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Clouds of Witness
Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation by Peter Jones and Tania Lieven. In a shocking scandal, the like of which has not been seen in the English aristocracy since the eighteenth century, Lord Peter Wimsey's elder brother, the Duke of Denver, stands accused of murder. Lord Peter is determined to prove his brother's innocence, yet finds him strangely uncooperative. Furthermore, other family members apparently oppose Peter's attempts to get to the truth. His sister, Lady Mary, seems to know more than she is letting on - could the Duke be protecting her? In collaboration with Inspector Parker, Wimsey slowly uncovers a web of lies and deceit within his own family, and finds himself faced with the unhappy alternative of sending either his brother or his sister to the gallows. Until he himself becomes a target... Patricia Routledge plays the Dowager Duchess in this classic dramatisation, alongside Maria Aitken as Lady Mary and Miriam Margolyes as Mrs Hardraw.
3 pages, Audio CD
Published July 3, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 24, 2015
Featuring Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey, Peter Jones as Bunter, and Gabriel Woolf as Inspector Parker
This is the second of the Lord Peter radioplays, at least going chronologically by the order of the books. It’s longer than Whose Body? and a bit more personal: Lord Peter has to defend his own brother, the Duke of Denver, against a charge of murder. As usual with the Wimsey radioplays, the cast is excellent, and the parts chosen directly from the novels for dramatisation are great. I think only Ian Carmichael could get exactly the right tone for me in the part where Wimsey climbs on Parker’s back, looks over the wall, and then announces that it’s a marvellous ditch which he is going to proceed to fall into.
And of course, the ending with everyone drunk is pretty funny…
The main thing that doesn’t really work for me is, unfortunately, the sound effects. The gun sounds are more like party poppers — hardly the dramatic scenes needed. And I could maybe wish that Ian Carmichael wouldn’t sing — it’s in character, but something about it grates.
Originally posted on my blog.
This is the second of the Lord Peter radioplays, at least going chronologically by the order of the books. It’s longer than Whose Body? and a bit more personal: Lord Peter has to defend his own brother, the Duke of Denver, against a charge of murder. As usual with the Wimsey radioplays, the cast is excellent, and the parts chosen directly from the novels for dramatisation are great. I think only Ian Carmichael could get exactly the right tone for me in the part where Wimsey climbs on Parker’s back, looks over the wall, and then announces that it’s a marvellous ditch which he is going to proceed to fall into.
And of course, the ending with everyone drunk is pretty funny…
The main thing that doesn’t really work for me is, unfortunately, the sound effects. The gun sounds are more like party poppers — hardly the dramatic scenes needed. And I could maybe wish that Ian Carmichael wouldn’t sing — it’s in character, but something about it grates.
Originally posted on my blog.
October 30, 2021
Well I am rather surprised this is listed on Goodreads, cuz it's manifestly not a book, it's an adaptation of one into a radio drama. (But...when it comes to racking up numbers for the reading challenge, I'm unscrupulous, so.)
I did feel a wee bit cheated when the audiobook turned out to be not-exactly-an-audiobook. You just lose SO MUCH of the charm of the Lord Peter Wimsey books when you don't have Dorothy L. Sayers' narrative holding it all together. Also I suspect the script abridged a lot of Lord Peter's burbling. The fangirls are not amused.
But...radio dramas! Radio dramas are cool! I've always been rather intrigued by the idea, and I should really listen to more of them.
I understand that Ian Carmichael IS Lord Peter for many people. I think he comes off as a liiiiitle too old and lethargic for me. (Not that apparent lethargy isn't an aspect of Lord Peter's personality. He can be languid. But I interpret that as part of his "inept nobleman" façade, at least much of the time.)
It's funny how vivid a picture you can get of a character based just on a voice. Parker sounds like he has a ridiculously square jaw. Sir Impey Biggs, who in my opinion OUGHT to have a ridiculously square jaw, has a very weak chin and a long pencil mustache.
Mary sounds just right, though.
And my goodness, it was fun. In some of the particularly dramatic places (i.e. Peter in the bog), I laughed immoderately. Which probably isn't the intended effect. But it was fun. I was overdue for a Lord Peter fix and this delivered. Gack these characters are just such fun. Mary Mary quite contrary. Dear old devoted Bunter. Parker-bird. The friendships Lord Peter sustains with dear old devoted Bunter and Parker-bird.
