The Mrs Bradley Mysteries - The Complete Collection (2 Disc Set)

Set in the 1920s, Mrs Bradley drives the whodunit' out of the drawing room: rich, stylish, sexy and dripping with glamour, she solves these intriguing, ingenious crimes with a mixture of psychoanalytic and detective powers and George's willingness to get completely immersed in the investigation even if it means baring all. Enlivening the suspense of each investigation are Mrs Bradley's tongue-in-chic' asides to camera. A very modern woman and a keen student of Freud, she is happy to offer an insight on almost any subject, from men to murder. In Speedy Death, the divorced Mrs.Bradley buried her ex-husband and is obviously enjoying her widowhood immensely. Each mystery offers up a different slice of 1920s British society, with a series of familiar faces, giving viewers more suspects than a police line-up. Peter Davison (Doctor Who, All Creatures Great and Small) also turns up in each episode as Inspector Christmas, who invariably looks no further than his nose and arrests the wrong person. The circus, a haunted house, a quiet fishing village and Mrs Bradley's old school are all settings for some gruesome and horrific murders. No one wants the police involved, but fortunately Mrs Bradley is on hand to uncover the truth behind the crimes. 1. Speedy Death Driven by her trusty chauffeur and confidant, George Moody, Mrs Bradley arrives at Chayning Court for the engagement party of her god-daughter, Eleanor Bing, to the explorer, Everard Mountjoy. Everyone is delighted that Eleanor has found happiness, particularly after the motoring accident with the previous love of her life, Bertie Philipson, which left her paralysed and confined to a wheelchair. But Eleanor's bad luck has yet to run out. Mountjoy is found dead in the bath, and the police conclude that it is an accident. Mrs Bradley, however, is less than convinced. 2. A Death At The Opera A tale of jealousy, blackmail, murder and revenge at a select school for young ladies. Hadleigh Heights, according to Mrs Bradley, is "where nice young ladies are sent to be finished", but where she was expelled for "inappropriate behaviour" with a gardener. Now she has been invited as guest of honour to give the prestigious Evadne Flint Lecture , but first she must sit through an interminable school production of The Mikado. The performance is interrupted by a piercing scream and the discovery of a corpse backstage.The music teacher, Miss Ferris, is found on the floor of her dressing room. Headteacher Mrs Simms and her husband are eager to claim the death was due to a heart attack. But Mrs Bradley notices irregularities in Miss Ferris' death paint chippings under the corpse's fingernails. It looks as if she had tried to claw her way out of the mysteriously locked room. 3.The Rising Of The Moon On the night of a full moon, during a performance by Madame Marlene's Travelling Circus, the villagers of Little Fordham witness a murder. Coralie du Bois,the female partner in the knife-throwing act,is stabbed to death.Inspector Christmas needs Mrs Bradley's help to track down the murderer. Madame Marlene and her gypsy performers are refusing to co-operate.To gain their trust, Mrs Bradley volunteers her chauffeur, George, as the new "target" for the knife-thrower, Castries. When Coralie's bloodied scarf and purse are discovered in the prime suspect's caravan,passion and jealousy among the performers seem confirmed as the motive for the murder. But, disturbed both by the ease with which the evidence was found and by the open hostility between the villagers and gypsies,Mrs Bradley extends her investigation beyond the "obvious" suspects. 4. Laurels Are Poison Mrs Bradley tackles the ghosts of the past when she visits her old friend Isobel Marchmont at The Laurels,her haunted country house. The resident ghost takes the form of a soldier. Isobel lost three sons in the war and her daughter, Lacey, married the dead boys' only surviving friend, Captain Douglas Prideaux.Although Lacey has finally given birth to the longed-for heir, The Laurels is not a happy household. Do the memories of the war still haunt all the inhabitants: servant and master alike? Or are the tensions more recent creations? Isobel, tending her beloved garden of laurels, remains resolutely oblivious to the undercurrents that threaten to engulf her home. Mrs Bradley's arrival is a surprise as absent-minded Isobel forgot to tell the rest of the household of her arrival. Mrs Parkin, the cook, answers the door looking flustered; she has clearly got dressed in a hurry, omitting to put on her corset. The mystery of why she was undressed in the middle of the day deepens when Mrs Parkin is found dead in the parsley patch from a heart attack.Or so Isobel is keen to believe. 5.The Worsted Viper Mrs Bradley takes a trip to the seaside and becomes embroiled in case of murder and black magic in the final episode of the series. An invitation to attend a reception in honour of Inspector Christmas means a journey to the resort of Porth Carrack. The visit proves timely. George's daughter, Cecily, a waitress at Porth Carrack's foremost hotel, has become engaged to Ronald, the son of the hotel's manageress,Myrtle Quincy. With forthcoming nuptials and the award ceremony to be celebrated, Mrs Bradley and George prepare for a happy break from sleuthing. The reception for Inspector Christmas is interrupted, however, when the corpse of the vicar's daughter, Chastity Baines,is found washed up on the beach.She has been strangled with a worsted viper. Chastity's murder reminds Mrs Bradley of a series of such crimes she solved many years ago: murders committed by Satanist Black Jack Briggs.Could Mrs Bradley and Inspector Christmas have a maniac on their hands? Special Features: Includes the original 90 minute pilot episode - "Speedy Death"