The mystery series that began it all
DVD
The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, Set 1 3-disc boxed set, Acorn Media, Silver Spring, Md., app. 492 minutes, $49.99.
CRITICS LAUD The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries as one of the finest mystery series ever filmed. Certainly the series had a huge impact at the time of its screening over four years in the mid-70s. The mysteries ranked with Upstairs, Downstairs as the most successful series on Masterpiece Theatre in the 1970s. In fact, so popular was the story that Wimsey inspired PBS to spin-off the series Mystery!
COURTESY OF ACORN MEDIA
Based on the novels by Dorothy L. Sayers, the late Ian Carmichael stars as the debonair sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey in these wittily scripted and lavishly produced BBC adaptations.
Set 1 includes two multi-episode mysteries: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club and Clouds of Witness. The insouciant, savvy Lord Peter, detective only as a gentlemanly amateur, of course, predictably solves these classic Sayers’ murder mysteries. That he should do so is never in question. Watching the confident aristocrat at playful work and just enjoying the ride tacitly at his side is infinite fun.
Any fan of Mystery! who chortles over a good British murder and loves to potter about England with Morse and Miss Marple, Holmes and Hercule, will find this historic series that began it all enchanting, and Lord Peter, great company.
It’s just the ultimate sightseeing Bible
BOOK
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Hudson’s Historic Houses & Gardens Heritage House Group, Wymondham, 608 pages, softcover, $24.95.
BRITISH HERITAGE reader Paul Whitty has it quite right (see “Anglo-File,” p. 64): Hudson’s is a fantastic reference book. In fact, this is the best, most comprehensive guide available to Britain’s gardens, castles, stately homes and sundry heritage locations. Opening times, special events, locations, websites, contact details and well-written profiles: everything you might want to know about literally hundreds of historic properties is included. Each of the annual book’s more than 600 pages is replete with superb color photography on glossy, coated stock of everything from Sheffield Park Garden to Iona Abbey. Arranged by region and county, every property is located on clear maps at the back of the book. Hudson’s has been the sightseeing Bible for years. Its only drawback is that its weight of more than 3.5 pounds makes it a little hefty to casually tuck into the bag for those who like to travel light.
OBI T Ian Carmichael
THE RECENT PASSING of English character actor Ian Carmichael understandably didn’t attract much attention here in the States. Carmichael was not wellknown to American audiences, though he was a staple star of British light comedy for 50 years. While he played opposite such luminaries as Clark Gable, Peter Sellers and Lana Turner, it was for his television and film roles as a well-mannered, dim and bumbling foil through the golden age of British comedy that Carmichael was revered.
Among his stage appearances on Broadway and the West End, Carmichael starred in Boeing, Boeing and I Do! I Do! He was most at home, however, playing what he described as “likeable toffs” on camera. Carmichael was particularly proud of his role as Lord Peter Wimsey. He regarded Lord Peter as something of a personal hero, envying the noble detective’s flair and style, and worked hard to bring about the production of the acclaimed BBC series.
Taking tea has never been such fun
BOOK
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The History of Tea by Claire Hopley, Pen & Sword Books, Barnsley, 192 pages, softcover, £9.99.
ACROSS THE GLOBE, perhaps nothing is so universally associated with England as tea. Small wonder. The British not only drink more cuppas per capita than any other country, they drink almost twice as much tea as the runner-up—New Zealand.
It’s no wonder, either, that Claire Hopley, a long time contributor to British Heritage, should have written The History of Tea for a British audience. Her new book on the tawny tipple provides as much interesting information on the taking of tea in England as it does on the beverage. A more revealing title might have been “The Culture of Tea.” If that sounds too highbrow, it’s not.
Hopley has written a fun and lighthearted book, weaving together history with recipes for such delights as rum-raisin batter cake and posh tea sandwiches with chapters on “Love and Marriage at the Tea Table” and “Children at Tea.” There are chatty discourses on tea in history, wartime teatimes and silver teapots, and descriptions of the myriad variety of teas common to contemporary aficionados.
