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Post by andydecker on Apr 30, 2012 20:04:08 GMT
As I bought a lot of british period pieces tv crime I stumbled about this on Amazon. Never heard about it. Of course Davison is an actor I know. But the series is a blank. It never made the jump to the continent. (As far as I know)
Is it worth watching if you like series like Poirot, Foyle´s War or Marple?
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Apr 30, 2012 20:12:40 GMT
It is based on the work of Margery Allingham, who in her day was as celebrated as Agatha Christie. I have never read any Allingham, however, nor have I seen the television series.
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Post by Dr Strange on May 1, 2012 10:03:24 GMT
I vaguely remember it and imagine you'd enjoy it if you like Poirot and Marple - similar period and milieu (i.e. posh people solving crimes without ever getting as much as a hair out of place).
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Post by andydecker on May 1, 2012 20:03:24 GMT
similar period and milieu (i.e. posh people solving crimes without ever getting as much as a hair out of place). Yeah, those are very artifical and so far removed from reality, aren´t they? I like period pieces crime, and the british are so well made. Of course the Danse Macabre of 30s Christie fantasies is so much more enjoyable than our own period pieces. Not that here are any, this is a genre which virtually doesn´t exist. Small wonder, the 30s in Germany is its own horrorshow, and it is telling that the only crime series which played against this background used to be written by Philip Kerr. By a brit. No german writer did touch this, for good reasons. Nowadays this has become a cottage industry with Alan Furst and others as the historic crime novel has become so big. Still no german writers, though. So sometimes a Cozy is a nice rest from all the hard-boiled cop show and horror stuff.
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Post by jamesdoig on May 1, 2012 21:13:12 GMT
It is based on the work of Margery Allingham, who in her day was as celebrated as Agatha Christie. I have never read any Allingham, however, nor have I seen the television series. I've haven't heard of the TV series either, but I can recommend this biography of Margery Allingham (un-Vaultish cover aside):
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junkmonkey
Crab On The Rampage
Shhhhh! I'm Hiding....
Posts: 98
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Post by junkmonkey on May 3, 2012 10:00:08 GMT
I remember enjoying them when they were on. Word of warning though - and please forgive me if I just cut and paste from my IMDB review; I have to get to work....
I've never seen any of the DVDs so maybe things have been put back the way they should have been.
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Post by pulphack on May 3, 2012 10:23:48 GMT
The DVD box restores the credits and 'story so far' bits, and runs the full time. It is a bit hard going, as I've had the box four years and am still only half way through. Nothing wrong with the acting or the production - it's a question of whether you like Allingham or not. Unlike a Christie or a Ngaio Marsh she tends to wander off a bit whimsically at times, especially pre-WWII. Her best book - The Tiger In The Smoke - was post war and is a bit leaner and more realistic. It also has a strong moral and philosophical streak, which is only present at the edges pre-war. The antagonist in it is called Johnny Cash, and although this is pure coincidence it does seem odd the first few times you see it in there!
Although people like HRF Keating generally tend to the pre-war years as being her best, post-war she was more erratic, peversely producing her best and worst work!
I suppose her work is somewhere between a Christie and less acid early Evelyn Waugh in setting and tone. It's easy to say it was an artificial world, but socially (if not criminally) that would be wrong - it was real, but only for a very small minority. Most of the readership, I would suspect, were aspirant to that world in the climate of the period.
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