Customer Reviews

Lord Peter Wimsey - The Complete Collection

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Finally, finally, the full set of this series is on DVD. (Individual titles have been trickling onto the market for years.) These engrossing, spirited productions are the major detective-fiction product from a distinct period and style of British productions that gave the world some enduring classics: Upstairs Downstairs, its sequel The Duchess of Duke Street, Poldark, Danger: UXB, and of course (by informal consensus the best TV series ever made), All Creatures Great and Small. These 1970s productions share a look and feel that is quickly recognizable (with videotaped interior and filmed outdoor scenes, and a pool of outstanding actors, in the British tradition, many of them famous in higher-budget theatrical films also). They all aired in the US when they were new and occasionally later, and captivated audiences, who have looked eagerly for them since. (And who were, therefore, all the more disappointed with a later, 1990s re-make of some of Sayers's Wimsey stories, slick but without the heart and energy of this 1970s classic series with Ian Carmichael.) The original stories by Sayers are themselves very entertaining; she was one of the most intellectual, and certainly the most hard-working, of the British detective-fiction writers who flourished between the wars. (One of her stories turns on the gender of a definite article in French; another, relying on details of architecture, sent her studying the subject for six months so that she would know what she was talking about -- modern best-seller writers, please note.) Her fondness for and knowledge of the Church of England informs a number of the dramatizations, especially The Nine Tailors, thought by many people (including me) to be best of them -- certainly its plot is a lollapalooza. But they are all very good.

Everything about this wonderful series is a class act -- the wonderful plots, the incredibly talented actors -- Ian Charmichael especially. I saw this series on PBS when it first came out and was absolutely hooked. It's even better the second time around.

Just a logistical note: My parents (Americans) loved watching this series on PBS, but hit a snag with the DVDs -- closed-captioning isn't included, and they found they could no longer understand the british accents! (They are entering their 70s, and prefer-but-don't-require closed-captioning for *all* their TV viewing.)

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The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club

Waiter take away Lord what's-his name"

"He's been dead for two days..."

We are introduced to the Bellona club were young Captain George Fentiman (John Quentin) and Lord Peter Wimsey (Ian Carmichael) two war survivors are talking a little too loud about General Fentiman (Ralph Truman), Georges grandfather. General Fentiman is not responding and for good reason he is dead. Upon further investigation we find that the general's sister Lady Dormer has also died the very same day. Poor George will only inherit 2000 pounds. However who gets the lion's share of the estate all hinges on who died first. Lord peter as a friend and a snoopy armature sleuth must ascertain the answer and if there is foul play the perpetrator. In any case this is a most unpleasantness at the Bellona Club.

I think sometime these programs are made for those that have already read the book because you can not put everything from the book into the series the highlights and major information is all there but some of the how they got to the information is missing in obvious gaps. Still the essence is captures quite well.

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The Nine Tailors

He sent forth a raven

A young Lord Peter (Ian Carmichael) in uniform on his way to the war. He is standing in for his brother The Duke of Denver at a wedding. Mischief is afoot and an emerald necklace was pinched. Where it was stored for save keeping I can not say. It looks like the perpetrator was winged by a well placed shot. We get the inside story and know the truth.

All in the first chapter we see the crime and the fait of the perpetrators. We also get a first hand view of the meeting and growing relationship and Wimsey and Bunter (Glyn Houston.) As fait would have it Lord Peter finds him self once again in Fenchurch St. Pauli again. This time as providence would have it just in time to replace a sick bell ringer on New Year's Eve.

Three months later a body is found in and Lord Peter is invited to the inquest.

This film is based on a Dorothy L. Sayers novel of the same name with the screen adaptation by Anthony Steven.

At first you are not sure that this is the same peter Wimsey when you see the blond hair and mustache. However if you look close they made little attempt to cover the wrinkled face.

If you have an opportunity to view this film before reading the book you will not be distracted by the deviations and omit ions form the written story.
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Murder Must Advertise

Victor Dean spirals to his death

Victor Dean (Robert Hamilton) writes "There is something going on in the organization that is very undesirable and might lead to serious consequences,"

Shortly after that Victor Dean spirals to his death. An accident?

It may be coincidence but to be on the safe side Mr. Pym (Peter Pratt) of Pym's Advertising Agency heirs a privet detective "Death Breen" to secretly find the answer. Mr. Breen poses as a beginning copy writer and gets to know the staff. We notice that Mr. Breen is too well dressed for the part and looking closer we recognize him as...

Lord Peter (Ian Carmichael) used the address of the empty apartment owned by his brother-in-law Chief Inspector Parker (Mark Eden) and sister Lady Mary (Rachel Herbert)

While Lord Peter is doing his investigation of the mysterious doings at Pym's, Chief Inspector Parker is investigation dope smuggling. Their paths cross frequently.

Is there a link?
And was Victor Dean just a victim of an accident?
Watch and find out.

You may notice that Ian Carmichael is really showing his age in this film and is just a tad old for the part.

They took the time to put just about everything relevant from the book in to this production. There were a few exceptions but not worth bothering about. The production is complete enough that you do not have to read the book.

Dorothy L. Sayers writes many non-fiction books however among her best is the Lord Peter Wimsey series. I came to this series sort of though the back door. My first taste was the BBC productions with Petherbridge as Lord Peter, which can now be found on DVD and as a set of Lord Peter stories. So I read all of Dorothy's books containing the relationship of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. Now it is time to go through the whole series.