An annotated selection of some of the best and most famous tearooms across Britain insures that the reader will never be far from a place where the ritual of the reviving pot of tea will be superbly carried out. Try the sloe-gin fruitcake at Yorkshire’s Betty’s, a banoffi tart at the Quayside Tea Rooms in Pembrokeshire, or take a pretheater high tea at Fortnum & Masons.
This is a treasury for tea fans, containing everything you might want to know about tea, including how to make it. Best of all, it is very readable—with good-sized type and an easy-on-the-eyes layout. If this fun book is not easily accessible from U.S. sources, you can acquire it via Amazon’s UK site.
COURTESY OF HERITAGE AUCTION GALLERIES DALLAS, TX
The release of a classic
DVD
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Poldark, Series 1 4-disc boxed set, Acorn Media, Silver Spring, Md., 16 episodes, app. 821 minutes, &doller;69.99.
“THE BBC PRODUCTION seduces us completely&hellif: a romantic adventure complete with raging ambition, terrible betrayals, frustrated loves, daring deeds, and a marvelously dashing hero” enthused the New York Times to greet the debut of Poldark on Masterpiece Theatre in 1977. Considered one of the most successful British television dramas of all time, the gripping saga based on the novels by Winston Graham makes a long-awaited DVD debut.
In the late 18th century, Captain Ross Poldark (Robin Ellis) returns to the family home and copper mine in Cornwall after an absence of several years fighting those pesky colonists in America. Poldark’s father has died; the house is in terrible decay; the mine is idle; he’s broke and his fiancé has decided to marry his cousin.
Poldark’s swashbuckling determination to rebuild his fortune and his happiness is played out against the backdrop of a British society grappling with the emergence of industrialization. It is a theme captured just two counties east and two generations on in Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge. Instead of agrarian Dorset, though, in Poldark’s saga the swarthy, rugged Cornish coast provides a stark, breathtaking setting, and a gaggle of unforgettable Cornish characters.
Poldark was a landmark miniseries when it appeared; it has been voted one of the 10 most popular series in Masterpiece Theatre’s illustrious history and was featured on “The Best of Masterpiece Theatre” special.
It might be a bit misleading to characterize Poldark as a British Gone with the Wind, as the Acorn Media cover line does. It just didn’t have that kind of scale and budget, nor anything as dramatic as the Civil War integral to its storyline. No matter. Poldark is a masterful, truly captivating epic that stands the test of time on its own terms.
Those who remember the series will delight to see it again; the complete 16-episode story of the first of two series is here. If it was before your time, though, and you relish historic British “costume dramas,” Poldark is certainly one of the best ever made.
GUIDE
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The AA Hotel Guide 2010 by Automobile Association, AA Publishing, Basingstoke, 865 pages, softcover, &doler;22.
A definitive guide to British hotels
OF THE MAKING of guides there is no end. Any good bookstore will have a shelf groaning with guides to Britain of every description. Some of them list, rate and recommend hotels and some do not. For anyone who is serious about using a guide to find likely and desirable lodgings on a trip to Britain, however, The AA Hotel Guide is the most definitive, helpful and reliable volume to be had.
Updated annually, the Automobile Association’s guide lists hotels of every size across Britain that have been inspected and “starred” by the AA. Organized alphabetically by county, listings are in descending order of quality in a given town or area. Individual listings include a photo, details of size, services and amenities, tariff range, a brief property description and complete contact information including web sites.
Introductory sections explain the AA classification and rating criteria and offer helpful hints for using the guide and booking stays. There is also information on the ever-changing alliances of hotel groups active in Britain (Best Western, Hilton, Forestdale, Corus and the like). Helpful maps in the back are useful in locating AA hotels anywhere on the island.
You might not want to carry the hefty tome around with you. As a trip planning tool, or just for day dreaming, though, the AA guide is an ideal tool, used perhaps by more travel planning professionals than any other source. If you’re serious about checking out the old bed and breakfast—not to mention trout fishing or an ocean view—this is the book.
COURTESY OF ACORN MEDIA