LEWIS V
PRODUCTION NOTES
CONTENTS
Introduction
Page 2
Episode Synopses
Pages 4 - 5
- Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things
- Wild Justice
- The Mind Has Mountains
- The Gift of Promise
Episode Cast Lists
Page 6 - 9
Kevin Whately Quotes
Page 10
Laurence Fox Quotes
Page 11
Clare Holman Quotes
Page 12
Rebecca Front Quotes
Page 13
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LEWIS V
SERIES FIVE OF TOP RATED DRAMA LEWIS
The fifth series of hit drama Lewis returns to ITV1 as Inspector Robbie Lewis and his partner
DS Hathaway investigate more murders against the backdrop of Oxford and the surrounding
beautiful countryside
Joining Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox is a star studded cast including series regulars Clare
Holman and Rebecca Front and guest stars Juliet Stevenson, Douglas Henshall, Lucy Lieman,
Florence Brudenell – Bruce, Ronald Pickup, Sian Phillips, Cherie Lunghi, Charlie Roe, Anna
Chancellor and Saskia Reeves.
The series comprises four new episodes – Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things (written by Russell
Lewis), The Mind Has Mountains (written by Patrick Harbinson) and Wild Justice (written by
Stephen Churchett) and The Gift of Promise(written by Stephen Churchett and Dusty
Hughes).
The series, an ITV Studios production, is produced by Chris Burt, who has been at the helm
of all the films since its launch in 2006. The executive producers are Michele Buck and
Damien Timmer.
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Colin Dexter, who created ITV’s Bafta award winning Inspector Morse, is once again
consultant on Lewis.
Watched in over 120 territories worldwide, the international television distribution, home
entertainment and merchandising for Lewis is represented by ITV Global Entertainment.
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LEWIS V
EPISODE SYNOPSES
Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things
Written by Russell Lewis
Oxford's last surviving all-female college is bidding farewell to one of its most prominent professors,
and a leading light in the feminist movement, Diana Ellerby (JULIET STEVENSON). Diana gathered
together the brightest students to live with her but during the reunion one of the group, Poppy
Toynton (KATHRYN O’REILLY), is found murdered at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Lewis is
convinced that the death is somehow connected to an attack 10 years ago, which left another of the
group Ruth Brooks’ (ANTONIA CAMPBELL HUGHES) 15 year-old sister, Chloe, in a coma. Lewis gets
in touch with his former DS, Ali McLennan (SASKIA REEVES), but she is adamant that the old
investigation was put to bed. It was concluded that Ruth's ex-boyfriend, Judd Havelock, attacked
Chloe, then used his family's money and influence to escape justice.
When another young student, Samantha Coyle (SHANNON TARBETT), is also found murdered
Poppy's co-workers have also made a rather grim discovery, revealing that Poppy had been carrying
out a hate campaign for several years against two of the other women who lived with Diana during
their time at the college - Freya Carlisle (ZOË TELFORD) and Lakshmi Eyre (STEPHANIE STREET).
The case takes another twist when Ali McLennan is found brutally murdered, and Lewis and
Hathaway are drawn even deeper into the mystery of the college and its decade old secrets.
Wild Justice
Written by Stephen Churchett
Lewis and Hathaway enter the archaic world of St Gerard's college when a visiting female bishop,
Helen Parsons (PAMELA NOMVETE) is found dead after drinking poisoned wine. The college priest
Father Moreno Mancini (RONALD PICKUP) confirms that the wine she drank was only available to
college staff, and Lewis and Hathaway question whether she was murdered because her liberal
views contradicted the reactionary religious leaders of the college.
When another two deaths occur, both mirroring macabre murders from Jacobean Revenge tragedy,
it appears that the killer is knocking out candidates from the election to become Vice Regent of St
Gerard's. But when Innocent learns of a dark secret in one of the suspect's past, Lewis and Hathaway
realise that the motive is much more twisted, and that someone is seeking a bizarre form of wild
justice for crimes committed against them over twenty years ago.
