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"Except that the girl's innocent."Things are not going well at Harriet Vane's trial for the murder of her former lover, Philip Boyes – hearing the judge's summation, only the most unrealistic of minds could conclude that she is not guilty as charged.
One such mind, however, is that of Lord Peter Wimsey – the same Lord Peter who, normally a beacon of logic, unfailingly unspins the web of every criminal intrigue to which he brings to bear his intellectual powers, but who now, epitome of a bachelor that he has heretofore been, without so much as ever having personally met Harriet, is dead-set on marrying her. So when he tells his old friend (and as readers of Dorothy Sayers's books know, soon-to-be brother in law) Chief Inspector Parker, who was in charge of the investigation, that Parker has made a mistake, the policeman is unsettled; despite the water-tight case he feels he has put together. "Where is the flaw?" he inquires gingerly. "There isn't one," Wimsey retorts. "Except that the girl's innocent."
Thus, the scene is set for the first entry in Sayers's Wimsey-Vane canon, whose first three installments are brought to the small screen in this delightful miniseries. (As the movie rights to the fourth and last episode completed by Sayers herself, "Busman's Honeymoon," were sold by the author, the BBC was unable to also include that particular installment; unfortunately so, as their version would undoubtedly have been more faithful than 1940's "Haunted Honeymoon" starring Robert Montgomery and Constance Cummings):
Because it is faithfulness to the books which most distinguishes this miniseries, as well as its superb cinematography, marvelously capturing the settings; from Old Bailey and pre-WWII London to sleepy and somewhat seedy seaside resorts and the timeless grace and high spirits of Oxford University. Unfortunately (particularly so in "Gaudy Night") a number of subplots were dropped, but the essence of Sayers's novels is maintained; and much of the dialogue is taken literally from those. Edward Petherbridge nails Lord Peter's tone and exalted mannerisms, as well as his hidden vulnerabilities, to a tee – fans of Ian Carmichael's more physical, over-the-top interpretation be reminded that Sayers herself, in "Strong Poison," describes Wimsey as of "slight" build, while giving a rather unexpected impression of "controlled power." (Granted, though, that, conceivably having endowed Lord Peter with much of her own preferences in men, Sayers would not have Harriet comment, as she does here, that he is "not much to look at;" in fact, she has her heroine veritably pining over a sleeping Lord Peter's physiognomy during "Gaudy Night"'s famous punting trip.) – Harriet Walter, similarly, shares more than her first name with the stories' female protagonist; she is exactly the Harriet Vane one might image when reading the books (I certainly did). Richard Morant as Lord Peter's faithful manservant Bunter is about a knife's tip too much of a jack-of-all-trades for my tastes – I can well see him "insinuating" himself into a suspect's household at his master's behest or shadowing another suspect all across London, but not necessarily fretting, as he does in "Busman's Honeymoon," over the sake of a case of vintage port, packed in eiderdowns in the back of a car and in danger of being rattled (and rendered undrinkable for months, if not years to come) by Lord Peter's brisk driving habits. Still, overall this is an outstanding production; undoubtedly one of the BBC's finest ever, and long overdue to be revived in DVD and video format.
Strong Poison (1930)While Harriet is pining away in prison, dreading a jury verdict which, she feels, can only be delayed, not avoided entirely, and not knowing how to deal with the sudden attentions of a well-known member of the nobility, Wimsey busies himself with the search for Boyes's true murderer; whom he eventually finds with the help of his confidante Miss Climpson (whose presence in the jury box, unbeknownst to Harriet, has already proved instrumental in producing a hung jury despite the judge's damning summation) and her assistant, Miss Murchison; both of which ladies, while perfectly honorable, do not shrink from unconvential methods when called for in the pursuit of justice.
Have His Carcase (1932)Harriet has gone on a walking tour along the English coast, to regain her peace of mind after her acquittal – only to find, instead, the corpse of a man lying on a beachside rock; and to promptly lose him again when the rock is covered by the tide, leaving only the photographs and personal items she has wisely taken as proof that he was there at all. Lord Peter is summoned to the spot by a reporter Harriet herself has called in an attempt to turn the tables on the inevitability of facing headline-hunting journalists again; and they are soon head over heals in an adventure featuring everything from a lonely rich widow set to marry the deceased, to gigolos at an expensive yet slightly sordid seaside hotel (the dead man having been one of those gigolos himself, although sporting a rather mysterious past), a razor's wanderings, an exercise in code-breaking, and a conspiracy ostensibly involving forces hailing back to imperial Russia – all of this, in the face of a police investigation stubbornly returning a verdict of suicide, and one of the most watertight alibis Lord Peter has to crack in all his career.
Gaudy Night (1935)Lastly, we see Harriet returning to Oxford, invited to her college's "Gaudy Night" celebrations (hence the episode's title), but also commissioned by the warden to look into an increasingly embarrassing series of poison-pen letters and vandalism directed against independent women, and primarily, women in academia. Lord Peter – after a diplomatic mission to continental Europe – comes late to the investigation, but when he does, the solution is found very quickly. And amid the hallowed halls of learned Oxford, also ended is the noble champion's quest for his lady's hand; not entirely in the high-spirited words only a scholar like Sayers could have put into the mouths of her singleminded and unusual couple of sleuths, but faithful to her novel nevertheless.
Themis-Athena's Dorothy L. Sayers page
Themis-Athena's select Lord Peter Wimsey bibliography
Themis-Athena's select British detectives bibliography and filmography
Themis-Athena's select British detectives audiography
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