{{Short description|Television series}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}} {{Use British English|date=September 2017}} {{Infobox television | image = Moonandsontitlecard.jpg | image_size = 250 | caption = | alt_name = | genre = {{plainlist| * Crime drama * Thriller * Astrological }} | creator = Robert Banks Stewart | developer = | writer = | director = | creative_director = | presenter = | starring = {{plainlist| * Millicent Martin * John Michie * Ian Redford * Laure Killing * Anita Graham * Patrick Drury }} | judges = | voices = | narrator = | theme_music_composer = | open_theme = | end_theme = | composer = Denis King | country = United Kingdom | language = English | num_series = 1 | num_episodes = 13 | list_episodes = | executive_producer = | producer = Robert Banks Stewart | editor = Colin Giffin | location = {{plainlist| * Folkestone * France }} | cinematography = | camera = | runtime = 50 minutes | company = | channel = BBC One | first_aired = {{start date|df=yes|1992|01|04}} | last_aired = {{end date|df=yes|1992|03|28}} | related = }}
'''''Moon and Son''''' is a British television astrological crime drama, created and produced by Robert Banks Stewart, that broadcast on BBC One from January 4, 1992.<ref>{{Cite web|title=BBC Programme Index|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/c6bce5235d6646468c9ef8d1c9ebc0fc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220212047/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/c6bce5235d6646468c9ef8d1c9ebc0fc|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 February 2022|access-date=2022-02-20|website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>
The series was Millicent Martin's first British role in fifteen years, and was considered to be a "rare misfire" for creator Banks Stewart (who described this series as "a light-hearted thriller"),<ref>Gibraltar Chronicle newspaper; Entertainment Guide section; 26/08/1995; Page 8</ref> whose previous series ''Bergerac'' and ''Lovejoy'' had enjoyed significant success on British television.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-05-24|title=Moon And Son (BBC-1 1992, Millicent Martin, John Michie)|url=https://www.memorabletv.com/tv/moon-and-son-bbc-1-1992/|access-date=2022-02-20|website=Memorable TV|language=en-US}}</ref>
Despite reports that the BBC had already commissioned a second series prior to the first series being broadcast, only thirteen episodes were made and the series was swiftly axed due to poor ratings, despite airing in a primetime Saturday evening slot.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-09-11|title=Moon and Son – Nostalgia Central|url=https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1990s/moon-and-son/|access-date=2022-02-20|website=nostalgiacentral.com|language=en-GB}}</ref> To date, the series has only been repeated once on Satellite TV, and has never been released on DVD.
==Premise== The series starred Millicent Martin as clairvoyant and astrologer Gladys Moon, whose ability is more instinctive than psychic and John Michie as her psychic son, Trevor, who travel between Folkestone, England and France, conducting readings and selling occult and astrological goods from their mobile "Astral Centre Salon" called "Visions" and getting involved in various police investigations along the way.<ref>Gibraltar Chronicle newspaper; Entertainment Guide section; 26/08/1995; Page 8</ref>
==Background== Alongside Martin and Michie, Laure Killing co-starred as Cecille Coulmier, Trevor's girlfriend. Other characters include the zany Zelda, a medium friend of Gladys' played by Anita Graham, Sergeant Eavis, played by Ian Redford, and Inspector Sardou, played by Patrick Drury.
The series was mostly filmed in Kent and France.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Moon|url=http://www.john-michie.co.uk/moon.htm|access-date=2022-02-20|website=www.john-michie.co.uk}}</ref> A variety of locations were used for filming, including Folkestone, Kent and East Sussex Railway, Oare Marshes, Chilham Castle, Crabble Corn Mill, Dover, Deal, Folkestone Harbour, Dungeness Estate, The Grand Folkestone, The Leas Cliff Hall and The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.<ref>{{cite web|author=Kent Film Office|url=http://kentfilmoffice.co.uk/1992/11/moon-and-son-1992/|title=Kent Film Office Moon and Son Article}}</ref>
Christine Buttner of Ravensbourne University London acted as astrological adviser to the programme, emphasising the astrological elements of the storyline, with crystal balls, phrenological heads, hand reading and healing crystals.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Moon and Son (1992)|url=https://www.ravensbourne.ac.uk/bbc-motion-graphics-archive/moon-and-son-1992|access-date=2022-02-20|website=Ravensbourne University London|language=en}}</ref>
==Cast== * Millicent Martin as Gladys Moon * John Michie as Trevor Moon * Laure Killing as Cecille Coulmier * Anita Graham as Zelda Lee * Ian Redford as Detective Sergeant Eavis * Patrick Drury as Inspector Sardou * Veronica Lang as Annabelle Garvie
