Lord Peter Wimsey: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1972)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by John T. Bone, based on the novel by Dorothy L. Sayers
Directed by Ronald Wilson
Starring Ian Carmichael, Derek Newark, Terence Alexander, Anna Cropper, Vivien Heilbron

Features:

• Exclusive Ian Carmichael interviews
  
• Filmographies
  
• Interactive Trivia
  
• Dorothy L. Sayers Materials
  

Lord Peter Wimsey is a frequent member of the Bellona Club. On this particular occasion, Wimsey and his friends at the club discover that General Fendeman, an elder member of their club, has seemingly passed away in his sleep while reading the newspaper in front of the fire. It seems like an open and shut case of death by natural causes. It would have ended there if it hadn't have been for the fact that his sister also died the same day. Because of an issue with both of their wills, the time of death of is incredibly important: Someone stands to inherit a tremendous amount of money depending on which one of them died first. Wimsey is asked to investigate the time of death as a favor to the Club, but he finds a little more than he bargained for.

This is the fourth in the line of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories produced by the BBC in the 70s and it lives up to the expectations set by the previous three. Having not read the novel, I can't really speak to the accuracy of the adaptation of the teleplay, but I can say that it stands on its own merit. Wimsey's dialogue is clever and witty and the solution to the mystery is truly kept a mystery until the end (as it should be). What can I say? Carmichael is Wimsey. His character is rock solid throughout. I do think that Newman's Bunter lacks an intimate connection with Wimsey, but this is based on previous knowledge about the characters from watching the other Wimsey stories. Given the script, his performance is dead on. The rest of the cast also fares well enough with their characters.

The DVD presentation is adequate at best but I must say the interview with Carmichael is wonderful. Each installment of these Wimsey DVDs has a different section of an interview session and each deals with a different aspect of Carmichael's take on the role. This interview deals with Wimsey's musicality which is prevalent throughout the series. The biography of Sayers is also quite interesting even though it is only four screens of text that you can scroll through. The filmographies of the principal cast seem limited, and I would have liked to have seen a bio for them as well. The interactive trivia section is not that exciting, but you really have to have given the story your undivided attention, because most of the questions will make you stop and think about the answer.

The Lord Peter Wimsey series of DVD titles is wonderful and none of them should be missed. If you love the mystery genre, then I recommend renting them all.