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The Mind Has Mountains
Written by Patrick Harbinson
Lewis and Hathaway are called in to investigate the death of an attractive young female student,
Amy Katz (FLORENCE BRUDENELL-BRUCE). Amy is found dead during a residential clinical trial for a
new Ketamine based anti-depressant being held at one of the colleges during the summer holidays.
The pair struggle to uncover whether Lucy's death is a direct result of the experiment and drug use
or whether there is something more sinister afoot, and the college’s enigmatic psychiatric professor,
Dr Gansa (DOUGLAS HENSHALL) proves evasive and un-co-operative. But when a second student is
found dead it becomes clear that all the trial participants are operating under the influence of the
drug, and that the lines between love, obsession and madness amongst the students taking part in
the clinical trial have become impossibly blurred. It is left to Lewis and Hathaway to uncover the
tangled relationships between them before another death occurs.
The Gift of Promise
Written by Stephen Churchett
When local businesswoman Andrea de Ritter (ELIZE DU TOIT) is brutally bludgeoned to death, Lewis
and Hathaway are called in to investigate what appears to be a blackmail plot gone wrong. Fifteen
year old Zoe Suskin (LUCY BOYNTON) was awarded a scholarship by Andrea but Andrea appears to
have found out a secret about Zoe’s father - publisher, Leon Suskin (DAVID WESTHEAD). Before her
own death, she sent Leon a copy of the newly published memoirs of former MI5 Chief, Grace Orde
(CHERIE LUNGHI) containing a mysterious note: “Who killed Mary?”
Orde claims she can’t help Leon but, clearly rattled, she sets her security man-come-lover, Ronald
Marsden (CHARLIE ROE), on his tail. Angry and suspicious, Leon threatens to kill Liam Cullen
(LORCAN CRANITCH), the man he believes his wife, Judith (ANNA CHANCELLOR), is sleeping with.
When Andrea’s student lover Elmo (MATT ORTON) leaps to his death it appears to be suicide, but
when Zoe’s favourite lecturer, Donald Voss (MARK AIKEN), collapses from arsenic poisoning and
Leon is viciously stabbed, Lewis suspects that the deaths are connected.
A search of Leon’s office reveals the book and note sent by Andrea shortly before her murder, and
Lewis realises that the answer may lie a long way from Oxford and will require taking on the might of
MI5.
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LEWIS
CAST LIST – OLD, UNHAPPY, FAR OFF THINGS
DI ROBERT LEWIS
KEVIN WHATELY
DS JAMES HATHAWAY
LAURENCE FOX
DR LAURA HOBSON
CLARE HOLMAN
INNOCENT
REBECCA FRONT
FREYA CARLISLE
ZOË TELFORD
LAKSHMI EYRE
STEPHANIE STREET
PAULINE TURRILL
MELANIE KILBURN
DIANA ELLERBY
JULIET STEVENSON
SAMANTHA COYLE
SHANNON TARBETT
MARION FERBER
JOANNE PEARCE
RUTH BROOKS
HATTIE MORAHAN
CHLOE BROOKS
ANTONIA CAMPBELL HUGHES
ALISON MCLENNAN
SASKIA REEVES
DR COPELAND
HASSANI SHAPI
MR FESTING
IAN BLEASDALE
EDWARD FLOREY
JAMES ROCHFORD
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LEWIS
CAST LIST – WILD JUSTICE
DI ROBERT LEWIS
KEVIN WHATELY
DS JAMES HATHAWAY
LAURENCE FOX
DR LAURA HOBSON
CLARE HOLMAN
INNOCENT
REBECCA FRONT
FR MORENO MANCINI
RONALD PICKUP
ADELE GOFFE
SIAN PHILLIPS
HELEN PARSONS
PAMELA NOMVETE
BARRY WINTER
CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY
FELIX SANSOME
DANIEL RYAN
CAROLINE HOPE
AMELIA BULLMORE
GINA GOFFE
AMANDA RYAN
ALASTAIR DARLOW
PAUL ANDERSON
STEPHEN BLACKMORE
NICK SIDI
PROF. JOANNE PINNOCK
SORCHA CUSACK
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LEWIS
