The Blackheath Poisonings

I love this mini-series to death. Whenever I'm in the mood for some good Victorian melodrama, it's great to have this to pop in the DVD player. Thoroughly entertaining; it has a roaring good plot with plenty of twists and turns, solid acting, and beautiful costumes and sets.

I have no idea why the majority of the reviews rate this mini-series so low. I was unnerved by the ending too; it was definitely weird and disturbing, but it was a quality, well-thought out ending. It is fitting as the whole series has a macabre, Gothic tone enhanced by the often-grotesque toys the family this mystery is about toy company produces.

And Patrick Malahide makes a great Victorian ne'er do well! His character fools you with his actions right up 'till the end. And he looks so handsome!!

I must start by saying I've read the reviews of this mini series with some interest. I watched this series during its original transmission, and remember parts of it vividly, especially the dark and twisted ending. The production values are superb, the sets, costumes and locations etc, those qualities are apparent immediately, it soon becomes apparent that the story itself is intriguing and interesting, somewhat a Victorian pot boiler I guess, but enjoyable nonetheless. As mentioned, the acting is really good throughout, Ian McNeice and Patrick Malaise steal the show. The music is suitably Gothic throughout, very much in keeping with the show.

Thanks to my local Library, I watched "Blackheath Poisonings" in its entirety. The excellent cast includes Judy Parfitt, who is absolutely perfect as the deliciously vicious family matriarch. There are a few recognizable faces including Zoe Wanamaker and Patrick Malahide. Warning! If you want family fare, this ain't it. There are many Adult Themes in this movie. But those of us who live on Planet Earth know that there were many sexual perversions in the Victorian Age just as there are today. They were just well hidden under a hypocritical veil of moral decency. This mystery unveils them all, with death by poisoning woven in. It begins by introducing us to a wealthy family that owns a Toy factory. We learn immediately that there are extramarital sexual relations going on and sooner than we catch that fact, someone dies. When a second death occurs, the smartest member of the family starts hound-dogging around. The police put one person on trial believing they have caught the real killer. But is it really the true killer?? I can guarantee that you won't guess the twists and turns that lead to the real killer. I kind of guessed the additional twist at the end. I love mysteries set in bygone times, especially Victorian dramas. In "Blackheath Poisonings" it's great fun and entertaining to watch. The costumes are great, so are the sets. The actors each do a terrific job of making their characters dis-likable, despicable, or likable. I have cable TV and I've seen stuff like this on USA, TNT, PBS and other non-premium channels, so I wasn't shocked at the adult content like some who've commented here. It also didn't surprise me in the least that all this happened in a rich, so-called respectable, Victorian family. That's part of the entertainment factor!

I expected at least a little enjoyment out of this piece. What a terrible waste of talent and time. I sat through the whole film. I strongly recommend that you do not. With all the effort made in acting, costumes and settings, this work simply has no soul. I wish I had not spent the time. The end, with it's swift shallowness, makes the loss of the time spent even more regrettable. There is not a moment of uplift, either. It's almost as if someone needed to crank this piece out simply to use up the funds. And with so little effort it could have been so much better. All the actors certainly did what they could. The scenery, film work,props and costumes cannot be faulted. It simply fails as a whole. So sorry.

Yet another example of why I gave up on PBS Masterpiece Theater years ago. I would not recommend it to anyone, except possibly rabid and desperate Anglophile fans of Victorian period mystery melodramas. On the whole, this thing is pretty dismal and lifeless, and with just a few slight changes it could become a Saturday Night Live skit titled something like "Bad Victorian TV Playhouse".

The plot is so shot full of holes that you could fly a fleet of space-shuttles through it. The "evidence" the police start out with is laughable; no one with any sense would take any action based on it, let alone take it to court. The worst part is that the trial ends up hinging on a key witness identifying the defendant as someone he had served in a shop, when as it turns out even a blind 5-year-old could not possibly have made that mistake.

And its another promising production full of "if-onlys"; if only there had been a decent story to begin with, if only there had been decent direction, and better acting on the part of a few key characters. Its really too bad, because most of the actors are quite competent, but the young man is dismal. The production values are high, but the editing is poor. The problems pile up, and the minuses overwhelm the pluses in the end.

Instead of wasting time on this thing, I would recommend seeking out a copy of "The Cater Street Hangman" (1998), available on VHS but unfortunately not on DVD.