Rating: Summary: Gaudy yes, but oh so Brilliant Review: This is but one of the many Peter Wimsey mysteries I have watched, listened to, and/or read. Everyone of them have had characters so well developed and believable. This mystery is well deserving of the highest rating for its plot, the scenery, and the acting. The period was the 1930's, and strong, independent women were an exception rather than the norm. This story highlights one type of delicate situation professional women could find themselves in during this transitional period. The majority of the cast are female, and all are very well cast. There were even a number of catty encounters between various characters, remniscent of "The Women", by Clare Booth Luce, which were very likely to have actually happened in the situations these characters found themselves in. Having seen Edward Petheridge and Harriet Walter portray these characters in a play on stage, their portrayals lose nothing in the transition to TV. I stongly recommend this show as well as all the other Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries on DVD/VHS. These shows are excellent entertainment and have class most current TV shows and movies of this genre seriously lack.
Rating: Summary: Gaudy yes, but oh so Brilliant Review: This is but one of the many Peter Wimsey mysteries I have watched, listened to, and/or read. Everyone of them have had characters so well developed and believable. This mystery is well deserving of the highest rating for its plot, the scenery, and the acting. The period was the 1930's, and strong, independent women were an exception rather than the norm. This story highlights one type of delicate situation professional women could find themselves in during this transitional period. The majority of the cast are female, and all are very well cast. There were even a number of catty encounters between various characters, remniscent of "The Women", by Clare Booth Luce, which were very likely to have actually happened in the situations these characters found themselves in. Having seen Edward Petheridge and Harriet Walter portray these characters in a play on stage, their portrayals lose nothing in the transition to TV. I stongly recommend this show as well as all the other Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries on DVD/VHS. These shows are excellent entertainment and have class most current TV shows and movies of this genre seriously lack.
Rating: Summary: Well done Review: This is the third in a series of television movies based on Dorothy L. Sayers's famous mystery series featuring Harriet Vein and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. The first two programs are "Strong Poison" and "Have His Carcass." One of the strengths of the BBC production is that they do not try to dramatize so much that the story does not match the book. One of the advantages of this series is that it is long enough that most of the pertinent information is shown. They made an excellent choice when deciding to use Edward Petherbridge as Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Walter as Harriet Vane. They match the book character descriptions perfectly. In fact if you see this program before you read the book their images will be in your mind. Maybe due to time restraints or different directing, many of the most interesting book characters were left out of "Gaudy Night" A chess board plays a significant part in the book and is also left out of this version. Harriet is invite to her university's gaudy. She soon finds out that it is not an idle indentation. It seems that people are receiving poison pen letters and very nasty pranks. Not wanting the police to be involved they turn to Harriet (knowing of here reputation for solving crimes.) When Harriet receives a letter herself she confides in Lord Peter. Are these innocent pranks or will they lead to some thing more sinister? And who is the culprit?
Rating: Summary: Well done Review: This is the third in a series of television movies based on Dorothy L. Sayers's famous mystery series featuring Harriet Vein and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. The first two programs are "Strong Poison" and "Have His Carcass." One of the strengths of the BBC production is that they do not try to dramatize so much that the story does not match the book. One of the advantages of this series is that it is long enough that most of the pertinent information is shown. They made an excellent choice when deciding to use Edward Petherbridge as Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Walter as Harriet Vane. They match the book character descriptions perfectly. In fact if you see this program before you read the book their images will be in your mind. Maybe due to time restraints or different directing, many of the most interesting book characters were left out of "Gaudy Night" A chess board plays a significant part in the book and is also left out of this version. Harriet is invite to her university's gaudy. She soon finds out that it is not an idle indentation. It seems that people are receiving poison pen letters and very nasty pranks. Not wanting the police to be involved they turn to Harriet (knowing of here reputation for solving crimes.) When Harriet receives a letter herself she confides in Lord Peter. Are these innocent pranks or will they lead to some thing more sinister? And who is the culprit?
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