Heat of the Sun

Heat of the Sun is a police drama TV serial, set in 1930s Kenya. It was a joint production by Carlton Productions and WGBH Boston; it aired in 1998 in the United Kingdom on BBC and in 1999 on Mystery! on PBS in the United States. It starred Trevor Eve as Superintendent Albert Tyburn, a Scotland Yard criminal investigations officer working in Nairobi and Susannah Harker as a romantic interest and aviator modelled on Beryl Markham. The series reveals the underside of the expatriate community in Kenya, exploring murders against issue of race and class, drug use, and sexuality.

Episode list

Ep. 1: "Private Lives" ^[2]
Original Air Date: 28 January 1998
After shooting a child killer who was deemed untouchable, Scotland Yard's Albert Tyburn is sent to 1930s Kenya to head a new criminal division of the small police force in Nairobi. He investigates the death of Lady Daphne Ellesmere as a murder, although his boss Commissioner Burkitt and the coroner insist her death by lion attack was an accident. Helping him is Daphne's sister Emma Fitzgerald, an attractive and independent woman who has become a bush pilot she refuses to play the social games common in the British expatriate set. She appears in each episode.

Ep. 2: "Hide in Plain Sight" ^[3]
Original Air Date—4 February 1998
Tyburn and his new assistant, Valentine, investigate the murder of a native woman and a reported Native attack on a local mission. Meanwhile, Burkitt's orders Tyburn to arrest all the native prostitutes to get them off the street before the expected visit by the Prince of Wales; Tyburn struggles to house them all.

Ep. 3: "The Sport of Kings" ^[4]
Original Air Date—11 February 1998
After defeating a charge of murdering a young African man who worked for him, and losing an important horse race, wealthy and powerful Max Van der Vuurst is found dead in what appears to be an accidental fire at his house. Tyburn has to work with colonial troops to rescue a town besieged by raiders in order to collar their prime suspect.

Cast

• Trevor Eve - Supt. Albert Tyburn (3 episodes, 1998)
• Freddie Annobil-Dodoo - Cpl. Jonah Karinde (3 episodes, 1998)
• Michael Byrne - Police Comm. Ronald Burkitt (3 episodes, 1998)
• Sean Gallagher - Chico de Ville (3 episodes, 1998)
• Susannah Harker - Emma Fitzgerald (3 episodes, 1998)
• Cathryn Harrison - Charlotte Elliott (3 episodes, 1998)
• David Horovitch - Dr. Emil Mueller (3 episodes, 1998)
• Shaheen Jassat - Sub Inspector Singh (3 episodes, 1998)
• Julian Rhind-Tutt - Asst. Supt. James Valentine (3 episodes, 1998)

Production

The series was shot on location in Zimbabwe. Executive producers are Ted Childs (Carlton) and Rebecca Eaton (WGBH). The producer was Ann Tricklebank (Carlton).

It was written by Russell Lewis (Private Lives, and The Sport of Kings) and Timothy Prager (Hide in Plain Sight).

Different directors were in charge of each episode: Adrian Shergold (Private Lives), Diarmuid Lawrence (Hide in Plain Sight), and Paul Seed (The Sport of Kings).

Alterations for US television

In the U.S. the series aired on the PBS as part of their anthology programme Mystery!. Episodes two and three were each split into two parts for a total of five episodes.^[5]

References

External links

Heat of the Sun at the Internet Movie Database