Rating: 
Summary: One of THE BEST TV Series Ever Made!!!
Review: Edward Petherbridge is brilliant!!I recently acquired these DVD's (Strong Poison/Have His Carcass/Gaudy Night) and they are now my most treasured set. The performances by Edward Petherbridge and Harriet Walter are flawless! This series is a MUST HAVE for all mystery buffs (especially Dorothy Sayer's fans!) For those who were disappointed in the Ian Carmichael series produced 10 years earlier, take heart--you have now found the answer to your prayers! My only criticism is that there were no more titles produced in this series. I can't understand why they did not continue to make more of these wonderful productions. And furthermore, I can't understand why the BBC took so long to release this series onto Video/DVD. If I had known of the existance of this series sooner, I would have launched a campaign to demand that they make more episodes. Oh well...I guess we will just have to make do with the three gems that were made. (In fact you should probably buy two sets of these, as you may wear out your original DVD's from watching them over and over and over and ...ahem...oh yes back to the review...) The first two films, Strong Poison and Have His Carcass, are faithful to the books and each is truly a pleasure to watch. The third, Gaudy Night (or "Gaudy Lite" as I have seen it referred to) skimps a bit in comparison to the novel. However, the extraordinary acting on the part of Edward Petherbridge and Harriet Walter more than makes up for this, ensuring that this version of Gaudy Night is a highly entertaining one. This series should have segued into "Busman's Honeymoon." However BBC dropped the ball on obtaining the rites and left us all hanging. Perhaps it isn't too late for a continuation of this series after all. It has ONLY been 16 years since the last episode. Surely if Ian Carmichael could have the audacity to play Lord Peter Wimsey at his age, Edward Petherbridge could pull it off for at least another 20 years or so (and do it brilliantly I might add!) Needless to say, I have become an instant fan of Mr. Petherbridge and can only hope I may find more of his work on film. (This is a daunting task since this distinguished stage performer seems to shy away from the camera. Something about acting for the love of the thing and not the money. Oh these serious actors!! By the way, isn't he WAY OVERDUE for some sort of Knighthood or something ...hmm??!!) WARNING: Ordinary television will seem even more unsatisfactory after viewing these DVD's. As I said before, you'd better get at least two copies of each of these DVD's (or to be on the safe side, you'd better make it three!!) (NOTE: It seems that the UK version of the DVD's contain an interview with Edward Petherbridge as a bonus feature. Unfortunately for me, the American version does not. You lucky Brits!!) Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: A Deep Disappointment
Review: Gaudy Night has long been my favorite Lord Peter Wimsey--or perhaps I should say, Harriet Vane detective story. There's no doubt Sayers recreated Oxford lovingly and with extreme vividness. Harriet Vane fully comes into her own in this story. The TV adaptation, however, is truncated, simplified almost beyond recognition. The various characters are cardboard stereotypes. The deepening relationship between Wimsey and Harriet is reduced to cliches. Why in the world were 4 episodes lavished on a much lesser story, "Have His Carcase" and only three on "Gaudy Night". This version simply doesn't do the original story justice at all.
Rating:
Summary: A Deep Disappointment
Review: Gaudy Night has long been my favorite Lord Peter Wimsey--or perhaps I should say, Harriet Vane detective story. There's no doubt Sayers recreated Oxford lovingly and with extreme vividness. Harriet Vane fully comes into her own in this story. The TV adaptation, however, is truncated, simplified almost beyond recognition. The various characters are cardboard stereotypes. The deepening relationship between Wimsey and Harriet is reduced to cliches. Why in the world were 4 episodes lavished on a much lesser story, "Have His Carcase" and only three on "Gaudy Night". This version simply doesn't do the original story justice at all.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Having seen all 3 of the Rutheridge adaptations of Sayer, I must say I was disappointed with this one, my favorite by far of the 3 novels, just as I was impressed by how well they did Have His Carcase, one of Sayer's less impressive novels, imo. This adaption cuts alot of what made the novel so interesting. Wimsey's nephew does not appear. The subplot of the students, including the one with the crush on Harriet and the one who is suicidal, does not appear except for an early 2 minute interview by Vane of a few of the women students, who then disappear, a singularly pointless scene, as though they decided not to have the student bit after all and then left one scene in by accident. There is no chess set, and none of the undercurrents between Vane and the Hilliard woman that that event brought out in the book. Hilliard is just hostile, because she is an unpleasant woman. Uninteresting. There is no dog collar, for which I was thankful, I'm afraid men who put dog collars on women just brings too many irrelevancies to mind these days. There is so much of the interaction of the dons that is lacking, there is no development at all of any suspicions and clues pointing at any of the dons, as there was in the book, there is in fact no development of the mystery at all. Vandalous things happen on several nights, then Peter springs the solution on us all, clever fellow. But most disappointing to me of all is that this version just did not give us the marvelous presence of Oxford itself as Sayers empphasized it so strongly in the book. It was key to what happened between Wimsay and Vane and what it symbolized of the primacy and the costs and rewards of the intellectual life was a rich underlying theme for every character, including of course the culprit. But this production cheated us - vane thinks a few poetry lines re Oxford at the very beginning as she is driving there, then wimsey says something about how awfully serious Oxford makes everyone at the very end, and the whole theme is just absent otherwise. I like the Vane characterization across all 3 of the videos. Rutheridge as Peter lacks all the effervescence and whimsey and defensive buffoonery of the Sayers character - a fact that is a big defect imo in Strong Poison but much less so in this video, as in fact Sayer's Wimsey drops his clownishness more and more in the successive novels.