This item is worth purchasing as you will want to replay it often.
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Five Red Herrings

Well done Lord Peter Wimsey

Dorothy L. Sayers writes many non-fiction books however among her best is the Lord Peter Wimsey series. I came to this series sort of though the back door. My first taste was the BBC productions with Petherbridge as Lord Peter that can now be found on DVD . So I read all of Dorothy's books containing the relationship of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. Now it is time to go through the whole series.

Now I watched the one I missed on PBS. The first thing I notices was that Ian Carmichael talks much faster than Petherbridge. And all the people seem older. Of course Peter was supposed to be older when he met Harriet.

Campbell a local artist is being obnoxious and makes everybody's life miserable. Let's face it Campbell needs killing. You guessed it; he seems to have had an accident while painting. Lord Peter deduces that the so called accident could only be staged by another painter. Yep there are six suspects and more if it is not a painter. So that leaves "Five Red Herrings"

As with all Sayers' stories nothing is simple there are overlapping plots and foolish deeds, as if Peter can not figure them out. On the side we learn a little about Scottish society and see the landscape.

They took the time to put just about everything relevant from the book in to this production. There were a few exceptions but not worth bothering about. The production is complete enough that you do not have to read the book. Yet you will want to for the differences and more dialogs.

I am glad they finally made a DVD version. However the one I watched was the tape. This item is worth purchasing as you will want to replay it often.
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Clouds of Witness

Well done Lord Peter Wimsey

Dorothy L. Sayers writes many non-fiction books however among her best is the Lord Peter Wimsey series. I came to this series sort of though the back door. My first taste was the BBC productions with Petherbridge as Lord Peter that can now be found on DVD. So I read all of Dorothy's books containing the relationship of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. Now it is time to go through the whole series.

Now I watch the one I missed in PBS. The first thing I notices was that Ian Carmichael talks much faster than Petherbridge. And all the people seem older. Of course Peter was supposed to be older when he met Harriet.

Lord Peter returns from Corsica. To find his older brother the Duke of Denver (David Langton) practically accused of murder. What is worse is his brother is not talking. So it is up to Peter to find out what happened and clear his brother.
In the process he puts his foot in it and practically gets all his relatives and friends accused. As with all Sayers' stories nothing is simple there are overlapping plots and foolish deeds, as if Peter can not figure them out. On the side we learn a little about English society and ballistics.

They took the time to put just about everything relevant from the book in to this production. There were a few exceptions but not worth bothering about. The production is complete enough that you do not have to read the book.

I am glad they finally made a DVD version. However the one I watched was the tape series and I swear just as soon as you turn it on the part (episode) is over and it is time for the next tape as the story moves very fast.
This item is worth purchasing as you will want to replay it often.
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After renting a few episodes from Netflix, I knew I had to have the collection for myself.

Being a Lord Peter Wimsey fan, I was pleased to find this set of Dorothy L. Sayer stories on DVDs. This set has five stories, Clouds of Witness, The Unpleasantness of Bellona Club, Five Red Herrings, Murder Must Advertise, and The Nine Tailors all starring Ian Carmichael. I purchased this as a used set and it was still expensive, close to $400. It was in like-new condition and I received it in just a few days to my doorstep. I am extremely pleased with the condition, speed of delivery, and the movies are wonderful. Each story is several hours long. Before purchasing this set with Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter, I purchased the Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, Gaudy Night set starring Edward Petherbridge as Lord Peter. Each actor brought a little different spin on Lord Peter's character, but both did an excellent job bringing out his personality. I would highly recommend Lord Peter Wimsey, The Complete Collection to any Dorothy L Sayer's fan. You won't be disappointed.

All of the episodes of this series are wonderful. Ian Carmichael is Lord Peter Wimsey. I have enjoyed the books for years and saw some of the episodes when they first came on. Also, saw the Petherbridge version on PBS. I am delighted to see the Carmichael version again. I am just sorry that the complete set is no longer available. I purchased individual titles to get my set and am glad I did.

Was always interested after I saw Lord Peter Wimsey on PBS. This is a different set of actors than the ones I saw, but they're still quite good. To be honest, most anything British is OK with us!

Once again, Amazon got this order to me sooner than stated. Anyone who loves English mysteries will love Peter Wimsey.

Dorothy L Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey novels were considered by the BBC when it was looking for something that might be as successful as the enormously popular "Forsythe Saga" production of the 1960s. For various reasons, other works were chosen, and it was not until 1972 that a series was approved and produced during the following four years. Even so, there were problems. The Wimsey novels are cumulative, that is to say, the earliest of them predates the events and character development of the next. It was intended to begin production with "Murder Must Advertise", but on reflection the correct decision was made to produce the adaptations in the order in which the novels first appeared, omitting the first in the Wimsey canon, however - "Whose Body". Ian Carmichael and other cast members were chosen, most reprising their roles throughout the years of production.

Now it's possible to enjoy this BBC production packaged in one box of 10 DVDs. Productions these days are not as studio-bound, nor are the female coiffures so "ropey", but there's not much here that could be improved. The great lack, for me however, is the absence of the narrative voice of Dorothy L Sayers. Yes, her dialogues, characters and plots stand up well, but she could write better than almost everybody else in this "genre", and to enjoy it you must return to the books.