Auctions

The art world is a gift to crime writers: lots of money, very little paperwork, and a clientele that would rather not answer questions. 'Auctions' sends Maggie into that world, chasing dodgy dealings where value and authenticity refuse to sit still. Someone is selling things that are not what they claim to be, and the trail leads through auction rooms and private collections. It is a long way from the street crimes of earlier episodes, and the shift suits her.

The episode gets a lot of mileage from its guest list. Joan Hickson, a couple of years away from becoming television's Miss Marple, plays Sarah Meade, and Margery Withers is her sister Ethel. Both women are well past the age the trade would consider prime clients, which makes them exactly the sort of people a confidence trick relies on. Peter Cellier's Lucius Sharkey has the perfect name for a man you would not buy a painting from on trust. Bernard Holley's Mike Turnbull joins the team for this one, working alongside Russell, Croft, Barratt and Phillips. Steve Forbes, played by Nigel Rathbone, turns up in his usual supporting capacity.

Chris Barlas and Terence Feely wrote it, Gerald Blake directed, and the result is a solid, low-key mystery with better furniture than most. The pleasure is in watching Maggie move through a world where everyone smiles and nobody means it. She is not dazzled by the surroundings, which is the point of having her there. The script knows its subject well enough to be funny about it without being cruel.

It aired on 12 November 1982. The crimes are white-collar, the stakes are measured in guineas rather than blood, and the show handles the change of pace with a straight face. Guineas, for the uninitiated, are what auction people charge when they want to feel posh. And a good reminder that a forgery can hurt as much as a beating, just slower.