The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Bramwell… the Series

Several years ago, I was lucky to have been one of the people who started viewing a new (very British!) Masterpiece Theatre presentation called Bramwell. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to tape any of the episodes, so my husband and children missed it… until it finally became available to either rent or purchase. (Produced by Whitby Davison Productions Ltd.)

It is not a mystery, but in my opinion, it has cozy “written” all over it. But, be forewarned… since it is a Victorian medical series, there is a fair amount of blood in it.

Bramwell is based on the fictional life of Doctor Eleanor Bramwell, portrayed by Jemma Redgrave (of the famous British Redgrave family) and she is absolutely wonderful in this role. She is able to convey the innate feisty-ness that it would have taken in the late 1800s for a woman to become a doctor. But at the same time, she is able to capture the very feminine reserve it also must have taken for an intelligent, capable woman to have been able to to “make it” in a man’s world back then.

The first season of Bramwell is comprised of three discs. It sets up the series by showing us Dr. (Eleanor) Bramwell’s succession from working under a leading surgeon to finding a sponsor for a clinic she opens in the slums of London. Dr. Bramwell is stubborn, as well as smart, and has the youthful quality of sometimes jumping before evaluating the jump…

The wonderful actor David Calder portrays the senior Doctor Bramwell. Calder’s performance shows us how Eleanor’s doting father could have raised her to believe (or should I say “know”) that she could indeed become a good doctor… despite London’s (or should I say “the world’s”) disapproving attitude. Remember- the late 1800s was a time when society women stitched floral patterns on their needlepoint canvases. It was not a time when these same “dainty” women stitched up gaping, open wounds! 

Season two of the Bramwell series follows Dr. Eleanor Bramwell’s experiences at “The Thrift.” The Thrift is the name of the clinic she opens in London’s “bad side” of town.

The sets/scenery seem flawless to me… as do the costumes. The entire cast is excellent. One of the characters I absolutely love in this series is Nurse Ethel Carr, played by Ruth Sheen. Sheen is great in everything I have seen her in, but her portrayal of Nurse Carr is so good that I found myself (almost gleefully) awaiting her next scene.

Season three has just been released (January 8, 2008.) When I wrote the review of this series it had yet to be released.

Bramwell’s fourth season is it’s final season, and has been available to either rent or purchase for the longest amount of time. I don’t know why they started with the last and worked their way to the front but, that is apparently what they did. (That is a mystery to me!)

If you are planning on watching the series, be sure to start at the beginning and follow the correct chronological order.  Since I am waiting until I am able to watch season three, I have not watched season four yet. I watched it when it was on Masterpiece Theatre years ago… which, at this point, is almost like saying I haven’t ever seen it!

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Sherlock Holmes… Jeremy Brett…

Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Granada Television Series I should begin this TV/Movies review by saying that you probably saw Jeremy Brett years before you thought you had seen him. If you remember the scene in My Fair Lady (1964) with Eliza’s young suitor dancing and singing down the street where she lived, then you know where you first saw Jeremy Brett.

It is for this reason, that when you see these Sherlock Holmes shows, you will clearly see what a lithe dancer Jeremy Brett was. He sometimes seems to simply pirouette through the air, leaping and bounding as gracefully as a dancer would.

But, Brett brought much more than just large movements to his Holmes’ character! Brett’s facial ticks, all-too-brief attempts at smiles, meditative poses (almost yoga-like trances), and pensive gazes into space ( just to name a few smaller physical movements) were all part of the Sherlock Holmes persona that we have grown to anticipate and love. Brett conveys emotions through his acting, and instead of having to verbalize his feelings, he simply shows us. How many times, during the many episodes, do we see Holmes sit in his chair, smoking his long pipe, flashing a (not even) momentary smile? He doesn’t have to say one word, we know exactly what he is thinking…

The sets and costumes of these delightful Sherlock Holmes productions are period-appropriate, and exactly what we have come to expect from the folks at the Granada production company.

