The Lord Peter Wimsey-Harriet Vane 1987 BBC production includes three of Dorothy L. Sayers mystery novels: Strong Poison, Save His Carcase, and Gaudy Night. The good thing is that each of the miniseries is about two and a half hours long, the bad thing is that only three Dorothy L. Sayers novels were made into miniseries for this production.
The three miniseries, of course, involve mysteries, but also include Lord Peter Wimsey's infatuation with his one true love, Harriet Vane. Lord Peter Wimsey (played by Edward Petherbridge) is the debonair bachelor who, born into the aristocracy of Great Britain, is able to spend his leisure time as an amateur sleuth. Harriet Vane is equally inquisitive and intelligent, but is very happy with her single life style.
This series, unlike the 1970's series, includes the romantic side of Lord Peter Wimsey. He is truly smitten with Harriet Vane (played by Harriet Walter), but she, it appears, does not return his feelings of blind devotion.
My husband and I recently rewatched the Lord Peter Wimsey-Harriet Vane collection, and again, found it to be a fun, light-hearted period piece that harkens back to a more innocent era.
(Here is a list of the Dorothy L. Sayers novels.)
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I only just saw these 3 presentations and absolutely loved them – I was so pleased at how faithful to the books the renderings were and felt that both Edward Petherbridge and Harriet Walter truly brought Lord Peter and Harriet Vane to life. Only thing wrong is there are only three.
The Lord Peter Wimsey-Harriet Vane 1987 BBC production is wonderful. I agree that it is unfortunate there were only three presentations. Walter was a fine Harriet Vane and Petherbridge (who was absolutely brilliant as Newman Nogs in the BBC production of "Nicholas Nickleby") was an endearing Lord Peter Wimsey. They truly did bring the books to life (faithfully) in this series–and all of the secondary characters were also superbly developed and acted. Special mention is also due to actor Richard Morant, for his delightful portrayal of Bunter, Lord Peter's very charming and highly capable manservant.