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Lord Peter Wimsey |
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Lord Peter Death Bredon
Wimsey is a fictional character in
a series of detective 11 novels and numerous short stories by Dorothy L.
Sayers, in which he solves murder
mysteries. Wimsey was born in 1890 and
served in World War I. During the war he was injured and suffered a bad case
of shell shock for several months afterwards. He eventually recovers, and
hires his compatriot in the war, Sergeant Mervyn Bunter as his valet. Throughout the books Bunter always
takes care to address Wimsey as "Your Lordship" nevertheless, he is
obviously a friend as well as (or more than) a servant, and Wimsey again and
again expresses amazement at Bunter's high efficiency and competence at
virtually every sphere of life. Being a man of many talents himself, not
least photography, Bunter often proves instrumental in Peter's
investigations. Lord Peter Wimsey's
position leaves him financial well-to-do, and he lives primarily in a flat in
London, where he collects rare books. At the beginning of the series he is a
confirmed bachelor. He began investigating crime as a hobby sometime prior to
the earliest published stories, and he's become known to the police as a
competent sleuth, especially to his friend Detective-Inspector Parker. Among Lord Peter's hobbies,
apart from criminology, is collecting incunabula (very early printed books).
He is an expert on matters of food (especially wine) and male fashion, as
well as on classical music. He is quite good at playing Bach's works for
keyboard instruments on a piano he even tends more carefully than his books,
wines, and cars. One of Lord Peter's cars is a 12-cylinder
("double-six") 1927 Daimler four-seater, which he calls "Mrs. Merdle" after a character in Little Dorrit (by
Charles Dickens). In all Dorothy L. Sayers published 11 Lord Peter Wimsey novels: Whose
Body? (1923), Clouds of Witness (1926), Unnatural Death (1927), The
Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928), Strong Poison (1931), Five Red
Herrings (1931), Have His Carcase (1932), Murder Must Advertise (1933), The
Nine Tailors (1934), Gaudy Night (1935) & Busman's Honeymoon (1937). Lord Peter Wimsey also
appeared in numerous short stories, significantly The Adventurous Exploit
of the Cave of Ali Baba which was
published in 1929. In Strong Poison Lord Peter meets Harriet Deborah Vane, a cerebral, Oxford-educated mystery writer and
falls in love with her. Together they share many mysteries before eventually
marrying in Sayers's final Wimsey novel: Busman's Honeymoon. Film and TV actor Ian
Carmichael (who had previously
appeared as Wimsey in two very successful BBC TV series) starred as Wimsey in
radio adaptations of all 11 novels. In the original series, which ran on BBC
Radio 4 from 1973–1983, only 10 novels were dramatized, with no adaptation being made of the
seminal Gaudy Night, perhaps
because the leading character in this novel is Harriet Vale and not Peter. It wasn't until 2005 (and
after a gap of 22 years) that Ian Carmichael returned to the role for a specially recorded BBC
release of Gaudy Night (for CD
and never broadcast on radio - but included in this set here!) All 11 of Carmichael's Wimseys were fabulous
multi-part productions boasting excellent sound effects and strong narratives
- in many ways his rendition of Wimsey was the best and he was to become
forever identified with role (both on TV and on Radio) In the 22 year period
before Carmichael's 2005 appearance, Micheline Wandor produced The Nine Tailors & Whose Body? for BBC Radio with Gary Bond as Lord Peter. Simon Russell Beale took the role for Michael Bakewell's Strong
Poison on 1999. These three
adaptations were all one-off plays of between one and two hours each. The one earlier (and first
ever) appearance of Wimsey on radio was in a single Suspense episode from 1942: The Cave of Ali Baba which was taken from a Wimsey short story. In 1999 Professor Jeffrey
Richards fronted an excellent 30 minute BBC documentary about Lord Peter
Wimsey on Radio titled "As My Whimsy Takes Me". This very informative program sets the scene
for the radio dramatizations of Dorothy L. Sayers most famous sleuth. Want to check this great
title out? Why not download the 30
minute Documentary: As My Whimsy Takes Me It can be freely
downloaded to your computer -
just right button click
on any link below and chose "Download Linked File" (or words to that effect). The file is on an
average about 20Mb - download time will depend on your (broadband) speed. BBCRD_1999-05-18
As My Whimsy Takes Me.mp3 These
three MP3 CDs consist of all 14 BBC Lord Peter Wimsey dramatizations of the
Dorothy L. Sayers novels. Note that the 3 (non Ian Carmichael) one-off plays
have been broken in parts with individual lengths between 25 and 35 minutes.
The "breaks" have been chosen in a sympathetic way and coincide
with scene changes. Each part has been "topped and tailed" with the
appropriate introduction and conclusion so that they present just like the
Ian Carmichael multi-part mysteries. Also
included is a 30 minute documentary titled As My Whimsy Takes Me in which Professor Jeffrey Richards
discusses Lord Peter Wimsey on Radio, TV and film as well as a 10 minute
interview with noted crime writers P.D. James & Jill Paton Walsh from
2005. Rounding out this excellent collection is the Suspense episode from
1942. All
elements of this collection have been carefully restored & presented -
beautiful sound with no hiss! A. Documentary
(30 mins) 1. BBCRD_1999-05-18
As My Whimsy Takes Me.mp3 B. Whose
Body? (5 x 30 minute episodes) 1.
