'Dalgliesh' Reimagines "Cover Her Face" as a Modern Revenge Tragedy

Dalgliesh’s second case of Season 3, “Cover Her Face,” opens on a thunderstorm; one has rained out a village fete, which set up shop at the Mehta family’s Essex estate. Krishna Mehta (Parth Thakerar), a surgical registrar at a London hospital destined for a prestigious career, is annoyed by the merrymaking as his father lies dying upstairs and resisting pressure from his widowed sister Devi (Ellora Torchia) and mother Anita (Soni Razdan), to get engaged to his girlfriend, photographer Lady Catherine (Allegra Marland), while his dad is still with them.

"Cover her face. Mine eyes dazzle. She died young." -The Duchess of Malfi, John Webster

In his procrastination, he's been flirting with single mother Sally Jupp (Holly Cattle), the family maid, who he proposes to mid-party. She already has multiple suitors, including local lad Derek Pullen (Olliver Woolford), who dislikes her flirting with her boss, and Felix Hearne (Jack Myers), Devi’s current “friend with benefits.” The family’s surly housekeeper, Martha Tate (Josie Walker), disapproves of Sally, partly because she’s become the default babysitter. Devi also wants her gone, accusing Sally of stealing a pair of red shoes she’d put aside for the charity bag.