19 reviews
Sales Rank: 33608

Format: Box Set, Closed-captioned, Color, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 4
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5 x 5

ISBN: 0790775956
UPC: 794051174734
EAN: 9780790775951
ASIN: B00008DDXJ

Theatrical Release Date: October 12, 1989
Release Date: May 13, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
"Do you take the long road?" asks a gruff restaurant manager of a hapless drifter. Thus is launched one of the serpentine mysteries written by Margery Allingham, featuring a genteel 1930s sleuth named Albert Campion (played by Peter Davison, a former Doctor Who), whose bland good manners mask a macabre humor and a relish for solving crimes. All of Allingham's stories take the long road, winding their way through a collection of eccentric personalities, improbable murders, and unexpected narrative twists.

Look to the Lady centers around the attempted theft of a 1000-year-old golden chalice from the upper-class family entrusted with it care, encompassing witchcraft, a vast criminal organization, strange rituals, and a murderous horse. The Case of the Late Pig takes Campion and his cantankerous manservant Lugg (Brian Glover) into the British countryside, where they encounter a childhood bully, enigmatic letters, a human corpse replaced by a dead pig, and some very important ice cubes. In Police at the Funeral, Campion and Lugg investigate a murder among an upper-crust family of bickering middle-aged siblings and their imperious mother. And in Death of a Ghost the normally unflappable sleuth loses a bit of his objectivity when murder strikes among some good friends, the bohemian enclave that's built up around a deceased artist who decreed that every year after his death one of his 12 last paintings should be unveiled. During a sudden blackout at the annual event, someone stabs an abrasive young artist with a pair of ornate scissors. Campion's interplay with the crusty Lugg, a former burglar with an almost impenetrable Cockney accent, is the series' strongest element. The roundabout plots poke fun at the conventions of murder mysteries while providing all the comfortable pleasures of the genre. --Bret Fetzer

Description
Behind his distinctive owlish glasses and gentle, deceptive naivete, Albert Campion conceals a passion for excitement and danger. Peter Davison (All Creatures Great and Small, Doctor Who) plays Margery Allingham's enigmatic sleuth, with Brian Glover as his loyal but slightly shady manservant in these classic mysteries set in the 1930's.

Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

In a world where most of us will never be invited to supper, at least we might be murdered December 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Is it possible that the English upper classes could simply be too well bred for their own good? Probably not as long their money holds out. But for a mystery series, maybe. With Campion, a BBC series that ran two seasons in 1989 and 1990, we have Peter Davison as Albert Campion, bespectacled, balding, well bred, well educated and well off. In the stylish world of 1930s wealth and society, Campion has dedicated himself to solving crimes and catching villains. These crimes almost always put him among equally well bred and well-off members of the upper class, in their stately homes and country houses, amongst their daughters and their horses, and amongst their black-sheep relatives.

The series is drawn from the mystery novels of Margery Allingham who, as so many British mystery writers of the Twenties and Thirties did, specialized in civilized crime. When the mysteries were good, they were very good. When they weren't (or when they became dated), they usually seemed to represent a way of life we are well rid of (except, of course, we aren't. It's just the cut of the dinner dress and the price of the vices that has changed.)

For me, the Campion television mysteries are a mixed blessing. On the plus side, Peter Davison makes an engaging, intelligent and sympathetic protagonist. He's one of the most likable actors I've ever seen, whether he's playing a young country vet in All Creatures Great & Small: The Complete Series 1 Collection or a put-upon, middle-aged detective constable in The Last Detective - Series 1. The mysteries are often satisfyingly complicated and the production looks like a million dollars (or pounds). The BBC spent what it took to make the upper classes' dress, their homes, their gardens and their cars look as if it were all theirs by right. Campion drives a red (Triumph, I think) roadster I'd be tempted to sell my children for. On the down side, Campion sets his traps with cleverness, but much of the time he spends listening with his eyebrows slightly raised. Combined with the excruciating gentility of the world he moves in, the episodes, which run close to two hours each, more often than not had me dozing off now and then. I'll admit to being something of a Leveler, but those who worry unduly about whether to send the port to the left or the right have always seemed more silly than sympathetic.

Campion and his manservant, the ex-burglar Magersfontein Lugg (Brian Glover), find themselves involved in four cases in this first season. One is a standout and another is very good. My favorite is Police at the Funeral. Campion finds himself in a country home stuffed with good breeding...but also stuffed full of resentments old and new, and with bizarre murders that seem to have no solution or rationale. Campion also must deal with the singularly stiff upper lip of the ancient doyen of the family. Mary Morris, 75, tiny, spare and wrinkled, plays this authoritative woman. She dominates the proceedings. Morris died shortly after production was finished. Forty-eight years earlier, in 1941, Mary Morris played Ludmilla Koslowsky, the young woman Leslie Howard, playing Professor Horatio Smith, fell in love with in Pimpernel Smith, If you can track down this old movie, it's still a great one. A nice job also is done with Death of a Ghost, a tale of more resentments and murder, this time mixed with envy and famous paintings. Campion nearly gets himself killed by being too clever.

I've not read any of Allingham's mysteries so I have no idea how well the BBC brought Campion to life with Peter Davison. If you enjoy well-bred detectives and murderous doings amongst those who'd never, ever invite you to supper, you'll enjoy these four programs. On balance, I did. But now I'm returning to Ross Thomas. I'm half way through Briarpatch.

5 out of 5 stars

Campion-The Complete First Season April 18, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I enjoy mysteries that surprise me. This one does! It gives you all the clues, but I seldom know "who done it". It's light and fun---enjoyable!!

1 out of 5 stars

Poor/Impossible recording quality February 23, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful

The first disc in the set was recorded so poorly I can not view it on my DVD. How do I replace one disc in a set?

Deeply disappointing

5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful series, wish there were more January 14, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

We have both series one and two. I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying an evening with Campion and his great manservant Lugg. It takes a bit to be able to understand the dialect. I guess it was their language first. That goes for all the BBC series. We do like them all.

2 out of 5 stars

The Good & The Bad January 10, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

If you love British TV and a good mystery and good story line ~ Get the Campion series. However this provider ASTRO VIDEO leaves something to be desired. One DVD in the set was visibly damaged in this Christmas present and although we have written to customer service on 3 occasions ~ we still have no response or resolution! I gues you have to take the good with the bad ~ so we have one mystery that has not been solved ~ how to get the bad DVD replaced.

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