The Nine Tailors (1974) User Reviews

Dorothy made an extensive study of campanology, but she made one egregious error. Can you spot it?

[fisherforrest · 9/10 · 19 January 2005]

Some rate THE NINE TAILORS as Dorothy's best "Lord Peter" novel. It is certainly very good, but I like GAUDY NIGHT for that encomium. Well, no matter, this BBC film may be the best in Ian Carmichael's 5 film series. It has quite a bit going for it, including giving one a chance to hear what the cacophony of change ringing really sounds like. There's some nice camera glimpses of the "Fen Country" of eastern England, spotted with a generous selection of local characters excellently portrayed by BBC's cast. The introductory material is good of itself. In the novel, most of what we actually see here is related in conversations and interrogations. BBC shows the action taking place, with the result that Ian Carmichael plays young "Lord Peter" as a subaltern about to ship over the channel to take part in The Great War, and the adult 15 or so years later, solving a mystery that had its roots in the wedding party he attended in 1914! We also get to see "Sgt. Bunter" rescuing "Major Wimsey" after he was buried when an artillery shell scored a direct hit on his dugout. Later, we see "Bunter" applying for the job as his lordship's valet, and getting it. It's a very effective adaptation.

Dorothy's tale as it unfolds in THE NINE TAILORS is a complicated one, which it is almost impossible to discuss without giving away plot elements important to beating "Lord Peter" to solving the mystery. I will say nothing beyond that it reminds me of many of Ross MacDonald's "Archer" novels, all of which involved events of usually many years previous to the current mystery, and which were responsible in good part for those current events.

Oh, what was Dorothy's egregious error relating to change ringing? Well, the rules are strict that the ringers who start the peal must complete it without any help or relief. Otherwise,the "record" cannot be certified. Vicar "Venables" stood in for several ringers during their 9 hour peal.

I'll chime in: this mystery has a peal.

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 9/10 · 20 July 2008]

"Nine tailors make a man", which explains why Adolphe Menjou (Hollywood's best-dressed actor) titled his memoir "It Took Nine Tailors". In Dorothy Sayers's novel (and this adaptation), the title refers to a Church of England tradition: the parish bell chimes nine "tailors" (tolls) to mark the death of a man, six for a woman, three for a child.

Here we have a splendid example of authorial obsession: Sayers was deeply interested in change-ringing, a rarefied activity even in her day ... and nowadays downright obscure. I would need several thousand words to explain change-ringing properly. Basically, a peal begins with all the ringers tolling in an agreed sequence. In each successive change, any given ringer will chime at either the same point in the sequence as last time round, or one position before or after that position ... never altering by more than one in a single change. Ideally (though not always in real life), the peal continues until every possible mathematical combination has been rung ONCE only. (The number of changes in a full peal depends on how many bells are used.) Unfortunately, Sayers assumes that all her readers (and now her viewers) are as fascinated by this subject as she was. Throughout "The Nine Tailors", campanological terms like "Treble Bob" and "Tailor Paul" are tossed about with no explanation.

Ian Carmichael always had the advantage of being able to choose his projects, and he only ever worked in quality productions. All his Lord Peter Wimsey miniseries are excellent, but "The Nine Tailors" is the one I recommend for viewing first, as this one establishes the relationship between Lord Peter and his invaluable valet Bunter (the excellent Glyn Houston). A prologue shows them meeting in the Great War, with Bunter saving his subaltern and becoming Lord Peter's batman.

SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD. I agree with IMDb reviewer "hgallon" that the identity of a corpse in this mystery is too easy to guess. (This reflects one of the teleplay's few deviations from the original novel.) The villain has cut off the dead man's hands and head, hoping to nobble identification: nowadays, of course, DNA would reveal all.

IMDb's reviewer Fisher Forrest is technically correct about an error in change-ringing protocol, but change-ringing hobbyists (such as Miss Sayers herself) would overlook this. Come to that, the "rules" require all change-ringers to be male, but Dorothy Sayers was an enthusiastic pealer herself.

In the last chapter of this miniseries is a detail that I disliked. Lord Peter needs to access Church of England records, so he casually rings up his friend the Archbishop of Canterbury. There's an old film cliché stating that, when a real person is briefly portrayed by an actor, the actor is photographed in three-quarter rear view to avoid the aggro of finding a lookalike. See for instance the depiction of Franklin D. Roosevelt in "Yankee Doodle Dandy" or of Walt Disney in "Once Upon a Time". Here in "The Nine Tailors", the actor briefly portraying the Archbishop is shown from that same angle ... but, really, how many viewers in 1974 (or later) had any notion of what the Archbishop looked like forty years earlier?

The production design throughout this miniseries is a delight -- plenty of campanology, very little camp -- as is the ripe British dialogue. One crusty Englishman, confronting a French letter (quiet, you!), confesses: "I never could parley-voo." I'm slightly annoyed by Carmichael's attempts at Bertie Wooster diction, clipping his words and saying "ain't". Admittedly, Sayers deserves some of the blame.