CAST LIST – THE MIND HAS MOUNTAINS
DI ROBERT LEWIS
KEVIN WHATELY
DS JAMES HATHAWAY
LAURENCE FOX
DR LAURA HOBSON
CLARE HOLMAN
INNOCENT
REBECCA FRONT
ALEX GANSA
DOUGLAS HENSHALL
BETHAN VICKERY
LUCY LIEMANN
JACK COLLINS
JACK ROTH
KAREN WILDE
NICHOLA BURLEY
AMY KATZ
FLORENCE BRUDENELL-BRUCE
SHAUNA MALIN
SOPHIE STANTON
ADAM DOUGLAS
THOMAS BRODIE-SANGSTER
DANE WISE
SAM HAZELDINE
CLAIRE GANSA
CHRISTINA COLE
MEERA
FIONA WADE
WPC JULIE LOCKHART
KEMI-BO MILLAR
DR. JULIUS FISHER
ALEX MACQUEEN
PC BAYNES
MICHAEL SHELFORD
DAVID KATZ
JAY VILLIERS
GURDIP SOHAL
ALTON LETTO
CAROLINE EAGLETON
SYLVESTRA LE TOUZEL
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LEWIS
CAST LIST – THE GIFT OF PROMISE
DI ROBERT LEWIS
KEVIN WHATELY
DS JAMES HATHAWAY
LAURENCE FOX
DR LAURA HOBSON
CLARE HOLMAN
INNOCENT
REBECCA FRONT
GRACE ORDE
CHERIE LUNGHI
RONALD MARSDEN
CHARLIE ROE
ZOE SUSKIN
LUCY BOYNTON
LEON SUSKIN
DAVID WESTHEAD
JUDITH SUSKIN
ANNA CHANCELLOR
ANDREA DE RITTER
ELIZE DU TOIT
LIAM CULLEN
LORCAN CRANITCH
ELMO WOODESON
MATT ORTON
DONALD VOSS
MARK AIKEN
CARLY CLIFF
LEANNE ROWE
EILEEN NORMAN
GABRIELLE LLOYD
DC MADGE
JOY BLAKEMAN
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LEWIS
KEVIN WHATELY QUOTES
It doesn’t feel like the fifth series of Lewis, it feels like it’s about the third. I don’t know
where the time’s gone. We did 32 episodes of Morse and, in terms of years, we’re almost at
the same point. But we were doing five a year or so on Morse, so we were racking them up
just a bit faster!
On my first day on set 25 years ago I had to learn very quickly from watching John Thaw and
it was very exciting. We were doing three films and I thought that was going to be it,
because they were very much one off things. And then Morse took off so fast, in the same
way as Lewis did 15 years later, and suddenly you’re on a moving train.
The character of Hathaway is like a younger prototype Morse, but Morse also had all the
experience. Whereas now Lewis has got all the experience and Hathaway has the Morsetype brain.
I could probably give the tour guides around Oxford now! It’s very comfortable to be there.
Filming there is something you look forward to and obviously it’s a great backdrop for the
series as well.
The only way I can remember what happened in each film is to think where we filmed and
whether it was at one college or another. Some colleges in this series I hadn’t filmed in
before and there are still five colleges that we haven’t ever filmed in yet.
The strangest thing for me is getting a fan letter from the Middle East, and you think of
somewhere like Dubai with all its glass sky scrapers and all its empty deserts, and you think
what are they doing making a fuss over Lewis there?!
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Funnily enough one of the most pleasing things about the international success of the series
isn’t fans in the stranger places but in places like France and Germany, which never used to
buy Morse in the old days. Now they buy British stuff like Lewis and really enjoy it putting it
on in prime time. I was on the Paris Metro a few weeks ago and a man, who actually looked
like Hercule Poirot, came up to me and said ‘you’re Inspector Lewis’!
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LAURENCE FOX QUOTES
In this series Hathaway has to fight with a bit of disillusionment. I think he’s becoming more
cynical and will not tolerate certain behaviour. He’s using some of his politeness towards
the people who he knows are bad eggs to get more out of them.
