Hetty Wainthropp Investigates is a British crime-comedy drama television series which aired from 1996 to 1998 on BBC One. The series starred Patricia Routledge as the title character (Hetty Wainthropp) , Derek Benfield as her patient husband Robert, Dominic Monaghan as their boarder (and her assistant) Geoffrey Shawcross and John Graham Davies as DCI Adams. Many of the episodes have been featured on the American PBS series Mystery!.

A feature-length pilot episode, originally broadcast in 1990, was based on the 1986 novel, Missing Persons by David Cook (who co-wrote the series with John Griffith Bowen). The incidents in Cook's book were inspired by his own mother's real-life experiences.

Hetty Wainthropp is a retired working-class woman in Lancashire, North West England, who has a knack for jumping to conclusions and solving crimes of varying bafflement which often are too minor to concern the police. Although on occasion her husband offers assistance, he more often than not tends to the home while Hetty gads about the countryside with young Geoffrey in search of resolution and justice. In many episodes Hetty seeks the help and advice of DCI Adams of the local constabulary.

The series was very popular with viewers, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is said to be a huge fan of the show, despite this no further episodes have been commissioned. In a 2008 interview, Routledge said that the cast and crew had been told by the BBC at the end of the fourth series that a fifth series would be commissioned, though it never was.

Episode list

Pilot:

• Missing Persons, 1990

Series 1:

• The Bearded Lady, 3 January 1996
• Eye Witness, 10 January 1996
• Fingers, 17 January 1996
• Widdershins, 24 January 1996
• A High Profile, 31 January 1996
• Safe as Houses, 7 February 1996

Series 2:

• Poison Pen, 30 November 1996
• Lost Chords, 5 December 1996
• Runaways, 13 December 1996
• The Astral Plane. 20 December 1996
• A Rose by Any Other Name, 3 January 1997
• Woman of the Year, 10 January 1997

Series 3:

• All Stitched Up, 28 November 1997
• Daughter of the Regiment, 5 December 1997
• Serving the Community, 12 December 1997
• Fisticuffs, 19 December 1997
• Childsplay, 2 January 1998
• Pursuit by Proxy, 9 January 1998
• A Minor Operation, 16 January 1998
• Helping Hansi, 23 January 1998
• How Time Flies, 30 January 1998

Series 4:

• Something to Treasure, 24 July 1998
• Family Values, 31 July 1998
• Digging for Dirt, 7 August 1998
• Mind over Muscle, 14 August 1998
• Blood Relations, 21 August 1998
• For Love nor Money, 4 September 1998

Specials:

• Comic Relief Episode, 1999

Production

The series was filmed primarily in areas of Lancashire such as Burnley, Darwen, Blackburn, Rossendale and Bolton. Music for the series was composed by Nigel Hess, and in 1997 was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for best television theme.

DVD Releases

In the United States, the DVD releases were distributed by Acorn Media; the DVD's were released by BBC Home Video in the UK, with Madman Films releasing "Hetty Wainthropp" in Australia.

DVD Name	Release Date
	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates: The Complete Series 1	7 September 2004	11 October 2004	31 October 2007
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates: The Complete Series 2	9 August 2005	22 January 2007	9 April 2008
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates: The Complete Series 3	31 January 2006	5 March 2007	N/A
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates: The Complete Series 4	N/A	10 September 2007	N/A
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates: The Complete Collection	4 September 2007	7 January 2008	N/A

References

External links

• PBS website listing
• Episode descriptions