SPOILER. The climactic scene of "The Nine Tailors" places Lord Peter in a deadly situation, but some viewers may be sceptical as to its fatal dimensions. This is something that Sayers got very right indeed, and Lord Peter is in genuine peril. My rating for these nine tailors is nine points out of 10. Well done, m'lord!

Near-perfect whodunnit

[hgallon · 8/10 · 18 February 2002]

In the 1970's several of Dorothy L. Sayers's "Lord Peter Wimsey" mysteries were made into TV series, starring Ian Carmichael. This is probably the best of them.

There is, to a purist, one error; in the book, the identity of the corpse (an obligatory element of whodunnits) is carefully concealed by means of red herrings and misleading information, while in the TV series, the viewer is given so much information in the first episode that the identity is almost too easy to guess. Even with this lead, there is enough for the viewer to puzzle over and try to work out.

There is some very good acting, especially by Carmichael, who successfully portrays a twenty-something young officer and a fortyish sleuth in the same episode. The location shots give a good idea of the flatness and bleakness of the Fen country of Eastern England.

This series is well worth watching, for its content.

Doesn't get better than this...

[cloisterbell-1 · 26 February 2006]

This is undoubtedly the best of the LPW adaptations from the 1970s. The location shooting is beautiful, in particular the church interiors and, as other reviewers have noted, the countryside. There is a truly epic feel to this production, with many years elapsing during the course of its 4 episode duration. Acting is incredible as always.

What really strikes me though about this particular production is the way in which it uses its epic quality to construct an entire believable, romantic, nostalgic, world, where criminals and coppers have thick cockneys, our UC heroes speak perfect Beeb English, and even the first World War has a bit of a romantic glow about it! You half expect Wimsey's Sergeants to apologize for the bombing interrupting his pipe! It's as easy to get hypnotized by this world as it is with the beautiful bell-ringing.

Glyn Houston is the perfect Bunter, BYW. One of the joys of 70s BBC productions is looking out for great actors. Here we have Maude Grimes from Coronation Street and Gan from Blake's 7!

Possibly the best case for Lord Peter.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 15 March 2020]

The Nine Tailors is an engaging four part mystery. In my opinion it's the best of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels, and perhaps the best of the dramatisations. It's an intriguing mystery, which spans two decades, Wimsey returns twenty years later to Fenchurch St Paul, where a set of valuable emeralds are stolen.

It's a gorgeous production, it looks fabulous, terrific scenes inside and out of the Church, and also the scenes of the water rising up. Carmichael as always is excellent as Wimsey, he's very well supported by the great cast, Glyn Houston marvellous as always as Bunter, I thought Donald Eccles was particularly good as The Vicar.

It's a wonderfully engaging mystery, there are stacks of red herrings, twists and turns, you think you know what's happening, but expect the unexpected. 9/10

The best of the Sayers mysteries

[schuler · 10/10 · 1 April 2001]

Of all the novels by Dorothy Sayers, this is the best for mystery and surprise. This Masterpiece Theater production does it full justice. Carmichael is almost tolerable as the insufferable Peter Wimsey and a competent cast supports well, but the real star is the plot and is thoroughly engrossing and entertaining.

He sent forth a raven

[Bernie4444 · 10/10 · 24 December 2023]

A young Lord Peter (Ian Carmichael) informal uniform on his way to the war. He is standing in for his brother The Duke of Denver at a wedding. Mischief is afoot and an emerald necklace was pinched. Where it was stored for safekeeping, I cannot say. It looks like the perpetrator was winged by a well-placed shot. We get the inside story and know the truth.

All in the first chapter we see the crime and the fate of the perpetrators. We also get a first-hand view of the meeting and growing relationship and Wimsey and Bunter (Glyn Houston.) As fate would have it Lord Peter finds himself once again in Fenchurch St. Pauli. This time as providence would have it just in time to replace a sick bell ringer on New Year's Eve.

Three months later a body is found in and Lord Peter is invited to the inquest.

This film is based on a Dorothy L. Sayers novel of the same name with the screen adaptation by Anthony Steven.

At first, you are not sure that this is the same peter Wimsey when you see the blond hair and mustache. However, if you look closely, they made little attempt to cover the wrinkled face.

If you have, an opportunity to view this film before reading the book you will not be distracted by the deviations and omissions from the written story.

If nothing else we learn about anemic bananas and The Spanish Flue.

Promising beginning, slow middle, clever solution

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 18 September 2015]

The least stuffy and stodgy out of the first four "Lord Peter Whimsey" adaptations with Ian Carmichael. Make no mistake, it is still stuffy and stodgy, but it's a more expanded and ambitious production that the others; it even climaxes with a flood! The first episode is promising and somewhat unusual: most of the action takes place in the 1910s, and the (initial) crime is not a murder but the theft of some emeralds - and we know who-done-it! (plus you get the rare chance to see Desmond Llewelyn in a non-Q role!) In the second (especially) and in the third episode the story slows to a crawl, and it requires an uncommon amount of patience on the part of the viewer to stick with it. But the fourth and final episode is more successful, with a couple of well-done red herrings and a clever, memorable resolution. Worth seeing overall, but it should have been far shorter. **1/2 out of 4.