Lord Peter Wimsey (TV series)

1972 British TV series or programme

Lord Peter Wimsey

Opening titlescreen

Genre|

* Mystery
* Period drama

Based on| Stories by Dorothy L. Sayers
Written by|

* Anthony Steven
* John Bowen
* Bill Craig

Starring|

* Ian Carmichael
* Glyn Houston
* Mark Eden

Composer| Herbert Chappell
Country of origin| United Kingdom
Original language| English
No. of episodes| 21
Production
Producers|

* Richard Beynon
* Bill Sellars

Camera setup| Multi-camera
Running time| 44-60 minutes
Original release
Network| BBC1
Release| 5 April 1972 (1972-04-05) –
13 August 1975 (1975-08-13)
Related

* Lord Peter Wimsey (radio series)
* A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery

Lord Peter Wimsey is a series of television serial adaptations of five Lord Peter Wimsey novels by Dorothy L. Sayers, starring Ian Carmichael as Wimsey. They were broadcast on BBC1 between 1972 and 1975, beginning with Clouds of Witness in April 1972 and ending with Five Red Herrings in August 1975.[1][2]

## Cast

[edit]

* Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey
* Glyn Houston as Mervyn Bunter (Clouds of Witness, The Nine Tailors, Five Red Herrings)
* Derek Newark as Mervyn Bunter (The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club)
* Mark Eden as Inspector Charles Parker (Clouds of Witness, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Murder Must Advertise, The Nine Tailors)
* Rachel Herbert as Lady Mary Wimsey (Clouds of Witness, Murder Must Advertise)

## Episodes

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All episodes are based on the corresponding novels written by Dorothy L. Sayers.[3]

No.| Title| Directed by| Adapted by| Original release date

|
|
|
|

1–5| Clouds of Witness| Hugh David| Anthony Steven| 5 April 1972 (1972-04-05)—3 May 1972 (1972-05-03)

Lord Peter's amateur sleuthing hobby ends up closer to home, as he finds himself with only weeks to save his own brother, the Duke of Denver, who is due to be tried by his peers of a murder in Yorkshire.[1]

6–9| The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club| Ronald Wilson| John Bowen and Anthony Steven| 1 February 1973 (1973-02-01)—26 February 1973 (1973-02-26)

On Armistice Day, a retired general is found dead at the Bellona Club, a London club for war veterans. A complicated will means any number of people may have a motive for murder.[4]

10–13| Murder Must Advertise| Rodney Bennett| Bill Craig| 30 November 1973 (1973-11-30)—21 December 1973 (1973-12-21)

An unpopular copywriter is found dead at Pym's Publicity under suspicious circumstances. Lord Peter goes undercover as "Death Bredon" and uncovers a tangled web linked to the London drug-smuggling underworld.[5]

14–17| The Nine Tailors| Raymond Menmuir| Anthony Steven| 22 April 1974 (1974-04-22)—13 May 1974 (1974-05-13)

Stranded in the Fenland village of Fenchurch St Paul on a snowy New Year's Eve, Lord Peter finds himself drawn into the lore of bell-ringing. But the discovery of a body in a freshly-dug grave finds him uncovering a conspiracy involving a stolen set of emeralds, swapped identities and a First World War deserter.[6]

18–21| Five Red Herrings| Robert Tronson| Anthony Steven| 17 July 1975 (1975-07-17)—13 August 1975 (1975-08-13)

Lord Peter's fishing holiday in Galloway is disrupted when a talented but quarrelsome painter is found dead. Any one of six fellow artists may have committed the crime.[2]

## Production

[edit]

The adaptations star Ian Carmichael as aristocratic sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey, the second son of the Duke of Denver. Not wanting for money, charm or intelligence, Wimsey takes up detective work as an amateur pursuit, using his connections and social status to assist the police in their investigations.

Carmichael played the role concurrently in a series of BBC Radio 4 adaptations from 1973, which eventually completed the whole sequence of Sayers's novels. In The Radio Detectives (1999), Carmichael recalled that he had hoped to continue with further television adaptations, but acknowledged that by 1975 he was too old to play the part onscreen for the sequence of more romantic novels featuring crime writer Harriet Vane.[7] He felt that as a result of a technician strike, production of the fifth adaptation under a new producer, Bill Sellars, was not as successful, after which the series was not renewed.[7] Three later television adaptations of the Harriet Vane stories were produced as A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery with Edward Petherbridge as Wimsey in 1987.[8]

Glyn Houston played Wimsey's loyal valet and assistant Mervyn Bunter in three adaptations[9] and Derek Newark in The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (the character does not appear in Murder Must Advertise). Mark Eden played Inspector Charles Parker, Lord Peter's friend and contact at Scotland Yard in four adaptations.

