nominations

  • Reach & staying powerBelow par

    Ran for 5 seasons and reached a small audience so far; still draws a steady audience long after release

  • Buzz & cultural impactSolid

    About 82K people sought it out in the past year

Season by season

The show overall is a Weeknight Watch. Here's how each season stacks up; Series 4 is the high point.

  1. Weeknight Watch
    Series 11994 · 6 episodes · 6.4 out of 10
    Weeknight
  2. Saturday Special
    Series 21995 · 8 episodes · 7.7 out of 10
    Saturday
  3. Saturday Special
    Series 31996 · 8 episodes · 7.7 out of 10
    Saturday
  4. Saturday Special
    Series 41997 · 8 episodes · 8.1 out of 10
    Saturday
  5. Sunday Safe Bet
    Season 51998 · 6 episodes · 7.3 out of 10
    Sunday

Trailer

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Cast & crew

Created by W.J. Burley

  • Jack ShepherdDetective Superintendent Wycliffe
  • Jimmy YuillDI Doug Kersey
  • Helen MastersDI Lucy Lane