Lord Peter Wimsey - Strong Poison [VHS] [1987]

One such mind, however, is that of Lord Peter Wimsey - the same Lord Peter who, normally a beacon of logic, unfailingly unspins the web of every criminal intrigue to which he brings to bear his intellectual powers, but who now, epitome of a bachelor that he has heretofore been, without so much as ever having personally met Harriet, is dead-set on marrying her. So when he tells his old friend (and as readers of Dorothy Sayers's books know, soon-to-be brother in law) Chief Inspector Parker, who was in charge of the investigation, that Parker has made a mistake, the policeman is unsettled; despite the water-tight case he feels he has put together. "Where is the flaw?" he inquires gingerly. "There isn't one," Wimsey retorts. "Except that the girl's innocent."

Thus, the scene is set for the first entry in Sayers's Wimsey-Vane canon, whose first three installments are brought to the small screen in this delightful miniseries. (The other two installments, "Have His Carcase" and "Gaudy Night," have the sleuthing pair investigate a mysterious knife-inflicted death in a seaside resort, where Harriet has gone to regain her peace of mind after her acquittal; and a serious of poison-pen letters and vandalism directed at independent women, and particularly women in academia, at Harriet's Oxford college. As the movie rights to the fourth and last episode completed by Sayers herself, "Busman's Honeymoon," were sold by the author, the BBC was unable to also include that particular installment; unfortunately so, as their version would undoubtedly have been more faithful than 1940's "Haunted Honeymoon" starring Robert Montgomery and Constance Cummings).

So, while Harriet is pining away in prison, dreading a jury verdict which, she feels, can only be delayed, not avoided entirely, and not knowing how to deal with the sudden attentions of a well-known member of the nobility, Wimsey busies himself with the search for Boyd's true murderer; whom he eventually finds with the help of his confidante Miss Climpson (whose presence in the jury box, unbeknownst to Harriet, has already proved instrumental in producing a hung jury despite the judge's damning summation) and her assistant, Miss Murchison; both of which ladies, while perfectly honorable, do not shrink from unconvential methods when called for in the pursuit of justice.

What most distinguishes this miniseries is its faithfulness to Dorothy Sayers's books, as well as its superb cinematography, marvelously capturing the settings; from Old Bailey and pre-WWII London to sleepy and somewhat seedy seaside resorts and the timeless grace and high spirits of Oxford University. Unfortunately (particularly so in "Gaudy Night") a number of subplots were dropped, but the essence of Sayers's novels is maintained; and much of the dialogue is taken literally from those. Edward Petherbridge nails Lord Peter's tone and exalted mannerisms, as well as his hidden vulnerabilities, to a tee - fans of Ian Carmichael's more physical, over-the-top interpretation be reminded that Sayers herself, in "Strong Poison," describes Wimsey as of "slight" build, while giving a rather unexpected impression of "controlled power." (Granted, though, that, conceivably having endowed Lord Peter with much of her own preferences in men, Sayers would not have Harriet comment, as she does in the BBC's version of "Gaudy Night," that he is "not much to look at;" in fact, she has her heroine veritably pining over a sleeping Lord Peter's physiognomy during that very novel's famous punting trip.) - Harriet Walter, similarly, shares more than her first name with the stories' female protagonist; she is exactly the Harriet Vane one might image when reading the books (I certainly did). Richard Morant as Lord Peter's faithful manservant Bunter is about a knife's tip too much of a jack-of-all-trades for my tastes - I can well see him "insinuating" himself into a suspect's household at his master's behest or (as in "Have His Carcase") shadowing another suspect all across London, but not necessarily fretting, as he does in "Busman's Honeymoon," over the sake of a case of vintage port, packed in eiderdowns in the back of a car and in danger of being rattled (and rendered undrinkable for months, if not years to come) by Lord Peter's brisk driving habits. Still, overall this is an outstanding production; undoubtedly one of the BBC's finest ever.