Adventures with Agatha

I found a new TV show on PBS called Alan Carr's Adventures with Agatha Christie. He's apparently a British comedian and a big Christie fan, so he presents a 3-part series exploring places in Agatha's life and discussing her two great detectives, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. It's different than Lucy Worsley's series from last year, because it's more of a fun romp, and they go to touristy places like the fabulous Art Deco hotel on Burgh Island, the inspiration for the setting of And Then There Were None. I love the trips to the Cosprop store in London too. It's weird that my PBS station was airing the show in the middle of the night, though. I guess they didn't think enough Americans would know Alan Carr or enjoy his cheeky humour.

Speaking of Lucy Worsley, I realize that I didn't comment on the third episode of Holmes vs Doyle yet. This one covered the Edwardian Age, WWI, and the later Sherlock Holmes stories. Worsley didn't mention the Cottingley fairies at all, mainly concentrating on Doyle's spiritualism and his friendship with Harry Houdini. I agree with Worsley's opinion that Doyle cosplaying as a soldier in WWI is a bit sad and desperate; he so wanted to be a war hero since the Boer War, but war is not a game or grand adventure to enjoy. He should have learned this, but I guess he still had imperialist tendencies plus masculinity issues from Sandow's fitness regimen. He wanted to be an action man.

Of the Return stories, I don't understand why Doyle's editor complained that the "Solitary Cyclist" had no crime in it. Isn't kidnapping and forced marriage a crime? And I thought some Holmes stories such as "The Yellow Face" were fine when they turn out not to have any crime either, only a misunderstanding. Some Holmes stories lean more toward "adventures" rather than strict "mysteries" so I don't fault any story that's just a good tale.

Worsley tried to restage the airgun scene from "The Empty House" but she did it all wrong, using a modern rifle. Plus, Colonel Moran unknowingly shot a wax dummy, so she shouldn't have used ballistic gel, which is supposed to mimic human flesh; she should have used a wax bust to see if the shot would go through and hit the wall. Still, I liked finding out about the commercially available Giffard airgun which used "carbolic acid gas" or CO2 to fire. But the rifle expert missed the point when he said "you'd need a custom gun with custom ammunition." Yeah, that's exactly what Colonel Moran had, a custom weapon made by Von Herder.

I did like Worsley discussing the Stoll films from the 1920s though. They're apparently being restored, but I wonder if they'll be released online or on physical media that I can buy. The later Casebook stories are indeed darker and weirder than earlier stories, but I think his son Kingsley's death contributed as much trauma as the war. I wish I knew what place that was where Worsley interviewed Professor Janice Allen. It seemed to be a circular cemetary or graveyard, but it looked like a monument as well.