Oh, trust me, this was almost entirely about Mr. P. ;)
I did, of course, end up catching the tv adaptation of Gaudy Night last week, too. They had to cut out a LOT to get it to work for the screen ... and a general audience, I guess, ... but the adaptation suffers for it. More so than Strong Poison and Have His Carcase. Still, it could have been worse. Much worse.
Yep. My least favorite of the three adaptations by far as well, precisely for those reasons (and I could have done without the "Peter at the German border" scenes, too). Still, as you say -- it could have been a LOT worse.
Oh, gawd, THAT scene ... But that is what happens, I guess, when the producers believe they have to explain everything to the general audience instead. I rather liked how Sayers got this across in the book, by having him travel between Rome, Warsaw and Paris but exactly NOT passing the German border. And ugh, that scene... Just so much Ugh.
It was also unfortunate that Harriet in the adaptation is the one to relate Peter's Oxford history to someone (the Dean?) rather than being at the receiving end of the information.
And the scene between Paget and Bunter? Eh, talk about changing a character completely...
She does. I'm glad they didn't do too much about the Warden, Miss de Vine and Miss Lydgate (and Annie), but both the Dean and Miss Hillyard are not quite the same characters they are in the book. Then again, I can see why we get a mealtime conversation between the dons in the TV adaptation, but I'm still glad Sayers didn't consider any such thing necessary herself -- other than on the occasion when Peter is invited to high tea, that is -- and I would rather have liked to see an exchange between Harriett and Phoebe in the TV version instead.
Yes! Completely agree. But still, the adaptation could have been a lot worse.
I did miss the reference to the plug uglies, tho. I know they tried to make up for it with the anonymous letter writers but it was just another change that I know they had to make because of time constrains but where the adaptation looses the whole element of how Harriet is persuaded to consider Peter with new eyes. There was a lot Austen in that too, but maybe that was just my take.
No, it wasn't just you. There are so many cultural / social references that the makers of the TV series obviously considered nobody today would understand, and which they therefore cut out (beginning with the Gaudy dinner conversations right at the start) -- all to the detriment of the depth of characterization, for those who actually would have gotten them. And that's not even mentioning "Placetne, magistra?" ... (I still cringe and groan every single time I'm watching that scene and what they made of it.)
I guess it all comes back down to "it's the most altered and dumbed down adaptation of the three, but it still could have been a lot worse"!
Only a pale shade of the book. And yet, I've been known to binge-watch it along with the adaptations of the first 2 "Harriet & Peter" books ... more than once. Much more, in fact.
I wasn't even going to mention the Placetne.../Placet ... In what universe would Harriet call him an idiot (even a "little idiot"), please? ... And I loved the very last scene with the Proctor and the gowns ... but I know they had to change it and make it accessible for the audience.
And, yet, it is utterly impossible not to binge-watch the whole series. Impossible!
Btw, I have ordered some additional shelves as I cannot possibly justify keeping my hard copies of the series in a random stack somewhere...so, once they are delivered and assembled, I'll have a little Wimsey section. :D
I did, of course, end up catching the tv adaptation of Gaudy Night last week, too. They had to cut out a LOT to get it to work for the screen ... and a general audience, I guess, ... but the adaptation suffers for it. More so than Strong Poison and Have His Carcase. Still, it could have been worse. Much worse.
It was also unfortunate that Harriet in the adaptation is the one to relate Peter's Oxford history to someone (the Dean?) rather than being at the receiving end of the information.
And the scene between Paget and Bunter? Eh, talk about changing a character completely...
I did miss the reference to the plug uglies, tho. I know they tried to make up for it with the anonymous letter writers but it was just another change that I know they had to make because of time constrains but where the adaptation looses the whole element of how Harriet is persuaded to consider Peter with new eyes. There was a lot Austen in that too, but maybe that was just my take.
I guess it all comes back down to "it's the most altered and dumbed down adaptation of the three, but it still could have been a lot worse"!
Only a pale shade of the book. And yet, I've been known to binge-watch it along with the adaptations of the first 2 "Harriet & Peter" books ... more than once. Much more, in fact.
And, yet, it is utterly impossible not to binge-watch the whole series. Impossible!
Btw, I have ordered some additional shelves as I cannot possibly justify keeping my hard copies of the series in a random stack somewhere...so, once they are delivered and assembled, I'll have a little Wimsey section. :D