PARKER-BIRD. I don't remember that being in the books but it probably is and even if it isn't, it's such a Wimseyism.
Darn it, I now need to go back and read all the books again. And start agitating in the streets for a TV series.
I did feel a wee bit cheated when the audiobook turned out to be not-exactly-an-audiobook. You just lose SO MUCH of the charm of the Lord Peter Wimsey books when you don't have Dorothy L. Sayers' narrative holding it all together. Also I suspect the script abridged a lot of Lord Peter's burbling. The fangirls are not amused.
But...radio dramas! Radio dramas are cool! I've always been rather intrigued by the idea, and I should really listen to more of them.
I understand that Ian Carmichael IS Lord Peter for many people. I think he comes off as a liiiiitle too old and lethargic for me. (Not that apparent lethargy isn't an aspect of Lord Peter's personality. He can be languid. But I interpret that as part of his "inept nobleman" façade, at least much of the time.)
It's funny how vivid a picture you can get of a character based just on a voice. Parker sounds like he has a ridiculously square jaw. Sir Impey Biggs, who in my opinion OUGHT to have a ridiculously square jaw, has a very weak chin and a long pencil mustache.
Mary sounds just right, though.
And my goodness, it was fun. In some of the particularly dramatic places (i.e. Peter in the bog), I laughed immoderately. Which probably isn't the intended effect. But it was fun. I was overdue for a Lord Peter fix and this delivered. Gack these characters are just such fun. Mary Mary quite contrary. Dear old devoted Bunter. Parker-bird. The friendships Lord Peter sustains with dear old devoted Bunter and Parker-bird.
PARKER-BIRD. I don't remember that being in the books but it probably is and even if it isn't, it's such a Wimseyism.
Darn it, I now need to go back and read all the books again. And start agitating in the streets for a TV series.
December 22, 2011
Like the first Sayers radioplay, Whose Body?, Clouds of Witness is well cast and well dramatised. I can't think of anything it left out or changed, from the original book, yet it was just as interesting and exciting to listen to it as to read the book the first time. Again, I'd forgotten how everything worked out, so I was surprised all over again.
I think it's perhaps a bit less funny than the first book, but there are still points that made me smile -- particularly the ending, and Parker's crush on Lady Mary. I'm really excited to listen to more of the series, actually. I think it's perfectly done.
In terms of the plot itself, it's a bit of a classic. A country house mystery, really.
I think it's perhaps a bit less funny than the first book, but there are still points that made me smile -- particularly the ending, and Parker's crush on Lady Mary. I'm really excited to listen to more of the series, actually. I think it's perfectly done.
In terms of the plot itself, it's a bit of a classic. A country house mystery, really.
August 14, 2017
An enjoyable read.
Peter Wimsey is a very good detective, and Bunter is just fantastic.
Peter Wimsey is a very good detective, and Bunter is just fantastic.
February 23, 2013
Lord Peter Wimseys Urlaub in Paris nimmt ein abruptes Ende, als er in einer Zeitung lesen muss, dass der Verlobte seiner Schwester Mary, Captain Denis Cathcart, ermordet im Garten von Riddlesdale Lodge, dem Haus seines Bruders, Gerald, der Duke of Denver, gefunden wurde, der nun als Hauptverdächtiger in diesem Mordfall gilt, zumal er über der Leiche kniend von Mary entdeckt wurde und sich weigert auszusagen, was er um 3 Uhr nachts im Garten zu suchen hatte. Ganz abgesehen davon, dass man sich nun natürlich auch fragt, was Mary um diese Uhrzeit im Garten zu suchen hatte.
Peter und Inspektor Charles Parker, den er in “Whose Body” kennengelernt hat, untersuchen den Fall, der sich als recht verzwickt erweist, denn jeder hat kleine, persönliche Geheimnisse, die nicht ans Licht kommen sollen.
Prinzipiell wäre das ein einfacher, klarer Fall gewesen, wenn nicht viele, kleine persönliche Pläne der Verdächtigen gerade auf diesen Tag geplant worden wären. Eine Verkettung unglücklicher Umstände sozusagen. Lord Peters Aufgabe besteht hauptsächlich darin, schmutzige Wäsche zu waschen, und peinliche, persönliche Verhältnisse ans Licht zu zerren, die mit dem Fall eigentlich nichts zu tun haben, aber beweisen, dass derjenige nichts mit dem Mord zu tun hatte. Mir war letztendlich nicht so wirklich klar, wie er letztendlich herausbekommen hat, wem der Katzenanhänger gehörte, da ist das Hörspiel zu stark gekürzt.
