Baldi (radio)

Baldi

A promotional shot of the cast of Baldi
Genre	Crime Drama
Running time	45 minutes
Country of origin	Northern Ireland
Language(s)	English
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Starring	David Threlfall Tina Kellegher (series 1–4) Tara Flynn (series 5)
Created by	Barry Devlin
Written by	Barry Devlin et al.
Produced by	Lawrence Jackson
Recording studio	RTÉ studios, Dublin
Original release	1 October 2000 – present
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	28
Opening theme	Saint Agnes and the Burning Train, The Soul Cages.

Baldi is a BBC Radio 4 murder mystery series whose central character is Paolo Baldi (played by David Threlfall), a Franciscan priest on sabbatical, lecturing on semiotics at a university in contemporary Dublin. After helping the police as a translator for an Italian witness, he turns sleuth. Created by Barry Devlin, it is produced by BBC Northern Ireland.

Father Paolo Baldi (David Threlfall) is a priest torn between his interest in investigation and detective work, and the secluded life of a priest. On sabbatical from the Franciscan Order, he takes up amateur sleuthing and befriends DI Tina Mahon (Tina Kellegher for the first four series, then Tara Flynn), a member of the Gardaí. Both her superior, DS Rynne (Owen Roe), and Baldi's spiritual director, Father Troy (T. P. McKenna), would prefer that he end his sabbatical and return to the Order. Father Baldi has an unfortunate knack of becoming involved in murder enquires, usually by his friendship with one of those involved. His gentle, reassuring behaviour and the Seal of the Confessional encourages participants to open up to him.

Five series have been broadcast, totalling twenty-eight episodes. These have all been first aired in the 45 minute Afternoon Play slot, with frequent repeats of the series on BBC Radio 4 Extra. The regular cast includes David Threlfall, Tina Kellegher, Owen Roe and T. P. McKenna. Guest appearances have included some of Ireland and the UK 's leading actors, including Gerard McSorley, Martin Clunes, Stephen Mangan, Margaret D'Arcy, Niall Buggy, Adrian Dunbar, Michael Maloney, Bill Nighy, Sorcha Cusack, Geraldine James, Niall Toibin, Barry McGovern, Nick Dunning, David Kelly, Stephen Moore, Pauline McLynn, Sara Kestelman, Robert Bathurst, John Kavanagh, Mark Lambert (actor & director) and Victoria Smurfit.