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Campion - The Complete First Season

Campion - The Complete First Season

List Price: $79.98
Your Price: $71.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Worth every penny
Review: This wonderful series is worth purchasing and watching over and over. Even if - like me - you're not so much of a mystery aficionado, but you're just interested in watching a good story unfold, chances are you'll still become quickly engrossed. In my particular case, I was captivated by actor Peter Davison long before I ever saw this series, so it was doubly easy for me to become involved in the stories!

The set is comprised of eight episodes on four discs. Each story is told in two parts, the first of which always ends in a perfect cliffhanger. The four stories, all based on the books by author Margery Allingham, are entitled (in order) "Look to the Lady," "Police at the Funeral," "The Case of the Late Pig," and "Death of a Ghost." All four are wonderful, though the third is my personal favorite. An added bonus is a fascinating special feature consisting of a behind-the-scenes look at the fourth story.

As for the actors, they too are absolutely perfect. I cannot say enough about the aforementioned Mr. Davison, who plays the role of Albert Campion beautifully and has a smile that may leave some viewers in an incoherent stupor for upwards of forty-eight hours. (He also sings the theme music.) Campion's assistant, Lugg, is also wonderfully played by the late Brian Glover. The scenes between the two of them are a lot of fun to watch.

Aside from the behind-the-scenes segment, the only other added feature(s) is/are the cast biographies, and some have complained that this set costs too much for something with so few add-ons - but personally I believe that it is worth every penny.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Inexplicably...dullish
Review: We're disappointed in "Campion." I hate to say it, but I have to. We really, really enjoy almost everything detectivewise the BBC has put out, but not so much "Campion." It's just a little too...campy.

Before you "boo and hiss me" with the "NO-this-review-was-not-helpful" button, let me explain. We own both sets of "Campion," first and second season. The first season is definitely better than the second, but we can see why there is no third season.

The direction and the stories themselves are tedious. There are too many inexplicable events ocurring, which are unexplained, making them, well, inexplicable, confusing and dull. However, in the first season, which is why it is slightly better than the second, there seems to be a bit of mysticism woven into the stories to explain the inexplicable, which is sorely lacking in the second season. Furthermore, there are irritatingly expectant and therefore dull recurrences, such as Campion every...single...time setting himself up, with much stupidity, to be attacked and hurt and almost killed by the bad guy, every...single...time. Lugg, his rudish butler, is just way too difficult to hear and understand with his ultra-thick British accent. He's more of an afterthought butler than a genuinely resourceful one.

If you like "Campion," you might also like "The Adela Bradley Mysteries" with Diana Rigg. Both are equally quirky, with weird stories and butler types. But we're not so crazy about either.

Try instead the likes of "Nero Wolfe," "Lord Peter Wimsey," "Sherlock Holmes," "Hercule Poirot," and "Miss Marple."

Now you can hit the "no" button if you still want to.


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