Rating:
Summary: As My Whimsy Takes Me
Review: I never thought I'd see this series again, but miracle of miracles, The Powers That Be have released it and on DVD, no less! I first saw these episodes on PBS in the late eighties when I was entering junior high school. I've been watching those Friday night mystery programs on PBS for as long as I can remember, and no one can top these three adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayer's three most popular Wimsey novels: Strong Poison, Have His Carcass, and Gaudy Night. Absolutely brilliant performances by Edward Petherbridge as my quintessential Lord Peter and Harriet Walter as Harriet Vane. I hope that now this much-loved series will receive the long-awaited praise and recognition it richly deserves.
Rating:
Summary: As My Whimsy Takes Me
Review: I never thought I'd see this series again, but miracle of miracles, The Powers That Be have released it and on DVD, no less! I first saw these episodes on PBS in the late eighties when I was entering junior high school. I've been watching those Friday night mystery programs on PBS for as long as I can remember, and no one can top these three adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayer's three most popular Wimsey novels: Strong Poison, Have His Carcass, and Gaudy Night. Absolutely brilliant performances by Edward Petherbridge as my quintessential Lord Peter and Harriet Walter as Harriet Vane. I hope that now this much-loved series will receive the long-awaited praise and recognition it richly deserves.
Rating:
Summary: A televised Wimsey that is Wimsey
Review: Thanks to Volavampire for her review that mentioned Petheridge as Peter Wimsey. I have been enamoured of this detective since I first read Strong Poison when I was in high school. However, I felt so strongly that Ian Carmichael (I think that was the actor) was NOT Wimsey in any way, shape, or form, that I did not watch the televised versions. I wasn't aware of the "Harriet Vane" series with E. Petheridge until I read the review here. I am totally delighted with his portrayal of Wimsey. He fits my pictures in every way, as does Bunter. The casting of Harriet Vane is good as well. For any Wimsey fans, I recommend this DVD set with multiple stars.
Rating:
Summary: A televised Wimsey that is Wimsey
Review: Thanks to Volavampire for her review that mentioned Petheridge as Peter Wimsey. I have been enamoured of this detective since I first read Strong Poison when I was in high school. However, I felt so strongly that Ian Carmichael (I think that was the actor) was NOT Wimsey in any way, shape, or form, that I did not watch the televised versions. I wasn't aware of the "Harriet Vane" series with E. Petheridge until I read the review here. I am totally delighted with his portrayal of Wimsey. He fits my pictures in every way, as does Bunter. The casting of Harriet Vane is good as well. For any Wimsey fans, I recommend this DVD set with multiple stars.