LPWWB_1973-12-30 Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWWB_1974-01-06
Episode No. 2.mp3 3. LPWWB_1974-01-13
Episode No. 3.mp3 4. LPWWB_1974-01-20
Episode No. 4.mp3 5. LPWWB_1974-01-27
Episode No. 5.mp3 C. Clouds
of Witness (8 x 30 minute episodes) 1. LPWCW_1974-02-03
Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWCW_1974-02-10
Episode No. 2.mp3 3. LPWCW_1974-02-17
Episode No. 3.mp3 4. LPWCW_1974-02-24
Episode No. 4.mp3 5. LPWCW_1974-03-03
Episode No. 5.mp3 6. LPWCW_1974-03-10
Episode No. 6.mp3 7. LPWCW_1974-03-17
Episode No. 7.mp3 8. LPWCW_1974-03-24
Episode No. 8.mp3 D. Unnatural
Death (7 x 30 minute episodes) 1. LPWUD_1975-05-05
Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWUD_1975-05-12
Episode No. 2.mp3 3. LPWUD_1975-05-19
Episode No. 3.mp3 4. LPWUD_1975-05-26
Episode No. 4.mp3 5.
LPWUD_1975-06-02 Episode No. 5.mp3 6. LPWUD_1975-06-09
Episode No. 6.mp3 7. LPWUD_1975-06-16
Episode No. 7.mp3 E. The
Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (6 x 30 minute episodes) 1. LPWUBC_1975-06-23
Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWUBC_1975-06-30
Episode No. 2.mp3 3. LPWUBC_1975-07-07
Episode No. 3.mp3 4. LPWUBC_1975-07-14
Episode No. 4.mp3 5. LPWUBC_1975-07-21
Episode No. 5.mp3 6. LPWUBC_1975-07-28
Episode No. 6.mp3 F. Strong
Poison (6 x 30 minute episodes) 1. LPWSP_1976-05-17
Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWSP_1976-05-24
Episode No. 2.mp3 3. LPWSP_1976-05-31
Episode No. 3.mp3 4.
LPWSP_1976-06-07 Episode No. 4.mp3 5. LPWSP_1976-06-14
Episode No. 5.mp3 6. LPWSP_1976-06-21
Episode No. 6.mp3 G. The
Five Red Herrings (8 x 30 minute episodes) 1. LPWFRH_1978-01-04
Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWFRH_1978-01-11
Episode No. 2.mp3 3. LPWFRH_1978-01-18
Episode No. 3.mp3 4. LPWFRH_1978-01-25
Episode No. 4.mp3 5. LPWFRH_1978-02-01
Episode No. 5.mp3 6. LPWFRH_1978-02-08
Episode No. 6.mp3 7. LPWFRH_1978-02-15
Episode No. 7.mp3 8. LPWFRH_1978-02-22
Episode No. 8.mp3 H. Murder
Must Advertise (6 x 30 minute episodes) 1. LPWMMA_1979-01-01
Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWMMA_1979-01-08
Episode No. 2.mp3 3. LPWMMA_1979-01-15
Episode No. 3.mp3 4. LPWMMA_1979-01-22
Episode No. 4.mp3 5. LPWMMA_1979-01-29
Episode No. 5.mp3 6. LPWMMA_1979-02-05
Episode No. 6.mp3 I. The
Nine Tailors (8 x 30 minute episodes) 1. LPWNT_1980-10-20
Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWNT_1980-10-27
Episode No. 2.mp3 3. LPWNT_1980-11-03
Episode No. 3.mp3 4. LPWNT_1980-11-10
Episode No. 4.mp3 5. LPWNT_1980-11-17
Episode No. 5.mp3 6. LPWNT_1980-11-24
Episode No. 6.mp3 7. LPWNT_1980-12-01
Episode No. 7.mp3 8. LPWNT_1980-12-08
Episode No. 8.mp3 J. Have
His Carcase (6 x 30 minute episodes) 1.
LPWHHC_1981-10-20 Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWHHC_1981-10-27
Episode No. 2.mp3 3. LPWHHC_1981-11-03
Episode No. 3.mp3 4. LPWHHC_1981-11-10
Episode No. 4.mp3 5. LPWHHC_1981-11-17
Episode No. 5.mp3 6. LPWHHC_1981-11-24
Episode No. 6.mp3 K. Gaudy
Night (5 x 30 minute episodes) 1. LPWGN_2005
Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWGN_2005
Episode No. 2.mp3 3. LPWGN_2005
Episode No. 3.mp3 4. LPWGN_2005
Episode No. 4.mp3 5. LPWGN_2005
Episode No. 5.mp3 L. Busman's
Honeymoon (6 x 30 minute episodes) 1. LPWBH_1983-01-03
Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWBH_1983-01-10
Episode No. 2.mp3 3. LPWBH_1983-01-17
Episode No. 3.mp3 4. LPWBH_1983-01-24
Episode No. 4.mp3 5. LPWBH_1983-01-31
Episode No. 5.mp3 6. LPWBH_1983-02-07
Episode No. 6.mp3 M. The
Nine Tailors with Garry Bond (4 x 30 minute episodes) 1. LPWNTGB_1986-12-25
Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWNTGB_1986-12-25
Episode No. 2.mp3 3. LPWNTGB_1986-12-25
Episode No. 3.mp3 4. LPWNTGB_1986-12-25
Episode No. 4.mp3 N. Whose
Body? with Garry Bond (3 x 30 minute episodes) 1. LPWWBGB_1987-12-26
Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWWBGB_1987-12-26
Episode No. 2.mp3 3. LPWWBGB_1987-12-26
Episode No. 3.mp3 O. Strong
Poison with Simon Russell Beale (2 x 30 minute episodes) 1. LPWSPSRB_1999-10-02
Episode No. 1.mp3 2. LPWSPSRB_1999-10-02
Episode No. 2.mp3 P. Suspense
Episode (30 minute episode) 1. SUSP_1942-08-19
The Cave of Ali Baba.mp3 Q. Documentary
(30 mins) 1. BBCLPWD_2005
With P.D. James & Jill Paton Walsh.mp3 |