Oliver's Travels
Oliver's Travels is a five-part television serial written by Alan Plater and starring Alan Bates, Sinéad Cusack, Bill Paterson, and Miles Anderson. It first aired in the UK in 1995. Bates plays the titular Oliver, a keen word-game enthusiast and lecturer in comparative religion. After his teaching post is made redundant, he resolves to make use of his new wealth of free time by going to visit his favourite crossword compiler, 'Aristotle', with whom he has corresponded but whom he has never met. When he arrives, however, he finds Aristotle's house has been ransacked and its occupant has departed for parts unknown, and he sets out to discover why.
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- Cast:
- Sinéad Cusack , Alan Bates , Bill Paterson , Morgan Jones , Peter Vaughan , Charlotte Coleman , Michael Byrne , Mollie Sugden , Iain Cuthbertson , Richard Davies
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Though Oliver is bound for the Orkneys to find Aristotle, Diane declares she is only going as far as Shrewsbury. But after some successful undercover work there, Diane decides to travel a little further with Oliver. He takes her to the deserted mining town where he grew up. Then she takes over the wheel.
At the palatial digs of the groovy Baron Kite, Oliver and Diane discover the link between the murder victims and the Farquhar Group. The hospitable baron follows up with an aerial assault. Only divine intervention gets them on the Orkney boat. Meanwhile, Michael discovers that his hacker friend is still in jail, but has left behind a girl as talented as he is.
Oliver and Diane find Aristotle's home but are too late to meet Aristotle. But then who is doing the current crosswords? Michael manages to get a long incriminating fax to his mother that wraps up the case, and the persistent Mr. Baxter has a final surprise.