Thursday, April 09, 2009

How has no one heard of him?

Dear Friend,
(This could be a long story, but I think it's worth reading, so, please, stick with me here.)

I've gotten a new "mania" and his name is Albert Campion. You've probably never heard of him. It's a pity, too. Somehow, despite the obsession with adapting mystery novels into TV shows or movies there's only been one series (two seasons long) with Campion in them. Agatha Christie is done to stinkin' death, but I'd never heard of Margery Allingham until I went nuts over Peter Davison. It all started with the TV series All Creatures Great and Small. I loved the books, and when I saw the show on DVD at the library I picked it up to try it. I liked it, just not as much as my parents, and the one week check out period quickly burned me out on watching it. I liked the characters, Christopher Timothy as James Herriot, Robert Hardy as Siegfried Farnon, and Peter Davison as Tristan Farnon. It was cute, but not that cute.

Frankly, the story would probably have ended here if it hadn't been for the move to Virginia. My family was stuck in an RV for months and we had no friends to visit and no cable to watch. Thankfully, Barnes and Noble had their usual "Buy two get one free" sale just about the time that we couldn't take watching two static filled channels anymore. Normally, I wouldn't look at B&N's DVD selection twice, since their so expensive, but this was appealing. Their shelves are filled with British television, and if there is one thing I love, it's British television! We could only find the first two seasons of ACGAS, but it was enough to get me to pay more attention.

Shortly after that we signed up for Netflix, and got the rest of the series. Looking around Netflix and typing in actors names to see what else they were in brought to my attention, Peter Davison was Dr. Who! I knew very little about Dr. Who, but I knew that was interesting if not impressive. One day, I was watching one of my many "British talkies" as my Dad calls them, and saw a preview for Campion. My Mom and I pointed at the TV and said in unison, "That's Tristan!" I hopped on over to Netflix and put the two seasons in my queue.

I also put the "Last Detective" series on, and love those, too, but I'm not crazy about them. I just mention it because for awhile there, Netflix told me, "You seem to like Peter Davison, why not try... (various Dr. Who discs)" whish I found amusing.

I just want to know why Campion isn't more popular! I realize that not too many fictional detectives achieve rock star status, but if I say Sherlock Holmes and Watson, you know who I'm talking about. You probably know who Hercule Poirot is, too. You may even know Lord Peter Whimsey! But I have yet to find anyone who knows Campion.
I can't even find the books! I went to the used book store that has a huge mystery section that practically smacks you in the face as you enter the front door, but no Campion. (Most mystery sections seem to start and end with "C" for Christie. Such a sad state of affairs.)

How has this happened? Shall I start a campaign for Campion? The world needs more owlish glasses and "people" who would write like this "The main thing to remember in autobiography, I have always thought, is not to let any damned modesty creep in to spoil the story. This adventure is mine, Albert Campion’s, and I am fairly certain that I was pretty near brilliant in it . .." about themselves.

We need more of him, I think, on TV.

"‘His name is Albert Campion,’ she said. ‘He came down in Anne Edgeware’s car, and the first thing he did when he was introduced to me was to show me a conjuring trick with a two-headed penny—he’s quite inoffensive, just a silly ass.’

Abbershaw nodded and stared covertly at the fresh-faced young man with the tow-coloured hair and the foolish, pale-blue eyes behind tortoiseshell—rimmed spectacles, and wondered where he had seen him before."


He doesn't even have a Facebook or Livejournal group, that's just wrong.

Edited to add:
After about an hour searching Youtube this is all I found that had Campion in it... sigh.

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