There are several different sets that are now available for us to enjoy. Here is a list of the shows in order:
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1984 (13 episodes)
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, 1986 (11 episodes)
Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four, 1987
Sherlock Holmes: Hound of the Baskervilles, 1984 (I know that ’84 comes before ’86 & ’87, but the official site puts this show in this chronological spot… not where I initially thought it should go…)
The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, 1991 (6 episodes)
Sherlock Holmes: The Master Blackmailer, 1992 (a 2 Hour Movie)
Sherlock Holmes: the Last Vampyre, 1993 (a 2 Hour Movie)
Sherlock Holmes: The Eligible Bachelor, 1993 (a 2 Hour Movie)
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, 1994 (6 episodes)

This is one television series that was almost seamlessly able to switch actors playing a leading character. Dr. Watson was played by David Burke until 1985, with Edward Hardwicke taking over from 1986 until the end of the series. I enjoyed both of the Watson portrayals… I have found that in several other Sherlock Holmes adaptions, Dr. Watson is portrayed as (almost) a bumbling idiot. I doubt that Holmes would have kept him around for longer than it took for him to dismiss him>>> with a wave of his hand! (No words needed if it is Jeremy Brett doing the dismissing!)

Although a small part, Rosalie Williams was perfect as  Mrs. Hudson.  She neither coddled Sherlock nor shied away when he would bellow out orders…. She held her own!

We should remember, while watching these wonderful productions, that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote these stories as newspaper installments. He was one of, if not the first, prolific mystery writer. (Edgar Allan Poe was more of an author of suspense.) Doyle had actually tired of the Holmes stories, and killed him off… only to find that he “had to bring him back to life” when the public “demanded” more Sherlock Holmes newspaper stories.

The one very bad thing about this series is this:  Once you see these television productions, you will never be happy with another actor’s portrayal of the great Sherlock Holmes character!

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*****I wrote this entry back in 2007. Since then, I have seen several different renditions of Sherlock Holmes, and I still think Jeremy Brett’s is the absolute best. April 2014

Mapp and Lucia Miniseries … Definitely Cozy, Not Mystery…

What can I say? I know that I have mentioned (more than once!) E. F. Benson’s charming series about Lucia… and her nemesis, Mapp. Yes, “nemesis” sounds rather harsh, but “rival” might be too gentle a word! These two women vie for the highest social ranking of the village, and all of that is done with outward smiles and nods of the head. Although the series is not a cozy mystery, it is about as cozy a series of books or television shows as you will ever find.

To our great fortune, Great Britain gave us this wonderful television series back in 1985… Mapp and Lucia, Series 1. These made-for-television shows have three of Great Britain’s very best of “the best actors”: Geraldine McEwan, Prunella Scales, and Nigel Hawthorne. Some of you may recognize Geraldine McEwan from the recent Agatha Christie’s Marple, Carrie’s War and Barchester Chronicles. Once you see her as Lucia, you will probably always see a glint of Lucia in every roll she masters.  Prunella Scales was wonderful as the long-suffering wife on Fawlty Towers. And, Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, as well as The Madness of King George would not have been possible without the acting talents of Nigel Hawthorne .

The series takes place in the late 1920s, in a small village, where there can only be one lady supreme. Tilling is an idyllic setting, and until Lucia arrives, Miss Mapp has been able to control the comings and goings of all the village’s inhabitants. Unfortunately for Miss Mapp, Lucia arrives like a tornado, bringing Georgie (Georgino mio!) with her, and as the viewer soon finds out, Lucia is not going to allow the town’s current hierarchy to remain the same… Lucia will reign!

The books, as well as the shows, involve characters… there isn’t a lot of action. The shows take place in a quaint seaside  village, with ordinary people, many of whom apparently live on family inheritances, leaving their entire days and nights free to pursue social activities. The show is not meant to teach us a moral lesson, inform us about tough philosophical questions, or solve all of life’s problems. It is simply a show that makes us smile, or in some cases laugh. I have watched the shows several times, and will certainly watch them again.

