DIRTY TRICKS {PT. 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
Part one of two. This drama follows the fortunes of a
conniving Englishman who becomes embroiled in a series
of increasingly grisly crimes. Critics have called the
detective in charge of the case, Inspector Moss, a
parody of Britain's beloved Inspector Morse. The lead
character (who is never referred to by name and is
called "our hero" in the credits) opens by addressing
the camera directly while seated on an airplane sipping
a flute of champagne. "While I make myself scarce," he
whispers, "listen to the tale of how a nice young man
like me wound up being wanted for murder." A title card
shifts the scene to "two years earlier," and the man
explains that he lives something of a double life:
although he resides in a dingy flat and works at a
thankless job as an English teacher for foreign
students, he has mingled socially with the upper classes
ever since he bonded with a wealthy businessman named
Dennis at a wine tasting. Dennis introduces the man to
his wife Karen, and the man begins a campaign of
relentless flirting with her at the fancy dinner parties
the trio attend. At one party, Karen finally corners
the man and addresses his come-ons. She tells him that
she loves Dennis but that they have no sex life -- so
she agrees to fool around with the man behind her
husband's back just for physical thrills. They begin to
meet regularly and covertly for sex. Everything is
going smoothly for the adulterous pair until the man's
boss at the school, an upper-crust acquaintance of
Dennis and Karen named Clive, grows suspicious of his
employee's caste-hopping. Clive fires the man, who
quickly finds himself in dire financial straits. One
afternoon, the man explains what happened to his job
while on an afternoon boating trip with Dennis and
Karen. Drunk on wine, Dennis tumbles into the river.
The man throws an oar to Dennis to help him stay afloat,
but it hits Dennis on the head and causes him to drown.
Karen is heartbroken, but she confesses to the man that
she has never been completely happy in the marriage
because Dennis did not want to have children. The man
then tells Karen that he would love to have a baby with
her. He proposes marriage, and she accepts. In an
aside to the camera, the man confesses to feeling guilty
about marrying Karen under the circumstances,
explaining that he has had a vasectomy. The man is rich
now, however, having married into the upper class. He
enjoys his new life as one of the privileged people, and
everything is going smoothly -- until Karen announces
that she is pregnant. The man is shocked that someone
has actually been deceiving him for a change, and he
hires a private detective to identify his romantic
rival. When it turns out that Karen has been sleeping
with his old boss Clive, the man becomes furious.
Before he has had a chance to act, however, Karen slips,
hits her head on a table, and dies. Our hero is
suddenly in a very suspect position. Continues with
T:67968.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by Blake
Byrne.
Details
- NETWORK: ITV/Carlton Television (United Kingdom)
- DATE: September 24, 2000 Sunday 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:20:52
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:67967
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense; International Collection - United Kingdom
- SERIES RUN: ITV (United Kingdom), TV - 2000
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Jonathan Cavendish … Executive Producer
- Jonathan Powell … Executive Producer
- Annie Rees … Associate Producer
- Paul Seed … Director
- Michael Dibdin … Writer, Based on a novel by
- Nigel Williams … Writer, Adapted by
- Jim Parker … Music by
- Martin Clunes … Cast, Our Hero
- James Bolan … Cast, Moss
- George Potts … Cast, Root
- Julie Graham … Cast, Karen
- Neil Dudgeon … Cast, Dennis
- Henry Goodman … Cast, Thomas
- Matt Bardock … Cast, Clive
- Fabiano Martell … Cast, Massimo
- Martin Marquez … Cast, Garcia
- Kanako Morishita … Cast, Kayako
- Lindsay Duncan … Cast, Alison
- Anna Popplewell … Cast, Rebecca
- Neville Phillips … Cast, Vicar
- Robin Griffith … Cast, Welsh Flunky
- Babara Kirby … Cast, Registrar
- Phil Nice … Cast, Businessman