I have been looking for this series since I caught a small piece on TV years ago. Suddenly, there it was on the Drama channel and as far as I'm concerned it could do no wrong. Edward Petherbridge as Lord Peter is wonderful, his witticisms and desire for Harriet in the stories is so believable. He doesn't need to speak for it to be written on his face. Although I am not a fan of Harriet Walter, in this piece she was exactly right. I am so disappointed that only three of the stories were made, I just wanted them to continue into the couple being married etc. I have no desire to see the Ian Carmichael production as for me Petherbridge is the definitive Lord Peter. The story lines unravelled slowly with great attention to period detail and the polite formal behaviour of the time. Wonderful! My only criticism is that in the last story Gaudy Nights there was not enough of the couple together and too much of the the ladies in the university having intellectual debates. Then it was rounded up too quickly in the last few minutes, Harriet agrees to marry Lord Peter in a couple of seconds. However, Petherbridge's acting was impeccable and you really believed he was afraid to ask her as it would be the final refusal. I could watch the episodes again and again.
A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery
(1987)
Wonderful characterisation and period detail
13 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers