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Dorothy Sayers' Whimsey novels - do you know the (1980s) TV adaptations?

366 replies

JeanneDeMontbaston · 10/01/2015 11:33

I wasn't sure where to put this thread, but it feels as if it'd be more at home here that the TV threads. I love Dorothy Sayers. MN introduced me to her. I wish they'd do another adaptation, but the 1980s ones are surprisingly good.

The wonderful sconerhymeswithgone showed me the existence of these on youtube. (The link is to Gaudy Night, because that's what I'm watching, but there are lots of earlier ones).

What do you think? I liked the casting, but I have quibbles. And the ending to Gaudy Night is a travesty, right?

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Original poster
JeanneDeMontbaston · 11/01/2015 22:36

zero - that was terrible hair! But then, I think that bad perm look was quite trendy in the 80s, wasn't it?

I don't actually think Harriet does lack belief in her own attractiveness, does she? It's one of the things l like - that she's not stunning, but she's mostly perfectly happy with it and knows she dresses nicely.

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YonicSleighdriver · 11/01/2015 22:35

YY, born in 1890. 45 when he married Harriet ("suddenly marrying, at the age of 45, a highly unsuitable woman")

The Dowager is not that old. JPW mucks up her age a bit and puts her at 65 when Peter is 45 (but Gerald is five years older and Mary five years younger) - but I think she certainly was married by 20.

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JeanneDeMontbaston · 11/01/2015 22:35

Ah, and the book takes place in 1935. So he's 45, and therefore either:

  • the duck-feeding took place during a maturer, more seasoned undergrad career, maybe after a quick tour of Europe.
  • the duck-feeding took place while Peter was honing his habit of preying on younger academic women (sorry, but he does have this habit. And I'm a darn sight younger than him, so I rely on it Grin).
  • Dorothy Sayers can't do chronology any more than J K Rowling.
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ZeroFunDame · 11/01/2015 22:31

Petula Yes! I watched it first time round on iPlayer - grumbling about all the cuttings out, and then happened to be in a house with a TV when they did the whole thing at one sitting. Was magnificent.

I thought Jeanne that someone might say Ms Hall would be too beautiful for the part. But she does seem to be able to act so could do "lack of belief in own attractiveness." And anyway, if they gave her the truly terrible hair that Harriet had in the eighties ...

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JeanneDeMontbaston · 11/01/2015 22:31

Ah, yes, thanks both. I'd forgotten the flighty blonde.

holly, just checked Gaudy Night's bio, and he was born in 1890.

We are all sitting here lusting after a Victorian, aren't we?

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stealthsquiggle · 11/01/2015 22:26

Definitely Oxford before war - so yes, he would be just over 40 in Gaudy Night.

HollyBdenum · 11/01/2015 22:25

It was before, because he fell in love with the flighty blonde who broke his heart, leading to the string of opera dancers. The dates are in the Paul Delagardie introduction thing, but I don't have a copy handy.

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JeanneDeMontbaston · 11/01/2015 22:20

Oh ... I just realized, did he go to Oxford before or after the war? If it was after, yes, he'd be a good bit older. I think it was before, though.

I think Maggie Smith would get cast as the Dowager, but I wouldn't be wild keen. I think she's more away-with-the-fairies than that.

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PigeonPie · 11/01/2015 22:19

Peter definitely no younger than 40. Also need a good for suggestion for the Dowager.

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JeanneDeMontbaston · 11/01/2015 22:17

Oh, I don't know of her at all, but googling, she looks as if she could be Harriet. Maybe a bit too pretty? (Though that feels very rude, as I think HW is extremely pretty, but she's also very characterful, the way Harriet's looks are described).

We still don't have much for Bunter, do we?

I noticed in the TV version, presumably EP couldn't ride, as Bunter does that oddly protracted gallop and a lot of the driving.

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PetulaGordino · 11/01/2015 22:17

Good call on Rebecca hall zero - did you watch it repeated over Christmas too?

(I love how we have done this with the archers and DLS all in one week!)

PetulaGordino · 11/01/2015 22:15

I vaguely remember him as 20 years out of university and Harriet 10 years?

So they must be early 40s and early 30s respectively at that point? At that time I don't think people kept so much to school years/ages so he might have been a bit younger, but definitely no younger than 40?

ZeroFunDame · 11/01/2015 22:12

I may be strange but I can imagine Rebecca Hall making something of Harriet.

And (while usually relatively immune) I thought Benedict C. perfectly lovely as a portly blond in Parade's End. Skinny and blond and nervy would be - heavenly.

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JeanneDeMontbaston · 11/01/2015 22:04

I think I would put up with Lawrence Fox, because he'd be so right in other ways - he's not typically handsome, he's quite slight, and (though I've never noticed before), actually, Hathaway isn't a million miles from Wimsey as a character, in doing a good 'I'm such an idiot doncha know, here are my fancy connections' bit.

How old is Peter at the beginning of things? In Gaudy Night he's only forty-something, right? 23 years since he fed the ducks?

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SconeRhymesWithGone · 11/01/2015 21:48

I agree. She is wonderful and would be perfect for Harriet.

PetulaGordino · 11/01/2015 21:25

i did love the anna maxwell martin suggestion. i think she is wonderful

SconeRhymesWithGone · 11/01/2015 21:23

I thought about him, too. I don't think he's too young, but he is even taller than Cumberbatch.

PetulaGordino · 11/01/2015 21:19

lawrence fox? perhaps too young?

RobinEllacott · 11/01/2015 21:15

How about Helen McCrory for Harriet? Or Anna Chancellor? No bright ideas for Peter, though - all the blond-ish actors I can think of are wronger than a wrong thing.

YonicSleighdriver · 11/01/2015 21:00

"Do you share my passion for buttered muffins, Harriet?"

Grin
HollyBdenum · 11/01/2015 20:55

I remember the end, because I recorded the audio on my cassette recorder to listen to over and over again, while imagining kidding Peter. I hadn't read the book at that point, so I wasn't outraged. I borrowed it from the library later that year. I can still remember the smell of the buttered muffins I ate while watching the TV programme at my grandmother's house, and the dusty polishy library smell.

Lilymaid · 11/01/2015 20:51

Glad I found this thread and discovered that I'm not the only person who goes weak at the knees at Placetne Magistra!
I saw some of the 80s series when I was on sick leave back in the summer/autumn of 2013 and I watched a lot of daytime TV. I found the dramatisations very slow (and possibly done on the cheap). I can remember the Ian Carmichael adaptations but thought he was too old to play Peter (how old was he?)

PigeonPie · 11/01/2015 20:29

It's funny, I'm sure I watched the 80s Gaudy Night, but I don't remember the ending being wrong and them missing out bits - I must have wiped it from my memory!

PetulaGordino · 11/01/2015 16:52

well having watched "have his carcase" i shall henceforth be getting dp's attention by calling "i say!"

he will love it

stealthsquiggle · 11/01/2015 15:30

I thought I had seen the TV version of Gaudy Night. This thread has made it clear that I haven't, because from what you have said, there is no way that I would have forgotten all those vital bits being gone Angry

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