Campion - The Complete Second Season

Product Description Campion: The Complete Second Season (DVD)Behind his distinctive owlish glasses and gentle, deceptive naivete, Albert Campion conceals a passion for excitement and danger. Peter Davison (All Creatures Great and Small, Doctor Who) plays Margery Allingham's enigmatic sleuth, with Brian Glover as his loyal but slightly shady manservant in these classic mysteries set in the 1930's.]]> Amazon.com For the second season, the creators of the British mystery series Campion have cranked up the adventure and derring-do. The deceptively bookish 1930s sleuth Albert Campion (Peter Davison, also a former Doctor Who) and his formerly thuggish manservant Lugg (Brian Glover) dive into four two-part stories that start modestly and cleverly escalate to high suspense. In Sweet Danger, Campion must prove that a cheerful trio of siblings are the heirs to a tiny Balkan kingdom that's suddenly become politically significant; along the way are a mysterious millionaire and hints of witchcraft. Dancers in Mourning starts with petty vandalism at a musical comedy revue but builds to an awful bombing--even Campion, who normally views murder with relish, is disturbed. Flowers for the Judge is the least exotic of the lot--the entire story takes place in London as Campion investigates a murder in a publishing firm--but the tightly wound plot is possibly the best of the season. The final piece, Mystery Mile, features a hedge maze, a disappearing judge, quicksand, conjuring tricks gone awry, a rooftop rescue, and a nefarious criminal mastermind. Even better, these juicy set-ups are carried out with delightful skill; the writers and directors have tightened everything up, with utterly seductive results. Even when the conclusion feels a little lacking, getting there is great fun. The only complaint might be a shortage of the ever enjoyable Lugg, who plays too small of a role in a couple of the shows. --Bret Fetzer