LETCHWORTH, ENGLAND - The production team behind award-winning author Lynda La Plante’s latest thriller approached Ashtead Technology Rentals to hire a hi-tech videoscope to portray authentic crime investigation scenes during filming.

La Plante Productions hired the recently-released Olympus IPLEX FX videoscope for the filming of Above Suspicion, which is due to be aired in November.

This brand new videoscope is designed to meet the demands of the modern industrial inspection environment, providing tough, portable and intelligent remote imaging inspection. Advanced features include temperature resistance, measurement accuracy and an internal battery providing 2 ½ hours operating time.

Cass Sutherland, head of research at La Plante Productions, says, “The ethos of the company is to make every production as realistic as possible for the viewer. Just as the police use remote visual inspection equipment to investigate crime scenes without interfering with potential evidence, we needed an instrument to be used by the characters examining a crime scene in a similar fashion. This means that the videoscope is used to look under floorboards or inside cavities and compartments, for example, and help to locate any concealed evidence.”

“We found Ashtead Technology Rentals to be extremely helpful – they helped us to decide which videoscope would be most appropriate for our needs and then delivered the device quickly and efficiently.”

Based on La Plante’s best selling novel, in which a female detective investigates a series of prostitute murders, the two-part drama stars Kelly Reilly and Ciaran Hinds.

Ashtead’s General Manager James Carlyle, added: “The Olympus IPLEX FX is one of the newer additions to our remote visual inspection range and we are looking forward to seeing it in action on the small screen later this year.”

“The IPLEX FX is a highly sophisticated videoscope and by offering it for hire we are helping customers to avoid the capital cost associated with buying the product outright.”