Dennoch ist dieser Fall in vielerlei Hinsicht bemerkenswert. Zum einen überquert hier der Detektiv 1926, also ein Jahr vor Charles Lindberg, mit dem Flugzeug über den Atlantik. Zudem ist zwischen den Zeilen eine Menge Sozialkritik versteckt. Der Duke of Denver kann natürlich nicht von einem normalen Gericht verurteilt werden, sondern nur von Seinesgleichen, während Lord Peter wiederum so gar kein Problem damit hat, dass Charles Parker sich, über Standesgrenzen hinweg, in Mary verliebt hat, die ihrerseits eine Sozialistin ist, obwohl sie von Adel ist.
Was das Hörspiel angeht, so sollte man wirklich sehr gut Englisch können. Die Hauptpersonen sprechen zwar Oxford Englisch, die Bauern jedoch, allen voran Mr. Grimethorpe, oder der Barkeeper, sprechen einen dermaßen breiten Yorkshire Dialekt, dass es wohl teils selbst für Muttersprachler schwierig sein dürfte, diesen Unterhaltungen zu folgen.
Bei diesem Hörspiel handelt es sich wieder um eine der Produktionen aus 1970er Jahren (1974) mit Ian Carmichael, die deutlich besser sind, als die späteren Versionen aus den 80er Jahren. Man merkt dem Hörspiel auch sein Alter nicht an, denn die Geschichte ist zeitlos umgesetzt.
Peter und Inspektor Charles Parker, den er in “Whose Body” kennengelernt hat, untersuchen den Fall, der sich als recht verzwickt erweist, denn jeder hat kleine, persönliche Geheimnisse, die nicht ans Licht kommen sollen.
Prinzipiell wäre das ein einfacher, klarer Fall gewesen, wenn nicht viele, kleine persönliche Pläne der Verdächtigen gerade auf diesen Tag geplant worden wären. Eine Verkettung unglücklicher Umstände sozusagen. Lord Peters Aufgabe besteht hauptsächlich darin, schmutzige Wäsche zu waschen, und peinliche, persönliche Verhältnisse ans Licht zu zerren, die mit dem Fall eigentlich nichts zu tun haben, aber beweisen, dass derjenige nichts mit dem Mord zu tun hatte. Mir war letztendlich nicht so wirklich klar, wie er letztendlich herausbekommen hat, wem der Katzenanhänger gehörte, da ist das Hörspiel zu stark gekürzt.
Dennoch ist dieser Fall in vielerlei Hinsicht bemerkenswert. Zum einen überquert hier der Detektiv 1926, also ein Jahr vor Charles Lindberg, mit dem Flugzeug über den Atlantik. Zudem ist zwischen den Zeilen eine Menge Sozialkritik versteckt. Der Duke of Denver kann natürlich nicht von einem normalen Gericht verurteilt werden, sondern nur von Seinesgleichen, während Lord Peter wiederum so gar kein Problem damit hat, dass Charles Parker sich, über Standesgrenzen hinweg, in Mary verliebt hat, die ihrerseits eine Sozialistin ist, obwohl sie von Adel ist.
Was das Hörspiel angeht, so sollte man wirklich sehr gut Englisch können. Die Hauptpersonen sprechen zwar Oxford Englisch, die Bauern jedoch, allen voran Mr. Grimethorpe, oder der Barkeeper, sprechen einen dermaßen breiten Yorkshire Dialekt, dass es wohl teils selbst für Muttersprachler schwierig sein dürfte, diesen Unterhaltungen zu folgen.
Bei diesem Hörspiel handelt es sich wieder um eine der Produktionen aus 1970er Jahren (1974) mit Ian Carmichael, die deutlich besser sind, als die späteren Versionen aus den 80er Jahren. Man merkt dem Hörspiel auch sein Alter nicht an, denn die Geschichte ist zeitlos umgesetzt.
October 26, 2012
full-cast version
August 22, 2017
Alright.
January 31, 2019
Always an enjoyable re-listen to the second LPW novel, as dramatised by the BBC and starring Ian Carmichael as the gentleman detective!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews