owned and had become a major tourist attraction since it was opened to the public in 1962. Producer Mark Gorton explained, "the floorplan lends itself to the boardgame very well and that was a major consideration when choosing the location". The Cheshire mansion was only 18 miles from the Grenada studios in Manchester where the live portions were taped, and open the public only at certain times of the year, both of which made filming easier. The house had to be furnished to fit the 1930s period that the show is set in, while some original furniture was deemed "ideal for the programme"; Gorton noted, ”as far as the owners were concerned, as long as the items weren’t too valuable we were free to use them.” A Billiard Room had to be constructed as Arlington lacked one, which was created in a front drawing room with props including a billiard table, scoring devices, and cues. A huge table was added to the Dining Room with a series of gothic high-backed chairs; Gorton noted, “we also added a variety of strange stuffed animals to lend to it a kind of Addams Family feel". In contrast, the Library needed little attention to appear on screen, while the Study needed little alteration besides triptychs and a Bakelite telephone. In later series the Kitchen was a mock-up created in a spare room, as the real kitchen was in use for visitors to Arley Hall and production decided it "felt...too modern for us". The props team brought in an Aga, refrigerator, pine table, a rack of pheasants, and sharp kitchen implements. The Drawing Room "fitted the bill perfectly" due to its "unusual gothic fireplaces" which featured leaping gargoyles and furnishings like oil paintings, however high-backed furniture with lions paw feet was added. Format Each episode starts with the host introducing the 6 possible weapons that change with each episode, and the same suspects and rooms. Then a prerecorded scenario plays out which culminates in the murder of a guest at Arlington Grange. This is followed by the studio sleuths cross-examining the characters to uncover further information. When one team succeeds, a spotlight shines on the culprit as they explain how and why they committed the crime. Obviously, despite the episode ending with one of the suspects confessing to murder, all six would return in the next episode as if nothing had happened. Cast Episodes Original