Lord Wimsey - The Unpleasantness At The Bellona Club Details

Lord Peter, but not at his best

The Unpleasantness At the Bellona Club is an interesting Lord Peter Wimsey mystery in that it starts out in the belief that no crime has been committed. However, it is not one of the best of Dorothy L Sayers books (Murder Must Advertise, The Nine Taylors, Strong Poison and Gaudy Night are the best).

This adaptation is very true to the book and excellently acted (particularly the the ending).

Unfortunately, as with all of this series (as opposed to the later Lord Peter Wimsey series featuring Edward Petherbridge and Harriet Walter), it is miscast. Whilst Ian Carmichael is a wonderful actor and plays Lord Peter amazingly in the audio adaptations, he looks wrong for the part and is too old for a character who is supposed to be in his mid to late-thirties in this story.

This is an adaptation of the novel which keeps close to the original, with a nice feel for the period. The performances are all fine with a lot of familiar faces for anyone over 40! Although Ian Carmichael's performance is very good, I must admit that for me the definitive Lord Peter Wimsey (closer to the true character from the book) was Edward Petherbridge in the series from the 1980s. Still a good choice for Wimsey fans.