Julian Fellowes Investigates - A Most Mysterious Murder
Nobody does murder quite like the British. The fascination with the fiction of writers from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Agatha Christie, and with nonfiction very real killers like Jack the Ripper, has been an English cultural thread for centuries. The first-rate BBC seriesJulian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murdergrows out of that tradition and makes for terrific viewing. Fellowes, a British character actor and screenwriter (Gosford Park), helped develop the series, and acts as its Hitchcockian narrator and Greek chorus. Each episode follows the tale of a real, unsolved English murder, occurring between the 1870s and 1940s, acted out with smashing period detail and dialogue. Fellowes narrates, helps spotlight possible suspects, and in the end makes his own case for who he thinks the murderer was--popping in and out of the period sets wryly and gracefully.The five episodes in this boxed set includeThe Case of Charles Bravo, which focuses on the untimely death in 1876 of the new groom of a rich lady with a shady past (one society-watcher sniffs, "The right marriage can wash away a multitude of sins"). InThe Case of Rose Harsent, a fetching young servant girl is found slain in 1902 in a small town shaped by religious fervor. The tales are compellingly told, and no expense seems to have been spared on sets or period details. Extras include the must-see behind-the-scenes featurette, in which Fellowes and other top staff relate how they selected the real-life cases, how research was conducted, and how the character of Fellowess' narrator is stitched seamlessly into each episode. Fans of crime procedurals are in for a treat with this series, which combines the best of the murder mystery with a glossyMasterpiece Theatrepolish.--A.T. Hurley