Yahoo News McDonald and Dodds viewers surprised by bizarre link to The Chase
ITV's cosy crime drama served up a fascinating and unusual connection to the teatime quiz staple The Chase in its opening episode.
What did you miss?
Cosy crime fans tuning in for the first episode of the fourth series of McDonald and Dodds got a big shock when one character's alias sounded very familiar indeed. It was shocking enough to see a woman turn up dead after disappearing decades earlier, but even more shocking when she shared her name with a TV quiz powerhouse.
The opening minutes of McDonald and Dodds revealed that a woman found dead from a gunshot wound to the head was going by the name Anne Hegerty. Hegerty is, of course, known as 'The Governess' on teatime quiz staple The Chase.
What, how and why?
McDonald and Dodds viewers were immediately surprised to hear Hegerty's name used in the story and even more surprised when nobody in present day Bath seemed to recognise its significance. Apparently nobody in the city was a fan of ITV's flagship quiz format.
One viewer noted a particular line in which a character was asked "does that name mean anything to you?", responding with a GIF of Hegerty enthusiastically nodding. Another added: "Anne Hegerty? Don't tell me The Governess has been murdered?"
Another viewer suggested that the writers behind McDonald and Dodds had missed a prime opportunity for a gag. They wrote: "Disappointed that nobody made a 'the chase is on to find the killer' joke".
Hegerty herself even got in on the fun, telling her 150,000 Twitter followers: "I ATEN’T DEAD"
#mcdonaldanddodds #itv
She was using the name: ‘Anne Hegerty’. Does that mean anything to you? pic.twitter.com/1qUrV5mJWf— Cazi Venables😁 (@cazacazi) July 21, 2024
I ATEN’T DEAD #mcdonaldanddodds
— Anne Hegerty (@anne_hegerty) July 21, 2024
Of course, it very quickly turned out that ITV won't have to look for a new Chaser. In this case, Hegerty was just an alias being used by the missing woman Anne Holgate. Anne disappeared as a schoolgirl 38 years ago, but has now turned up dead.
The episode followed the titular detective duo as they attempted to solve Holgate's murder and a different, seemingly connected killing.
Interestingly, there was another connection to The Chase in the episode, though this one was much more subtle. Production designer Richard Drew revealed on X (formerly Twitter) that he recycled some props for McDonald and Dodds from one of his other shows — The Larkins, starring The Chase presenter Bradley Walsh.
What else happened on McDonald and Dodds?
Star-spotting viewers will have had a great time in the opening minutes of McDonald and Dodds given the arrival of pop star Pixie Lott in a supporting role. Things didn't go too well for Lott's character, Lola Baker, to begin with, as she was framed for the nut-based murder of her mother in the pre-credits sequence.
Naturally, things turned out to be a lot more complicated than that, with the two murders inevitably linked. Well, it would've been a very short episode if they weren't.
McDonald and Dodds continues on Sundays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
