Witness statements prepared by
Simon Whitworth
Production
Information
BBC2 3rd
September 1986
‘Christopher Marlowe,
celebrated Elizabethan playwright, was assumed to have been accidentally killed
in a tavern brawl over a bill in Deptford, Kent, in 1593. Despite the verdict of
an inquest held that year, mystery still surrounds the playwright’s death. Who
were the men in Elizabeth’s secret service he was to meet that day? Why did his
alleged killer receive a royal pardon so quickly? Was it Marlowe who died at
all in Deptford? Or was another body substituted to allow him to escape abroad
from the deadly charge of atheism which had been brought against him by the
Star Chamber? Now, 400 years later, a second inquest is convened to attempt to
solve the mystery.’
Cast
Coroner Danby John Woodvine
Sir John Puckering John Savident
Thomas Kyd Michael Pennington
Richard Baines Nicholas Gecks
Robert Poley Nicholas Le Prevost
Ingram Frizer Geoffrey Beevers
Sir Thomas Walsingham Matthew Marsh
Director Anthony Garner