Simisola
1996: Adapted by Alan Plater from the Ruth Rendell novel.
Melanie Akande, the daughter of Wexford’s Nigerian doctor goes missing after being last seen at the Job Centre in Stowerton. The body of a young black woman is found and Wexford immediately fears the worst for the Akande family… Continue reading →
George Baker: “This is a much more challenging case for Wexford. He could have sworn he would have reacted in a specific and predictable way, but when it comes to it, he finds that he needs to look at himself quite closely. He finds that his beliefs - and those of the people around him - are really put to the test, because, in a small town like Kingsmarkham, they are faced with a problem that they have never encountered before.”
Background: Simisola is the first of what Ruth Rendell has called ‘The Political Wexfords’. The story was inspired by a newspaper article about modern day slavery in the Yorkshire city of Sheffield: “I had reached the point in the Wexfords where I thought, ‘I can’t write any more of these unless I think there’s some way of changing them.’ So I thought, ‘make them more political.’ So with Simisola we had racism in the countryside.”
Audio Clip: “I think she desires your body”
Audio Clip: “I think she desires your body”
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Cast and Crew
- DCI Wexford
- GEORGE BAKER
- DI Burden
- CHRISTOPHER RAVENSCROFT
- Dora Wexford
- LOUIE RAMSAY
- Jenny Burden
- DIANE KEEN
- Anouk Khoori
- JANE LAPOTAIRE
- Dr Raymond Akande
- GEORGE HARRIS
- Laurette Akande
- ELLEN THOMAS
- Sylvia Fairfax
- CHARON BOURKE
- Neil Fairfax
- PHILIP BIRD
- Robin Fairfax
- ADRIAN MARTIN
- Ben Fairfax
- TOM DONALDSON
- DS Karen Malahyde
- SASHA MITCHELL
- DS Barry Vine
- ROBIN KERMODE
- Swithin Riding
- MICHAEL COCHRANE
- Raffy
- IDRIS ELBA
- Oni Johnson
- MARCIA TUCKER
- Gary
- DANIEL ILSLEY
- Dean
- DAVID DOYLE
- Patrick Akande
- RAZAAQ ADOTI
- Mrs Stowlap
- BARRIE SHORE
- Leyton
- TREVOR BYFIELD
- Ingrid Pamber
- ALISON FIELDING
- Percy Hammond
- CHARLES SIMON
- Mrs Harris
- PAULINE MUNRO
- Newsreader
- JANE WYATT
- Susan Riding
- NAOMI BUCH
- Sophie Riding
- EMILY HAMILTON
- Bruce Snow
- SHAUGHAN SEYMOUR
- Carolyn Snow
- MEG DAVIES
- Paul Trussel
- MARKET TRADER
- Kimberley
- KELLY REILLY
- Zack Nelson
- GUY OLIVER-WATTS
- Peter Stanton
- JOHN MIDDLETON
- Cookie Dix
- JULIE PEASGOOD
- Alexander Dix
- ROBERT FYFE
- Christopher Riding
- ROBERT PORTAL
- Mr Mavrikiev
- ROBIN LERMITTE
- Sojourner
- LORETTA PARNELL
- Minister Fletcher
- TIM STERN
- Melanie Akande
- GRACE MATTAKA
- Rosenda Lopez
- JANE BAUTISTA
- Original music composed by
- BRIAN BENNETT
- Casting Director
- DOREEN JONES
- Production Manager
- PETER HIDER
- 1st Assistant Director
- LUC ETTIENNE
- 2nd Assistant Director
- FAY SELBY
- 3rd Assistant Director
- LEON COOLE
- Location Manager
- GEORGINA TRUE-MAY
- Continuity
- MARISSA COWELL
- Production Co-ordinator
- DAWN MORTIMER
- Production Secretary
- KIM McKINTY
- Producer’s Assistant
- LESLIE GOURLEY
- Costume Design
- RITA ANGELL
- Wardrobe Mistress
- SHERYL BRITTAIN
- Wardrobe Assistant
- ERIKA PHAROAH
- Make-up Supervisor
- TONI LEE
- Chief Hairdresser
- MAUREEN FREEMANTLE
- Production Accountant
- PETER HARVEY
- Assistant Accountant
- GAY HUSE
- Production Buyer
- GRAHAM CURTIS
- Prop Master
- PAUL KEARNEY
- Standby Props
- KENNY PALMER
- Dressing Props
- MIKE DOHERTY
MIKE SWANSTON - Standby Carpenter
- CLIVE WEAVER
- Standby Painter
- TONY HAND
- Gaffer Electrician
- JOHN DONOGHUE