The series was recorded in the then-standard format of videotape for studio sequences (recorded at Television Centre, London and Pebble Mill Birmingham from the second serial)[10] and 16mm film for exterior location scenes.

### Locations

[edit]

Locations included St Peter's Church, Walpole St Peter and Terrington St John, Norfolk for The Nine Tailors[11][12] and Kirkcudbright, Galloway in Scotland for Five Red Herrings, the latter almost entirely shot on film due to a technician strike, with only a few studio sequences taped in studios in Glasgow.[13]

### Music

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The 1930s-style theme tune was written by Herbert Chappell. The BBC record of Herbert Chappell's theme tune featured a second track, "Size Ten Shuffle", which in rearranged form was used as the theme for FilmFair's Paddington (1976–1980).[14][15]

## Reception

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The New York Times's John J. O'Connor reviewed the serial Murder Must Advertise, which aired on PBS from 6 to 27 October 1974. O'Connor believed that, despite being an interesting novel, the serial did not transfer itself to television successfully, and was critical of the double role that Carmichael was required to play, believing that "that is where suspension of disbelief, however willing, collapses". However, O'Connor believed that the serial had "more than enough shrewd mischievousness to satisfy the devoted" and felt that it had an "ample quota of delightful moments".[16]

## References

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1. ^ a b "Clouds of Witness". BBC Genome. 5 April 1972. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
2. ^ a b "Five Red Herrings". BBC Genome. 17 July 1975. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
3. ^ "Lord Peter Wimsey, Clouds of Witness, Episode 1". BBC. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
4. ^ "The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club". BBC Genome. 1 February 1973. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
5. ^ "Murder Must Advertise". BBC Genome. 13 May 1987. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
6. ^ "The Nine Tailors". BBC Genome. 22 April 1974. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
7. ^ a b "The Radio Detectives: As My Whimsy Takes Me". BBC Genome. 18 May 1999. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
8. ^ "Mystery! presents Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey". New York Times. 2 October 1987.
9. ^ "Glyn Houston obituary". The Guardian. 8 July 2019.
10. ^ Fairclough, Robert (2011). This Charming Man: The Life of Ian Carmichael. Aurum Press Ltd.
11. ^ "History". Walpole St Peter's Church. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
12. ^ In Search of St Paul’s Church Fenchurch St Paul. Retrieved 25 September 2023
13. ^ Carmichael, Ian (1979). Will the Real Ian Carmichael: An Autobiography. Macmillan. p. 383.
14. ^ "Boyfriends – Lord Peter Wimsey Theme". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
15. ^ "RESL 7". 45cat.com. 45cat. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
16. ^ O'Conner, John J. (7 October 1974). "Lord Peter Wimsey is Back in Mystery". The New York Times. p. 71\. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 26 January 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Lord Peter Wimsey at BBC Online

* v
* t
* e

Lord Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy L. Sayers

Characters|

* Lord Peter Wimsey
* Harriet Vane
* Mervyn Bunter
* Miss Climpson
* Charles Parker
* Duke of Denver (family title)

Novels|

* Whose Body? (1923)
* Clouds of Witness (1926)
* Unnatural Death (1927)
* The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928)
* Strong Poison (1931)
* The Five Red Herrings (1931)
* Have His Carcase (1932)
* Murder Must Advertise (1933)
* The Nine Tailors (1934)
* Gaudy Night (1935)
* Busman's Honeymoon (1937)

Short story collections|

* Lord Peter Views the Body (1928)
* Hangman's Holiday (1933)
* In the Teeth of the Evidence (1939)
* Striding Folly (1972)
* Lord Peter (1972)
* The Wimsey Papers in The Spectator (1939-1940)

Continuations by
Jill Paton Walsh|

* Thrones, Dominations (1998; based on unfinished manuscript by Sayers)
* A Presumption of Death (2002)
* The Attenbury Emeralds (2010)
* The Late Scholar (2013)

Adaptations|

* The Silent Passenger (1935 film)
* Busman's Honeymoon (1940 film)
* Lord Peter Wimsey (1972 television series)
* Lord Peter Wimsey (1973 radio series)
* A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery (1987 television series)

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