Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries – Set 2 (Acorn DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C Episodes: C+
Ian
Carmichael returns as Dorothy L. Sayer’s slick and sly detective with Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries: Set 2. There had been a previous release of the
entire collection, as well as a Set 1 release
in March 2010. Set 2 contains the three remaining episodes featuring Carmichael The Nine
Tailors, Murder Must Advertise and Five
Red Herrings. I was curious if the
transfers had been digitally restored in any way since their previous Complete
Collection release, but it seems that they are exactly the same from beginning
to end. What this release offers is new
viewers and old fans who did not indulge in the hefty price tag of the original
release an affordable (yet abbreviated) manner of viewing the series.
The Nine Tailors
Wimsey is
once again in the trail of a murderer (though I think I knew it before he did),
but what makes this addition to the series so interesting is the flashback,
back story. What we get is a glimpse
into Wimsey’s past as he becomes friends with pals with (now long time friend)
Bunter in the trenches of WWI. This
segment is very dramatic and gives the tale substance.
Murder Must Advertise
Wimsey
poses as a junior copyright at Pym’s Publicity to solve a case and quite
frankly the mystery gets hilariously outlandish. The episode has Wimsey playing multiple roles
and bouncing back and forth between serious and jovial. It shows Carmichael’s
depth as one minute he is wooing women as a carefree copyright and parading
around at a masquerade the next.
Five Red Herrings
In
probably the best of the three tele-films presented here Five Red Herrings delivers a fabulously detailed “who-done-it”
mystery with Carmichael at his best. The fact of the matter is I found the
mysteries on this set rather easy to solve (like five minutes in), but Rd Herrings had me thoroughly perplexed
as there seemed to be a larger crime afoot.
Every character was involved and Wimsey himself is seen darting and
dodging to solve this one; even for a moment going outside of his sly and fancy
free self.
As
previously mentioned the picture, sound and extras are nothing new and in turn
there is no mystery here that the presentation is somewhat lacking. The 1970’s series is presented in 1.33 X 1
full screen that is soft with faded colors and plenty dirt and debris to
distract. I would call the presentation
adequate at best and in need of some serious restoration that I fear it will
never get. The simple Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo gets the job done, but clearly shows is age with a certain distant
quality, but being a mostly dialogue based series it gets the job done.
The only
extra is a short interview with Carmichael
(from 2000) prior to his passing. I
would have liked to have seen a more updated featurette on the actor and the
series in this set, but sadly no such features exist.
For a
look a Series 1 please follow the
link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9730/The+Lord+Peter+Wimsey+Mysteries
For a
look at the previous release of the Complete
Series please follow the link below:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1918/Lord+Peter+Wimsey+-+The+Complete
- Michael P. Dougherty II
