Product Description

From the golden age of the British mystery comes a hard-working Scotland Yard detective whose breeding and bearing give him unique access to the fashionable world in which these stories are set. New Zealand writer Ngaio Marsh created elegant crime-puzzlers full of quirky characters with hidden agendas, all brought meticulously to life in this series. The keen intelligence and subtle persistence of Chief Inspector Alleyn, Partick Malahide (The Singing Detective), are complemented by the insight of his independent lady friend, artist Agatha Troy, Belinda Lang (To Serve Them All My Days) and the loyalty of his partner, Detective Inspector Fox, William Simons (Cribb). Special Features include: Ngaio Marsh Biography, Cast Filmographies, Subtitling and A Picture Gallery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3062 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-05-14
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 720 minutes

Customer Reviews

Remarkable extremes
Dame Ngaio Marsh (1895-1982) wrote 32 detective novels between 1934 and 1982, and is generally regarded as one of the greatest crime novelists of the 'Golden Age', often being bracketed with Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham and my personal favourite, Josephine Tey. Marsh carefully avoided amateur sleuths, recognising that crimes are solved by policemen, not old ladies or eccentric Belgians. Her plotting was brilliant, but at the same time her writing elevated the crime novel from country house puzzle to rounded novel.

Though all of Marsh's books are pretty good, some (such as 'Death in a White Tie', 'Died in the Wool', 'Swing Brother Swing' and 'Surfeit of Lampreys' ) are much better than others. This BBC dramatisation of eight novels follows this variability in an uncanny way. Some of the early episodes are pretty dreadful, but later productions are extraordinarily good. The good news is that latter are really excellent, and the triumphs outnumber the turkeys. I was half inclined to give up after the first two episodes, but am glad I didn't; the later episodes are marvellous.

Let's start with the turkeys. I'm not going to be too critical of 'A Man Lay Dead', because this was Marsh's first (and, in my opinion, weakest) book. But the televised version is pretty poor, with everyone giving suspicious looks at camera like stock villains from silent-era movies.

Things get much worse with 'The Nursing Home Murder'. In the original, a right-wing Home Secretary invites the wrath of anarchists by planning draconian legislation against them. The television production moves the story from 1935 to 1947. Now we have the bizarre spectacle of a far right minister in a left-wing government (led by a recognisable Clement Attlee) trying to acquire the A-bomb which is supposed to have some relevance to Palestine/Israel. His opponents now are not Marsh's believable anarchists of the 1930s but Israeli freedom fighters, who are incensed by his plan - or perhaps they're just confused; I was. All in all, this episode is pretty dreadful, and would certainly have Marsh devotees angry at the alteration of her excellent plot.

But then things start getting better. Much better. 'Final Curtain' - a novel set against the gothic background of the gaunt ancestral home of an aged Shakespearean actor and his dysfunctional family - is where the series takes off with an excellent, 'straight-from-the plot' dramatisation of the book.

Thereafter, episodes scale new heights of excellence. 'Death in a White Tie' is a superbly crafted presentation of Marsh's superb high society novel. By now, the acting is universally excellent, with Patrick Malahide seeming to grow into the Alleyn role, ably supported by William Simons' outstanding portrayal of Fox.

'Scales of Justice' is an outstanding dramatisation set in a beautiful rural location (recognising the locations gave me added enjoyment from this episode). 'Dead Water' is a tour de force, and the series ends on a far higher level than seemed possible early on.

The late 1940s settings seem authentic (I wasn't around then, but it rings true). If you ignore the first two episodes, it's a great series. I'd score the last five episodes at five stars each, which much more than outweighs the earlier lapses. Recommended.

Classic TV
I first bought both US box sets of this classic BBC series, and rejoiced to find them finally released here in the UK ( Why do the Americans get our tv series on DVD long before us ??) I have now bought them again, purely because I love watching them so much, and prefer to view without the shudder and jerks inherent when viewing region 1 discs on a multi region player. I have read all of Ngaio Marsh's novels over the years(and re-read many of them too)and I was always totally impressed by this classy BBC series. I only wished they had filmed more ! I can't agree with the reviewer who describes Patrick Malahide as a 'Tony Blair' lookalike, I've always thought of him as a very good Alleyn, and I also think that whoever was the ghost painter for Agatha Troy was excellent - certainly evidenced in the episodes 'Hand in Glove' and 'Final Curtain'.
My only complaint of this box set is that the packaging is useless - nowhere does the box set list the episodes, not even on the discs themselves, leaving an almost pot luck element as to which episodes are about to come up on screen. I would also have liked to have the pilot episode included, 'Artists in Crime' , which although featured Simon Williams in the title role, would have been a very welcome addition.
Any one who enjoyed the BBC 'Miss Marple' series featuring Joan Hickson from the 1980s, will probably enjoy this series too - it is produced by many of the same people.
So, I would rate the films five stars, the packaging one star !, but please don't let the packaging put anyone off - the films are superbly written, acted and produced, and the price of the box set is very good value for money.

If time hangs heavy...
If you enjoy Ngaio Marsh and television detectives you are advised to avoid this series. The character of Alleyn is unrecognizable from the novels: it is hard find Marsh's tall, dark, handsome, deep-voiced Chief Inspector in the pint-sized, balding, squawking Tony Blair look-alike presented in these programmes. Add to this cardinal flaw a musical score reminiscent of Scooby Doo and an Agatha Troy who can't draw for toffee and you have a recipe for disaster. The series suffers also from a fixed idea that 'old cars means it's old times' which gives certain scenes all the allure of a Classic Car Rally & Autojumble. Enjoy! Enjoy!.... if time is really hangs that heavy on your hands!