By Slanted Light

...as they might have said in the programme... Did anyone else watch The Suspicions of Mr Whicher tonight? The Radio Times says: "Of course the source material is impeccable; Summerscale's book is a finely tuned and superbly researched mystery, but writer Neil McKay keeps a tight hold on all of the original's essential elements." and that might be true, but... I found it just a wee bit less than gripping, or interesting or anything other than... I'm not even sure what I found it. What were the essential elements that it was important to impart to us, over a hundred years later?

What am I missing? I saw a story where the Met detective followed the obvious clues, found an obvious story, and was foiled by the lies of the local police. I didn't gather any particular reason for those lies, except that the local policeman harboured a respect for Mr Kent that we were told wasn't shared by most of the locals. Not that anyone actually spoke out against Mr Kent that we saw - until the maid from his previous family randomly appeared. Whicher didn't offer her testimony at the hearing though... So then Kent hired a lawyer who pointed out the obvious flaws in Whichover's basically non-existant evidence, and Constance was released. Only to randomly decide to confess at some later date, although the drama heavily implied that... well, they seemed to think that she did do it, but with the help of her brother who got off scot free... Only... well, why did she suddenly need to confess? She was safe, the brother was safe... The bloody nightgown had allegedly been found - only to have, apparently, been returned to where it came from by the local policeman, who lied about it to Whicher. So... that was perhaps why Constance decided to confess? Only...

...and in the meantime, having been humiliated and effectively thrown out of the Met, Whicher turned to drink - though he was pulled out of it by his good friend and colleague Dolly, who came to his house to give him all the new news about the case/nightgown/confession etc. But... why? And Dolly was the man that Whicher insisted he must have urgently to help with the case, cos he couldn't trust the local police - but all Dolly did was hang around in the background... I... just... am at a complete and utter loss as to the point and interest of this programme or any of its characters...

Has anyone read the book? Does it at least have the feel of a mystery solved, or a story of humanity in times of trial, or...? Was the programme just a dreadful, dull adaptation, or did it miss some vital spark? Or did I miss some vital spark? Or...?

Oh, the things I miss - how incredible is this?!



(Thank you, ariss_tenoh, on whose lj I saw it - I just had to show anyone else who might not have seen it!)

And here's what the Guardian has to say - oh, and maybe she's won more recently than that - I must go and watch those too!

So I was totally going to write a silly post today, do some rambling, do some Pros-ing, but... I just watched Blackadder Goes Forth again - the whole series, because it was on sale for silly price and I felt like being cheered up earlier today, but...

Isn't it just one of the saddest shows about WWI ever? I mean, obviously not for 5/6 of the eps, but that last...thirty seconds - doesn't it just get you every time? Even when you've seen it a billion times, showed it to rooms full of teenagers, and know it backwards?

Oh, and I was looking for clips, and just read (which I think I did know...) that it was voted one of the greatest British television moments ever. Which is about right...

Here's a youtube of the start of the ep for anyone who's not seen it (they're quite old now - 1989!) - I expect it links to the rest... I mean, really you should watch all six eps to meet the characters, but...