Several people don't seem to have enjoyed Campion all that much and I would suggest this may be partly because they're not familiar with the books. Now that is, in TV terms, a failing; you shouldn't need to have read a book (where available) to enjoy an adaptation.
I have read the books, and I loved this adaptation. When I first watched this series on TV all those years ago, I was not at all disappointed, as so often does happen when a loved book goes to TV.
The thing is, Campion started life as Margery Allingham's parody of, or more charitably, homage to Lord Peter Wimsey. I think the link between the two men is quite easy to see - aristocrats (even if Campion is hiding his lineage, which may or may not be actually royal) and very rich men who don't need to work, effectively entertaining themselves "detecting". They may have the best intentions and be very good and kind, but they're not working stiffs.
In the script Alan Plater, has definitely decided to emphasise Campion's arch, unserious approach which owes quite a lot to most people's idea of 'bright young people' of the 1920s (the comparison with Christie's Tommy & Tuppence is quite apt) and I also think Peter Davison's Dr Who peeks through occasionally.
We're also not dealing with a detective as such. He's more of an adventurer and he certainly doesn't 'show his workings'. To the contrary, Campion frequently just *does* something - the way the chalice isn't actually in his car when they're stopped by thugs but Miss Gyrth wasn't aware of the swap, or when Val staggers back from regaining consciousness in a field, wearing a campion flower, but we never find out how Albert achieved this. In this way, he's almost like an early superhero.
The viewer has no chance of 'cracking the case' before AC - though arguably the villain in this piece was pretty telegraphed from her first appearance - you just have to strap in and enjoy the ride.
I loved this, but I'm already a Campion fan. That shouldn't need to be the case, so I've docked one point.
I have read the books, and I loved this adaptation. When I first watched this series on TV all those years ago, I was not at all disappointed, as so often does happen when a loved book goes to TV.
The thing is, Campion started life as Margery Allingham's parody of, or more charitably, homage to Lord Peter Wimsey. I think the link between the two men is quite easy to see - aristocrats (even if Campion is hiding his lineage, which may or may not be actually royal) and very rich men who don't need to work, effectively entertaining themselves "detecting". They may have the best intentions and be very good and kind, but they're not working stiffs.
In the script Alan Plater, has definitely decided to emphasise Campion's arch, unserious approach which owes quite a lot to most people's idea of 'bright young people' of the 1920s (the comparison with Christie's Tommy & Tuppence is quite apt) and I also think Peter Davison's Dr Who peeks through occasionally.
We're also not dealing with a detective as such. He's more of an adventurer and he certainly doesn't 'show his workings'. To the contrary, Campion frequently just *does* something - the way the chalice isn't actually in his car when they're stopped by thugs but Miss Gyrth wasn't aware of the swap, or when Val staggers back from regaining consciousness in a field, wearing a campion flower, but we never find out how Albert achieved this. In this way, he's almost like an early superhero.
The viewer has no chance of 'cracking the case' before AC - though arguably the villain in this piece was pretty telegraphed from her first appearance - you just have to strap in and enjoy the ride.
I loved this, but I'm already a Campion fan. That shouldn't need to be the case, so I've docked one point.