If you are interested in watching these show, I definitely recommend watching them in their correct order. Mapp and Lucia, Series 2 is from 1986, and this series continues the daily lives of the Tilling inhabitants. As delightful as these television shows are, I hope that they get people to start reading E. F. Benson’s novels. The books surpass this wonderful television series… and that’s saying a lot!

(Be forewarned, though… If you are planning on reading the novels, these delightful television movies don’t take place until the fourth book of Benson’s series. My guess is that when they were making the movies/shows, they had to pick a specific time span, and the fourth book is the one that actually gets these two adversaries together.)

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Agatha Christie's Marple… (with Geraldine McEwan)

Just recently, one of my very favorite actresses took a stab at portraying one of the most famous cozy mystery characters of all time… Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple. Geraldine McEwan (the particular actress) brings a fresh portrayal of Miss Marple with almost the same mischievous glint in her expressive eyes as she displayed while portraying E. F. Benson’s Lucia. (That last sentence will probably only make sense to those of you who have been lucky enough to see the first season of Mapp and Lucia… another cozy, although not a mystery, production.)

In 2005, Great Britain (a Granada production) gave us yet another wonderful “television event.” For the purposes of this review, I will refer to these shows as the “Miss Marple”series… Yes, I know that before McEwan we had Margaret Rutherford, Helen Hayes, and Joan Hickson, amongst several other actress who portrayed Miss Jane Marple, but for the purposes of this blog, McEwan is Miss Marple.

Hmmm… “McEwan is Miss Marple.”

I have read reviews that state… essentially… that McEwan is NOT Miss Marple. I have to say that I strongly disagree. I think that McEwan puts into the Miss Marple character the same patient grace that she seems most capable of conveying. She is able to smile demurely while delivering a quick-witted come-back which her targeted person thinks is simply an observation. She is absolutely delightful as Miss Marple. So delightful, that I can imagine Agatha Christie saying “Yes, by gosh, she’s got it!”

As usual, we get the beautiful backdrop of quaint villages, whether they are Miss Marple’s very own St. Mary Mead, or another locale where Miss Marple is visiting. We have all of the obligatory eccentric characters and the gorgeous wardrobe is of course, authentic to the period. The series delivers just what we expect from the PBS imported British “Mystery! programmes.”

Series 1 includes: The Murder at the Vicarage (1930), with another one of my very favorite “British exports”… Sir Derek Jacobi. And, for all of you Ballykissangel fans out there… You will be delighted to see your favorite priest (Stephen Tomkinson) as the police inspector, who as usual, sees beyond Miss Marple’s elderly lady façade. Also presented in series one are: The Body in the Library (1942) with the phenomenal Joanna Lumley, A Murder is Announced (1950), and 4:50 from Paddington (1957), which all of you Christie fans might know as What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!

Series 2 includes: Sleeping Murder (1976), By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968), The Moving Finger (1943), and  The Sittaford Mystery (1931) I have to admit that I did not care for By the Pricking of my Thumbs at all. Miss Marple seems totally superfluous in this Tommy and Tuppence “movie.” And, since I never cared for that particular Christie series, it stands to reason that I didn’t like this show. I felt like McEwan’s talents were being wasted by having her play second fiddle to an alcoholic Tuppence.

Series 3 includes: Towards Zero (1944), Nemesis (1971, At Bertram’s Hotel (1965), and Ordeal by Innocence (1958). While I haven’t seen the third season of these shows, I am a little concerned that Ordeal by Innocence and Towards Zero are not Miss Marple books. I sure hope that Miss Marple isn’t again used as a secondary character as she was in the second season’s By the Pricking of My Thumbs!

All in all, if you are looking for a really fun time, these “movies” might be exactly what you want!

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