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Together, They Fight Crime
Jan. 14th, 2008 12:39 amIt's always delightful to go back to something you loved some eight years ago and find that it's just as good as you remembered. The other day I was in JB Hi Fi when I spotted not one but two of my favourite BBC mystery series on DVD, the first season of Jonathan Creek and the collected Mrs. Bradley Mysteries. Jonathan is well-known among devotees of British television, but perhaps the splendid Mrs. Bradley requires some introduction.
Back at the turn of the century, the BBC loosely adapted several of Gladys Mitchell's novels into five TV episodes starring the luminous Diana Rigg as Mrs. Adela Bradley. Our heroine is a bit like a naughtier version of Miss Marple. Terminally bored with being a wife and mother, she long ago abandoned her handsome but dull husband and became a famous criminologist, psychoanalyst and ardent feminist. Now she swans about 1920s Britain with her chauffeur and solves mysteries.
With her impeccable wardrobe and razor wit, she's one of my favourite TV detectives. I often find anachronistically progressive attitudes annoying in historical fiction, but Mrs. Bradley gets away with it. This is partly because of the show's comic elements, but more than that, it's because she frequently turns to the camera to make witty asides. ("I've always thought of the countryside as a soggy sort of place where animals and birds wander about uncooked.") It seems entirely natural that a character aware of the modern audience would share its values.
Mrs. Bradley's Watson is her devoted chauffeur, George Moody. Also divorced after his wife ran off to better herself, he's found his calling as her sidekick and ... well, let's just say Mrs. Bradley doesn't keep him around just to polish the Rolls Royce. Their relationship is one of the major delights of the series, and it makes a change to find a heterosexual pairing that has all the subtexty, innuendo-laden fun of a slash 'ship. (I've read reviews that called this UST, but as far as I can see there's no U about it. They just have to be discreet because of the whole chauffeur thing.) George is lovely in and of himself, too. I wish I had a driver who would bring me flowers and help me fight crime.
The plots are frequently silly, but no more so than Agatha Christie. As with all BBC period drama, the sets and costumes are lucious and there's great fun to be had actor spotting. David Tennant has a minor part in the second story, while Peter Davision has a recurring role as a policeman and rival for Mrs. Bradley's affections.
All in all, if BBC historical mysteries are your sort of thing or you love Diana Rigg - who doesn't? - I highly recommend the series. If only so there is someone to write me fic next Yuletide.
Back at the turn of the century, the BBC loosely adapted several of Gladys Mitchell's novels into five TV episodes starring the luminous Diana Rigg as Mrs. Adela Bradley. Our heroine is a bit like a naughtier version of Miss Marple. Terminally bored with being a wife and mother, she long ago abandoned her handsome but dull husband and became a famous criminologist, psychoanalyst and ardent feminist. Now she swans about 1920s Britain with her chauffeur and solves mysteries.
With her impeccable wardrobe and razor wit, she's one of my favourite TV detectives. I often find anachronistically progressive attitudes annoying in historical fiction, but Mrs. Bradley gets away with it. This is partly because of the show's comic elements, but more than that, it's because she frequently turns to the camera to make witty asides. ("I've always thought of the countryside as a soggy sort of place where animals and birds wander about uncooked.") It seems entirely natural that a character aware of the modern audience would share its values.
Mrs. Bradley's Watson is her devoted chauffeur, George Moody. Also divorced after his wife ran off to better herself, he's found his calling as her sidekick and ... well, let's just say Mrs. Bradley doesn't keep him around just to polish the Rolls Royce. Their relationship is one of the major delights of the series, and it makes a change to find a heterosexual pairing that has all the subtexty, innuendo-laden fun of a slash 'ship. (I've read reviews that called this UST, but as far as I can see there's no U about it. They just have to be discreet because of the whole chauffeur thing.) George is lovely in and of himself, too. I wish I had a driver who would bring me flowers and help me fight crime.
The plots are frequently silly, but no more so than Agatha Christie. As with all BBC period drama, the sets and costumes are lucious and there's great fun to be had actor spotting. David Tennant has a minor part in the second story, while Peter Davision has a recurring role as a policeman and rival for Mrs. Bradley's affections.
All in all, if BBC historical mysteries are your sort of thing or you love Diana Rigg - who doesn't? - I highly recommend the series. If only so there is someone to write me fic next Yuletide.
