Lord Peter Wimsey (TV series)

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Lord Peter Wimsey
Lord Peter Wimsey.png
Opening titlescreen
Genre
  • Mystery
  • Period drama
Based onStories by Dorothy L. Sayers
Written by
Starring
Composer Herbert Chappell
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes21
Production
Producers
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time44-60 minutes
Original release
Network BBC1
Release5 April 1972 (1972-04-05) –
13 August 1975 (1975-08-13)
Related

Lord Peter Wimsey is a series of television serial adaptations of five Lord Peter Wimsey novels by Dorothy L. Sayers, starring Ian Carmichael as Wimsey. They were broadcast on BBC1 between 1972 and 1975, beginning with Clouds of Witness in April 1972 and ending with Five Red Herrings in August 1975. [1] [2]

Contents

Cast

Episodes

All episodes are based on the corresponding novels written by Dorothy L. Sayers. [3]

No.TitleDirected byAdapted byOriginal release date
1–5 Clouds of Witness Hugh David Anthony Steven 5 April 1972 (1972-04-05)—3 May 1972 (1972-05-03)
Lord Peter's amateur sleuthing hobby ends up closer to home, as he finds himself with only weeks to save his own brother, the Duke of Denver, who is due to be tried by his peers of a murder in Yorkshire. [1]
6–9 The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club Ronald Wilson John Bowen and Anthony Steven1 February 1973 (1973-02-01)—26 February 1973 (1973-02-26)
On Armistice Day, a retired general is found dead at the Bellona Club, a London club for war veterans. A complicated will means any number of people may have a motive for murder. [4]
10–13 Murder Must Advertise Rodney Bennett Bill Craig 30 November 1973 (1973-11-30)—21 December 1973 (1973-12-21)
An unpopular copywriter is found dead at Pym's Publicity under suspicious circumstances. Lord Peter goes undercover as "Death Bredon" and uncovers a tangled web linked to the London drug-smuggling underworld. [5]
14–17 The Nine Tailors Raymond Menmuir Anthony Steven22 April 1974 (1974-04-22)—13 May 1974 (1974-05-13)
Stranded in the Fenland village of Fenchurch St Paul on a snowy New Year's Eve, Lord Peter finds himself drawn into the lore of bell-ringing. But the discovery of a body in a freshly-dug grave finds him uncovering a conspiracy involving a stolen set of emeralds, swapped identities and a First World War deserter. [6]
18–21 Five Red Herrings Robert Tronson Anthony Steven17 July 1975 (1975-07-17)—13 August 1975 (1975-08-13)
Lord Peter's fishing holiday in Galloway is disrupted when a talented but quarrelsome painter is found dead. Any one of six fellow artists may have committed the crime. [2]

Production

The adaptations star Ian Carmichael as aristocratic sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey, the second son of the Duke of Denver. Not wanting for money, charm or intelligence, Wimsey takes up detective work as an amateur pursuit, using his connections and social status to assist the police in their investigations.

Carmichael played the role concurrently in a series of BBC Radio 4 adaptations from 1973, which eventually completed the whole sequence of Sayers's novels. In The Radio Detectives (1999), Carmichael recalled that he had hoped to continue with further television adaptations, but acknowledged that by 1975 he was too old to play the part onscreen for the sequence of more romantic novels featuring crime writer Harriet Vane. [7] He felt that as a result of a technician strike, production of the fifth adaptation under a new producer, Bill Sellars, was not as successful, after which the series was not renewed. [7] Three later television adaptations of the Harriet Vane stories were produced as A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery with Edward Petherbridge as Wimsey in 1987. [8]

Glyn Houston played Wimsey's loyal valet and assistant Mervyn Bunter in three adaptations [9] and Derek Newark in The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (the character does not appear in Murder Must Advertise). Mark Eden played Inspector Charles Parker, Lord Peter's friend and contact at Scotland Yard in four adaptations.

