The first two stories are reasonably faithful to the books, and although the "Gaudy Night" episodes are sort of a Dorothy Sayers Lite, they do make a good introduction for someone who is not familiar with the books. These episodes introduced me to Dorothy L. Sayers (my favorite author along with Jane Austen) and in that way, have greatly influenced my life.

The casting and the acting of these is perfection (thank you Edward Petherbridge, Harriet Walter, and Richard Morant!)- there is no cheekiness that bothers me about the Ian Carmichael versions of some of the other novels.

My only complaint is that they couldn't do "Busman's Honeymoon" for this series (someone in Hollywood wouldn't release the copyright - but have they done anything with it??? NO.)

HOORAY!!!

83 of 86 found the following review helpful:

Three To Ponder  Jul 14, 2002
By Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™"
This is the boxed set of three of the four mystery novels Dorothy Sayers wrote about her sleuth, Lord Peter Whimsey, and Harriet Vane, the mystery writer who eventually became his wife. These are the DVD's of the BBC productions of "Strong Poison," "Have His Carcase," and "Gaudy Night," starring Edward Petherbridge and Harriet Walter. Unfortunately, the BBC was unable to obtain permission to produce the final novel, "Busman's Honeymoon," much to our loss.

I have already written reviews of the individual performances separately, and will focus here on matters that affect the entire set. For reference, these performances cover the period from Wimsey's successful efforts to free Harriet from suspicions of murdering her lover to Peter's proposal to her at Oxford several years later.

Both of the stars of this series do remarkable work. Petherbridge is almost too perfect for the role, and has managed completely to supplant my own imagined version of Lord Peter completely. My only quibble is that he seems more a man in his fifties rather than the forties I thought was Wimsey's age. Since I am in my fifties myself, I found this quite easy to forgive. As for Walter's depiction of Harriet Vane, she really is exactly as she should be. Richard Morant's approach to Bunter, Lord Peter's man, is more problematic, being well acted, but not quite in character. As far as the lesser characters, the casting is, for the most part, impeccable. The few exceptions to this rule are still more than acceptable.

What makes the novels unique for their time is that Sayers wrote them are not simply as mystery stories with a romantic aspect. Instead, Harriet Vane is in almost every way Lord Peter's match, a strong, intelligent, and independent woman who balks at marriage first because she does not wish to succumb to gratitude, and latterly because she does not with for her own depth of character to be subsumed under Lord Peter's. This dilemma is used by the author not simply to entertain, but to expand on the role of women in post World War I Britain. And here lies my major complaint about an otherwise delightful set of entertainments.

For whatever reason, the director (Christopher Hodson) decided to overemphasize the romance at the cost of other elements. In the case of "Strong Poison" and "Have His Carcase," this sin only extended to the modification of the endings to create a certain romantic suspense. In "Gaudy Night," unfortunately, Hodson made significant changes from the novel, and left out several elements as well. The result of this 'Hollywoodizing' is that the less familiar one is with the novels, the more enjoyable the performances are. If you are a long time Sayers fan, though, you may find yourself slightly dissatisfied. Purist that I am, I have rated the set at four stars rather than the five that it otherwise richly deserves.

22 of 23 found the following review helpful:

Not Ian Carmichael but...  Feb 03, 2006
By C. J. Naugle
I like both Lord Peter actors, Ian Carmichael puts the "whimsy" in Lord Peter Wimsey but Edward Petherbridge puts the 'Lord Peter' into his portrayal. Petherbridge reminds the reader that the character is fragile and was seriously shell-shocked during WWI and still suffers delayed stress syndrome -his meeting with Harriet Vane is painful and he is desperate to save her while keeping his arm's distance like a gentleman -at her request. Watching the tortured role played, one can't help thinking that his gentlemanly distance is kept more at his insecurity about his emotional stability. He is strong but is the strength his title and wealth? I think anyone who has read and loved her books will enjoy the intellectual challenge Petherbridge delivers. On another note, Dorothy L. Sayers married Arthur Fleming in 1926, contrary to another reviewer's claim that she never married. For a more complete bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Sayers

26 of 28 found the following review helpful:

The REAL Lord Peter: to a "T"  May 01, 2002

Calling all Lord Peter fans, & all those of ripping good film-making, too: AT LAST! We've all only been waiting since 1987 for these three BBC-films to be released in video -THAT's all! Yes, 15 years in the waiting, but looking spanking new & utterly worth the wait. You'll see: the even older Wimsey videos (Ian Carmichael) suffer seriously when compared to these latest three. I enjoyed Ian but was always bothered by the fact that he was too old, too grey & too thick-waisted to really seem anything like Peter. Edward Petherbridge's acting is top-drawer, & sticklers can rejoice that the actor even looks exactly as Sayers described Peter: right down to the long "goosey" nose, the particular look in the eye, the pale golden hair, & "the shoulders tailored to the point of swooning". Petherbridge's talent & informed style bring the very soul of Lord Peter to the screen in all his eccentric complexity: the wit, the fire, the wonderful silliness, the sudden vulnerability, the rapid badinage lacing literary & historical allusions in between forensic observations: zounds! Top that off with the marvelous presence, at last, of Harriet Vane, & you'll be watching all three novels in a row, straight on 'til morning. Further reassurance? 'Gaudy Night' is SUPERB. Very hard to do well (Hollywood would've ruined it), BBC has created a work of perfection. That early feminist island of Oxford's first college for women is so faithfully & delightfully rendered, even the most exacting viewers/readers will thrill. ORDER EARLY: THESE ARE KEEPERS!

15 of 15 found the following review helpful:

Great show, but only plain-vanilla no-frills DVDs.  Jun 19, 2002

Undoubtedly one of the Beeb's best classic British cozy adaptations, the casting of this series is spot on, which makes up for any wobbliness in the adaptations. STRONG POISON and especially HAVE HIS CARCASS (thank you Rosemary Anne Sisson!) are a delight to the viewer who treasures faithfulness to the books. GAUDY NIGHT, however, limited by only three 50-minute episodes maintains a narrative thread at the cost of some memorable scenes: no chess set, no dog collar, no nephew Jerry.

The DVDs are surprisingly good in video quality: the soft greyish hues of British tv tend to bring out the visibility of compression, but the datarate hovers in the 7 range, so someone did their best to keep it clean and bright. And, needless to say, this is an obvious improvement over taped-off-the-air VHS. The opening animation, adapted from the show's title sequence, is far less annoying than the majority of you-have-to-sit-through-this front pages, and the navigation is excellent: the chapter selection pages include links to all the episodes on the disc and six of the twelve chapter stops per episode (i.e., you can get to any chapter stop on the disc within 3 clicks). And miracle of miracles, chapter choices are intelligent.

Where the discs are lacking is in presenting "Extras" that aren't: a few background texts about the principal cast and promotional trailers for other products; and virtually identical offerings on all three discs. Either give me real extras (like the MYSTERY! Petherbridge interview footage, photos of Petherbridge and Emily Richards in the Lyric Hammersmith BUSMAN'S HONEYMOON, or even descriptions of the 1940 MGM Robert Montgomery BUSMAN'S HONEYMOON aka "Haunted Honeymoon" which has amusingly awful lines in it like: "I'm Lord Peter Wimsey. And this is my wife, Lady Wimsey...") or stop teasing me.

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