Rating: 
Summary: "A Monstrous Regiment of Women"
Review: This BBC presentation is based on the third novel in the Wimsey/Vane series. Harriet, motivated by her memories of Oxford as an escape from worldly concerns (such as her involvement in two murders and persistent proposals from Lord Peter), attends a student reunion or gaudy night. In the course of this she allows herself to be drawn into the mystery of a poison pen writer who has crossed too far into the realms of bad taste and threats. Gradually she realizes that the matter is getting out of hand, and turns again to Wimsey for help and guidance. There is no question but that the saboteur intends harm to Shrewsbury College itself, as well as the dons and students who are part of it. Ugly notes escalate to burnt effigies, and finally to attacks on properties and persons. Everyone, from Senior Common Room to the least student is under suspicion. Harriet must labor under the triple complications of the crimes themselves, a mixed reception from the dons of Shrewsbury, and the ever-increasing complexity of her relationship with Lord Peter. This latter is the reason for Sayers decision to gradually shift the focus of these three novels from Lord Peter (in 'Strong Poison') to Harriet Vane. In the book, lesser characters appear more often than Wimsey does as the narrative focuses in on a woman who is struggling to find herself and who fears being overwhelmed by what Peter has to offer. 'Gaudy Night' has the best acting of the three BBC presentations, and the most interesting setting, the only women's college at Oxford. It is easy to fall into the plot and enjoy the intellectual byplay among the characters. Unfortunately, this production shares the same fault as its companion efforts, only this time it is much worse. Whereas before the director (Christopher Hodson) limited his deviations from the novels to providing romantic segues from video to video, this time he had made significant deviations from the novel in order to overemphasize the relationship between Harriet and Wimsey. I hate to get up on a soapbox, but Dorothy Sayers had very good reasons for writing these books as she did. Harriet Vane is an intelligent, determined woman, who is facing one of the dilemmas of her times, how to be an independent woman and in love at the same time. In her society, precious few roles were available that permitted both behaviors. Thus, the primary subtext of 'Gaudy Night is the nature of these roles. But Hodson underplays this, and even goes so far as to create scenes in order to expand Wimsey's role, and thus weaken Harriet Vane's. Having read the book several times, I found this both distracting and irritating. Had I not read 'Gaudy Night' I would have found the screenplay very satisfying. With nearly seventy years between the book's writing and the present day, the number of Sayers readers has dwindled with time. Hopefully, the availability of the BBC productions will reverse that trend and more people will discover the works of one of the English languages most remarkable mystery writes.
Rating:
Summary: "A Monstrous Regiment of Women"
Review: This BBC presentation is based on the third novel in the Wimsey/Vane series. Harriet, motivated by her memories of Oxford as an escape from worldly concerns (such as her involvement in two murders and persistent proposals from Lord Peter), attends a student reunion or gaudy night. In the course of this she allows herself to be drawn into the mystery of a poison pen writer who has crossed too far into the realms of bad taste and threats. Gradually she realizes that the matter is getting out of hand, and turns again to Wimsey for help and guidance. There is no question but that the saboteur intends harm to Shrewsbury College itself, as well as the dons and students who are part of it. Ugly notes escalate to burnt effigies, and finally to attacks on properties and persons. Everyone, from Senior Common Room to the least student is under suspicion. Harriet must labor under the triple complications of the crimes themselves, a mixed reception from the dons of Shrewsbury, and the ever-increasing complexity of her relationship with Lord Peter. This latter is the reason for Sayers decision to gradually shift the focus of these three novels from Lord Peter (in 'Strong Poison') to Harriet Vane. In the book, lesser characters appear more often than Wimsey does as the narrative focuses in on a woman who is struggling to find herself and who fears being overwhelmed by what Peter has to offer. 'Gaudy Night' has the best acting of the three BBC presentations, and the most interesting setting, the only women's college at Oxford. It is easy to fall into the plot and enjoy the intellectual byplay among the characters. Unfortunately, this production shares the same fault as its companion efforts, only this time it is much worse. Whereas before the director (Christopher Hodson) limited his deviations from the novels to providing romantic segues from video to video, this time he had made significant deviations from the novel in order to overemphasize the relationship between Harriet and Wimsey. I hate to get up on a soapbox, but Dorothy Sayers had very good reasons for writing these books as she did. Harriet Vane is an intelligent, determined woman, who is facing one of the dilemmas of her times, how to be an independent woman and in love at the same time. In her society, precious few roles were available that permitted both behaviors. Thus, the primary subtext of 'Gaudy Night is the nature of these roles. But Hodson underplays this, and even goes so far as to create scenes in order to expand Wimsey's role, and thus weaken Harriet Vane's. Having read the book several times, I found this both distracting and irritating. Had I not read 'Gaudy Night' I would have found the screenplay very satisfying. With nearly seventy years between the book's writing and the present day, the number of Sayers readers has dwindled with time. Hopefully, the availability of the BBC productions will reverse that trend and more people will discover the works of one of the English languages most remarkable mystery writes.
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