The series was recorded in the then-standard format of videotape for studio sequences (recorded at Television Centre, London and Pebble Mill Birmingham from the second serial) [10] and 16mm film for exterior location scenes.

Locations

Locations included St Peter's Church, Walpole St Peter and Terrington St John, Norfolk for The Nine Tailors [11] [12] and Kirkcudbright, Galloway in Scotland for Five Red Herrings, the latter almost entirely shot on film due to a technician strike, with only a few studio sequences taped in studios in Glasgow. [13]

Music

The 1930s-style theme tune was written by Herbert Chappell. The BBC record of Herbert Chappell's theme tune featured a second track, "Size Ten Shuffle", which in rearranged form was used as the theme for FilmFair's Paddington (1976–1980). [14] [15]

Reception

The New York Times 's John J. O'Connor reviewed the serial Murder Must Advertise , which aired on PBS from 6 to 27 October 1974. O'Connor believed that, despite being an interesting novel, the serial did not transfer itself to television successfully, and was critical of the double role that Carmichael was required to play, believing that "that is where suspension of disbelief, however willing, collapses". However, O'Connor believed that the serial had "more than enough shrewd mischievousness to satisfy the devoted" and felt that it had an "ample quota of delightful moments". [16]

Related Research Articles

<i>Gaudy Night</i> 1935 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers

Gaudy Night (1935) is a mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the tenth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and the third including Harriet Vane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Peter Wimsey</span> Fictional character by Dorothy L Sayers

Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers. A dilettante who solves mysteries for his own amusement, Wimsey is an archetype for the British gentleman detective. He is often assisted by his valet and former batman, Mervyn Bunter; by his good friend and later brother-in-law, police detective Charles Parker; and, in a few books, by Harriet Vane, who becomes his wife.

<i>Murder Must Advertise</i> 1933 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers

Murder Must Advertise is a 1933 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the eighth in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Most of the action of the novel takes place in an advertising agency, a setting with which Sayers was familiar as she had herself worked as an advertising copywriter until 1931.

<i>Clouds of Witness</i> 1926 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers

Clouds of Witness is a 1926 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the second in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the United States the novel was first published in 1927 under the title Clouds of Witnesses.

<i>Unnatural Death</i> (novel) 1927 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers

Unnatural Death is a 1927 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her third featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. It was published under the title The Dawson Pedigree in the United States in 1928.

<i>The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club</i> 1928 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club is a 1928 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her fourth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Much of the novel is set in the Bellona Club, a fictional London club for war veterans.

<i>The Five Red Herrings</i> 1931 mystery novel by Dorothy L Sayers

The Five Red Herrings is a 1931 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her sixth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the United States it was published in the same year under the title Suspicious Characters.

<i>Have His Carcase</i> 1932 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers

Have His Carcase is a 1932 locked-room mystery by Dorothy L. Sayers, her seventh novel featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and the second in which Harriet Vane appears. It is also included in the 1987 BBC TV series. The book marks a stage in the long drawn out courting of Harriet Vane by Wimsey. Though working closely with him on solving the book's mystery, she still refuses to marry him.

<i>The Nine Tailors</i> 1934 mystery novel by Dorothy L Sayers

The Nine Tailors is a 1934 mystery novel by the British writer Dorothy L. Sayers, her ninth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. The story is set in the Lincolnshire Fens, and revolves around a group of bell-ringers at the local parish church. The book has been described as Sayers' finest literary achievement, although not all critics were convinced by the mode of death, nor by the amount of technical campanology detail included.

<i>Busmans Honeymoon</i> 1937 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers

Busman's Honeymoon is a 1937 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her eleventh and last featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and her fourth and last to feature Harriet Vane.