==Episodes== {{Episode table |background=#070065 |overall= |title= |writer= |director= |airdate= |episodes= {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber= 1 | Title= Crystal Clear It's Murder | WrittenBy= Robert Banks Stewart | DirectedBy= Robert Tronson | OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1992|1|4|df=y}} | ShortSummary= Gladys is drawn into investigations when an engineer is found murdered in Boulogne, but it is her son who has a gift that can help the French police. | LineColor=070065 }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber= 2 | Title= Star of Fortune | WrittenBy= Michael Aitkens | DirectedBy= Ken Grieve | OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1992|1|11|df=y}} | ShortSummary= When a serial murderer strikes in Kent, the Moons are recruited by Detective Sergeant Eavis, but the Chief Constable produces a rival astrologer. | LineColor=070065 }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber= 3 | Title= G.I. Joe is Missing | WrittenBy= Robert Banks Stewart | DirectedBy= Roger Tucker | OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1992|1|18|df=y}} | ShortSummary= Gladys employs a psychic approach to the mystery of Joe Thorpe's disappearance, while Trevor conducts his own style of investigation. | LineColor=070065 }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber= 4 | Title= Where No Birds Sing | WrittenBy= Michael Aitkens | DirectedBy= John Strickland | OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1992|1|25|df=y}} | ShortSummary= A young microlight flyer finds a Roman silver plate, complete with astrological signs on its rim, and takes it to Gladys for an expert opinion. But then Cecile sees a ghost and Gladys finds herself in danger, as the Moons uncover a tragic tale of recklessness and evil on a tranquil Kent hillside. | LineColor=070065 }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber= 5 | Title= The Horns of Capricorn | WrittenBy= Jim Hawkins | DirectedBy= Moira Armstrong | OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1992|2|1|df=y}} | ShortSummary= Trevor's determination to help the police catch a strangler begins to seem like an obsession. But one of the intended victims is Cecile, and the killer is closer to home than anyone thinks. | LineColor=070065 }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber= 6 | Title= Nearly Dearly Departed | WrittenBy= Gawn Grainger | DirectedBy= John Strickland | OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1992|2|8|df=y}} | ShortSummary= Other people's guilty secrets can prove a risky business for clairvoyants, especially if someone mentions murder. An old lady in a nursing home sends Gladys on an unexpected journey, and Trevor helps the police to lay an extremely unorthodox trap. | LineColor=070065 }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber= 7 | Title= A Foreign Body | WrittenBy= Gawn Grainger | DirectedBy= Moira Armstrong | OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1992|2|15|df=y}} | ShortSummary= A young woman is found dead in the boot of a car belonging to Euro-MP Howard Garvie. Gladys takes a palm print to help the police solve the riddle of the victim's identity, and the murder trail leads to France and the infamous Chateau Salubre, playground of the rich. | LineColor=070065 }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber= 8 | Title= Her Death Was So Sudden | WrittenBy= Robert Banks Stewart | DirectedBy= Paul Harrison | OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1992|2|22|df=y}} | ShortSummary= A honeymoon couple are amused when Gladys reads the runes for them, but the promise of a happy future soon turns into a nightmare. | LineColor=070065 }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber= 9 | Title= Past, Present and Future | WrittenBy= Stephen Mayne | DirectedBy= Ken Grieve | OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1992|2|29|df=y}} | ShortSummary= Gladys and Trevor are determined to help the servants in a stately home whose employer has died, leaving them only the ghost of a chance of finding a will that could repay their devotion. | LineColor=070065 }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber= 10 | Title= Music in the Air | WrittenBy= Colin Giffin | DirectedBy= Paul Harrison | OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1992|3|7|df=y}} | ShortSummary= The Moons are asked to probe the background of a gentle south coast faith healer, when he claims that John Lennon is using him to produce a string of new pop songs. The compositions could spell a fortune for charity and the record industry alike, but tragedy hovers over the new album. | LineColor=070065 }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber= 11 | Title= The Chinese Medicine Man | WrittenBy= Nick McCarty | DirectedBy= Henry Herbert | OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1992|3|14|df=y}} | ShortSummary= When Martin Shan, a popular south coast doctor, comes under suspicion of theft and murder, Trevor tries a little oriental sorcery of his own. | LineColor=070065 }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber= 12 | Title= The Place of Cold Fires | WrittenBy= Leslie Darbon | DirectedBy= Henry Herbert | OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1992|3|21|df=y}} | ShortSummary= Eavis suspects the Moons are working outside the law when a Foreign Legionnaire's return to Folkestone sparks off a hunt for stolen diamonds. | LineColor=070065 }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber= 13 | Title= S.O.S. From A Gemini | WrittenBy= Alan Goldstreet | DirectedBy= Roger Tucker | OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1992|3|28|df=y}} | ShortSummary= A child hears a strange song, and danger threatens Gladys and Trevor as they help a young English couple who believe that ghosts from a far-off tragedy are haunting their newly acquired farmhouse. | LineColor=070065 }} }}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb title|0201387|Moon and Son}}
Category:1990s British drama television series Category:1990s British television miniseries Category:1992 British television series debuts Category:1992 British television series endings Category:BBC television dramas Category:English-language British television shows Category:Folkestone Category:Television shows set in France Category:Television shows set in Kent Category:Television shows shot in Kent