There’s no romance for Hathaway this series but its always possible that maybe it will
happen again in a later series.
I think he might have grown out of trying to show off a little bit. The relationship with Lewis
has definitely developed. In a way the relationship has become slightly more personal, I
think he genuinely cares about Lewis. The characters know each other better and we chat to
each other more, but we have always had a very good on screen relationship.
Off screen Kevin and I are like chalk and cheese - he’s sensitive, thoughtful and charming,
and I’m not! I like to spend time off during filming in Oxford fishing in the canal - Kevin won’t
fish at all, but I’m determined that I’ll get him down there one day!
Oxford is like a second home for me. You get treated really well because the people are so
nice around there, and they really go out of their way to make you feel at home. It’s one of
the real bonuses of filming the show there. I know my way around it well now, if you need
someone to walk you around Oxford I am your man!
We have picked up quite a few foreign fans, so tourists get excited when they see it being
filmed and you get Americans coming up to you telling you how much they love it. Lewis
seems to be going from strength to strength so yes we are quite proud of ourselves.
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CLARE HOLMAN QUOTES
The cast and crew on Lewis are pretty much like a family. It’s quite nice because we have
had some new directors in for this series, and that gives us a breath of fresh air really, but
it’s generally a really nice atmosphere, and we have quite a regular crew as well. I feel really
lucky to be a part of it, and the audience still want to watch it, I feel really blessed by it
actually.
I’m getting recognised as Laura continually and increasingly! I was in Belfast the other day in
the airport lounge and a man came up to me and said that he wanted to kiss me and get a
photograph of him kissing me; obviously he was incredibly forward before he even said that
he recognised me, but I do get it quite a lot!
Playing a pathologist I have done research on the profession in the past. Occasionally, if
there’s something I don’t understand fully in the script, I will research it and the internet is
great for that. But originally I talk to people and I have a friend in the profession who’s very
helpful. The only thing she criticises is that my character wears too much make-up for a
pathologist – I think Hobson wears very little make-up!
I am very lucky because every episode I have to go to the scene of all the murders and
they’re often in nice locations! Kevin and I get to film in the nice pubs and cobbled streets,
so it’s very pleasant.
Just getting entry to some of the Oxford colleges is a privilege, and sometimes I have to
remind myself to actually look around because you shouldn’t take it for granted. Sometimes
I sneak off and have a wander around and look at the libraries or the gardens.
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REBECCA FRONT QUOTES
Innocent is slightly less abrasive this series, I think she’s a bit more on the side of Lewis and
Hathaway in some of the episodes. She’s a bit more human and as the series goes on they’re starting
to get her and she’s starting to get them. She’s a bit less like the enemy.
I very rarely have scenes with other actors apart from Kevin and Laurence, which is fine because
Innocent’s stuck in an office, but for me sometimes it’s useful to keep an overview of the whole
script. It’s not like Clare Holman’s character, who has actually seen these characters inside out, I
obviously have a functional grasp of what’s going on in the investigation, and so in reality I have a
more functional grasp of the script.
Kevin is an absolute gent, he’s sweet and thoughtful about everybody, and just really, really sweet,
and a professional. Laurence is like a Labrador puppy - exhausting and fun, and very entertaining.
I lived in Oxford for three years, so it is rather nice getting the chance to go back. It seems to happen
less and less these days because obviously most of my scenes have to be filmed in police stations.
But that means that I can appreciate it more as a viewer. It’s lovely to watch it, because like
everybody who knows the city I watch it and say ‘how did they get from there to there?’ or ‘oh that’s
the Jesus Porter’s lodge but it’s in St Catherine’s’. I sound like an old fogey!
I also have a terrible memory for stories and stuff. Once I’ve filmed a story (not just Lewis but with
everything) I just forget what happened, so I can just watch it and genuinely not know who’s done it!
I quite often don’t remember the scenes I’ve done so I almost watch it just like a viewer and it’s
great.
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