<i>Thrones, Dominations</i> Novel by Dorothy L. Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh

Thrones, Dominations is a Lord Peter Wimsey–Harriet Vane murder mystery novel that Dorothy L. Sayers began writing but abandoned, and which remained at her death as fragments and notes. It was completed by Jill Paton Walsh and published in 1998. The title is a quotation from John Milton's Paradise Lost and refers to two categories of angel in the Christian angelic hierarchy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Carmichael</span> English actor (1920–2010)

Ian Gillett Carmichael, was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career that spanned seventy years. Born in Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but his studies—and the early stages of his career—were curtailed by the Second World War. After his demobilisation he returned to acting and found success, initially in revue and sketch productions.

Harriet Deborah Vane, later Lady Peter Wimsey, is a fictional character in the works of British writer Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) and the sequels by Jill Paton Walsh.

Mervyn Bunter is a fictional character in Dorothy L. Sayers's novels and short stories. He serves as Lord Peter Wimsey's valet, having been Wimsey's batman during the First World War. Bunter was partially based on the fictional valet Jeeves, created by P. G. Wodehouse.

Sergeant/Inspector/Chief Inspector Charles Parker is a fictional police detective who appears in several Lord Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy L. Sayers, and later becomes Lord Peter's brother-in-law.

<i>Busmans Honeymoon</i> (film) 1940 British film by Arthur B. Woods

Busman's Honeymoon is a 1940 British detective film directed by Arthur B. Woods. An adaptation of the 1937 Lord Peter Wimsey novel Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers, Busman's Honeymoon stars Robert Montgomery, Constance Cummings, Leslie Banks, Googie Withers, Robert Newton and Seymour Hicks as Mervyn Bunter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy L. Sayers</span> English novelist, translator and Christian writer (1893–1957)

Dorothy Leigh Sayers was an English crime novelist, playwright, translator and critic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Carmichael on stage, screen and radio</span> English actor

The English actor and comedian Ian Carmichael OBE (1920–2010) performed in many mediums of light entertainment, including theatre, radio, television and film. His career spanned from 1939 until his death in 2010. According to Brian McFarlane, writing for The Encyclopedia of British Film, Carmichael "epitomises the good-natured, undemanding pleasures of '50s British cinema".

<i>A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery</i> 1987 BBC TV series

A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery is a series of television adaptations of three Lord Peter Wimsey novels—Strong Poison, Have his Carcase and Gaudy Night—by Dorothy L. Sayers.

Lord Peter Wimsey is a series of full cast BBC Radio drama adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey detective novels broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1973 and 1983, with a further adaptation of Gaudy Night mounted for BBC Audiobooks in 2005 to complete the full sequence of Sayers' novels, all starring Ian Carmichael in the title role.

References

  1. 1 2 "Clouds of Witness". BBC Genome. 5 April 1972. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Five Red Herrings". BBC Genome. 17 July 1975. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  3. ↑ "Lord Peter Wimsey, Clouds of Witness, Episode 1". BBC . Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  4. ↑ "The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club". BBC Genome. 1 February 1973. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  5. ↑ "Murder Must Advertise". BBC Genome. 13 May 1987. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  6. ↑ "The Nine Tailors". BBC Genome. 22 April 1974. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  7. 1 2 "The Radio Detectives: As My Whimsy Takes Me". BBC Genome. 18 May 1999. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "Mystery! presents Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey". New York Times. 2 October 1987.
  9. ↑ "Glyn Houston obituary". The Guardian. 8 July 2019.
  10. ↑ Fairclough, Robert (2011). This Charming Man: The Life of Ian Carmichael. Aurum Press Ltd.
  11. ↑ "History". Walpole St Peter's Church. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  12. ↑ In Search of St Paul’s Church Fenchurch St Paul. Retrieved 25 September 2023
  13. ↑ Carmichael, Ian (1979). Will the Real Ian Carmichael: An Autobiography. Macmillan. p. 383.
  14. ↑ "Boyfriends – Lord Peter Wimsey Theme". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  15. ↑ "RESL 7". 45cat.com. 45cat. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  16. ↑ O'Conner, John J. (7 October 1974). "Lord Peter Wimsey is Back in Mystery". The New York Times . p. 71. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 26 January 2025.

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