- Electricians
- ALAN DANIELS
ROY ROBBERTS - Floor Runner
- JOHNNY LULOW
- Office Runner
- BELINDA RAY
- Production Transport
- S & S TRANSPORT
- Unit Publicist
- SHELAGH PYMM
- Publicity stills
- TONY NUTLEY
- Art Director
- PAUL COWELL
- Asst Art Director
- VICTORIA NELSON
- Sound Recordist
- JOHN PAINE
- Boom Operator
- ROSIE STRAKER
- Camera Operator
- LEWIS FOSTER
- Focus Puller
- TOM HARDING
- Clapper Loader
- JON STEPHEN
- Grip
- DAVID LOGAN
- Graphic Designer
- JOHN HAMON
- Dubbing Editor
- PAUL GUIVER
- Dubbing Mixer
- DAVE FALLON
- Executive Producer for Meridian
- COLIN ROGERS
- Production Designer
- CHRISTINE RUSCOE
- 1st Assistant Editor
- JIM LOWNIE
- 2nd Assistant Editor
- STEVE CRABB
- Film Editor
- CHRISTOPHER WENTZELL
- Director of Photography
- WALTER McGILL
- Executive Producer
- GRAHAM BENSON
- Producer
- NEIL ZEIGER
- Directed by
- JIM GODDARD
- A Blue Heaven Production for
- MERIDIAN BROADCASTING
Principle Characters
Simisola
Inspector Wexford is contacted by his local GP - Dr. Raymond Akande (George Harris) - and asked to locate his missing daughter, Melanie (Grace Mattaka), a 22-year-old unemployed graduate who disappeared after attending an interview at the Job Centre in Stowerton. Dr. Akande and his wife Laurette (Ellen Thomas) are a well-educated black African couple who - against a backdrop of growing unemployment and despair - have strived hard to succeed in their adopted home.
At the Job Centre, Wexford encounters several unhelpful characters including a jobsworth manager and Ingrid Pamber (Alison Fielding), a girl whose beauty and impossibly blue eyes fail to distract him from the pursuit of truth.
Annette Bystock - the new claims advisor who interviewed Melanie Akande - is found strangled at her flat. Several items have been stolen from the flat but Wexford believes that there is a more complicated motive - possibly tied in with Melanie’s disappearance. The stolen goods are traced to a burglar named Zack Nelson (Guy Oliver-Watts) who claims to have fled the scene when he discovered Annette’s body. Ingrid Pamber tells Wexford that Annette had a married lover: Bruce Snow (Shaughan Seymour), a slimy accountant whose wife refuses to give him an alibi for the night of the murder.
Wexford is invited to speak at an event organised by Susan Riding (Naomi Buch), the wife of paediatrician Swithin Riding (Michael Cochrane). At the meeting, Wexford is introduced to Mrs Riding’s daughter, Sophie (Emily Hamilton), and Anouk Khoori (Jane Lapotaire), a rich, would-be-politician who is touting for office. Wexford is troubled by an anonymous written question from the audience asking: “if you know a member of your family is a rapist, what should you do?”
Mrs Khoori - keen too win the affection of the chief of police - invites Reg and Dora to a lavish garden party at her palatial home. At the party, Reg again encounters Ingrid Pamber, and the Riding family, including son Christopher (Robert Portal) who was at university with Melanie Akande.
A body is then discovered: a young black woman who has been brutally abused. Wexford immediately informs Dr Akande, convinced that Melanie has been discovered. Dr Akande views the body and announces that it isn’t his daughter. Laurette Akande is appalled and angrily accuses Wexford of racism. It’s a salutary lesson for the Chief Inspector who had assumed so much and had failed to follow the most basic police procedure.
Background notes | Cast & crew »
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