The Worsted Viper

This was the last of four, and by this time the producers knew they had a dead fish on their hands. They tried quite a few things. They turned Rigg's hair red. They increased the level of obnoxiousness in her character, including more time when she spoke directly to the audience. And more of that talk was "character foible" rather than plot comment.

And this time they worked in as many extreme plot devices as possible: the loyal chauffeur's daughter threatened; a twist in the identity of the hooded villain; stronger hints of romance for our detective and sexual swapping elsewhere; an impossibly cute little girl and ancient mysticism.

The plot is one of those that depends on a certain person ordering scrambled eggs in the middle of the day, then slipping on a lemonpeel as a motorcycle goes by and certain other accidents all aligning miraculously.

They really pulled out all the stops on this. I guess even with all they tried, the reports came back: we hate this, it is horrible, kill it.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Isn't 'Dame Diana Rigg' Wonderfully Appropriate..!!! If this character and role as Mrs Adela Bradley wasn't & isn't perfect for her. I do not understand why the series ended so quickly? It was a shame, as I really enjoy it. Five episodes was definitely Not Adequate for this authentic and wonderful costume mystery drama. I waited for news of a return, still waiting I'm afraid. 😣 Her close companion and chauffeur George, played by (Neil Dudgeon) was a fab' and enjoyable partnership. Mystery dramas are normally enjoyed by the general public, as one would have expected of this classic vintage drama. Ah well, it was nice watching 'Dame Diana Rigg' on our tv screens for the short lived time it was given, as we really do not see her enough. Why, because she's mainly doing plays in theatre more often than not. Come back to our tv screens Diana...as an avid fan...I would love to see you play in more dramas...😊 Instead, we always seem to see 'Dame Judy.'..😲..All the Classic tv broadcasting has but disappeared, they don't make them like they used to....

It's a good solid mystery, with a few surprises along the way, who on Earth would have had a motive for killing the Vicar's daughter? Fortunately Mrs Bradley is once again on hand to lend a hand to Inspector Christmas.

The series seemed to get more serious as it went on, this was a very good final episode. It's another stylish, smart whodunnit, which will have your grey matter tested as you try and work out the identity of the killer. They did a great job with the reveal, and the surprise unveiling was a real shocker.

Very well acted and visually sumptuous as always, Rigg and Dudgeon shine as always, Pooky Quesnel is great, but this one definitely belongs to Peter Davison, who's character became more prevalent as time went on.

It saddens me that it got axed after this episode, it deserved a much longer run.

Very good, 7/10.