Shroud for a Nightingale

Unfortunately this show is not readily available to the public on Video! Having seen the show on television, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a fairly accurate adaptation of P D James's Novel"A Shroud for a Nightingale" The cast is excellent and Roy Marsden is perfectly cast as the central hero, Adam Dalgliesh. Joss Ackland, plays the egotistical Courtney-Briggs to perfection and Sheila Allen, the seemingly aloof Matron Mary Taylor, exuding vibes of attraction for Adam.

One scene stole the show! The scene where Dalgliesh interviews a slightly drunk Delia Dettinger (Margaret Whiting) The parody of 'above and beyond the call of duty' is beautifully played by Marsden and Whiting. The result, is humour underscored by underlying erotica between the two, with only a necktie being removed! Great stuff, which only such British actors can succeed in ! If it comes to your screens in a repeat, I recommend it!

Being 5 hrs. long, shot on "live" film stock resembling soap operas and taped plays, and having a cast of typically good British actors, a miniseries like "Shroud for a Nightingale" (SfaN) is certainly a unique and potentially very good viewing opportunity. SfaN falls far short of that potential, however.

Since adaptations of mystery novels often suffer from short running times and insufficient consideration of clues, you would think a 5-hr. miniseries format would be ideal for letting the viewer try to solve the mystery herself. Thus it's disappointing when, after investing so much time, SfaN gives up on the "fair play" solve-it-yourself aspect, choosing simply to reveal the answer in a way that no viewer could discover. (And it's not the only Dalgliesh miniseries to do this.) Strangely, SfaN goes on and on for 5 hours but never seems to think about clues any more than a 90 minute movie.

In fact, SfaN fails to maintain coherence or resolve some basic questions, even as it wastes time on redundant scenes. A character's mysterious knowledge of a victim's private financial details is treated as suspicious, then never explained. Certain innocent suspects act excessively secretive for no apparent reason. Meanwhile, events that could be conveyed in seconds are given minute upon minute of dead time. In the end, there's no reason this program should be 5 hrs. long.

One "mystery" is why sidekick Massingham, typically so accommodating to his bossy boss, suddenly spazzes out a couple of times. Goodall remarks that fellow nursing student Fallon is old compared to most students, yet Goodall looks at least 40. Weirdest of all is the scene of a drunk dancing to music from "The Godfather!" This precedes a sudden, absurd turn to bedroom farce, only enjoyable because it takes the priggish Dalgliesh down a notch.

Speaking of whom...

Lots of film fans understandably chafe at formulaic Hollywood conventions, like the insistence on making main characters "likable." However, doing the exact opposite, and having a main character who is completely unlikable, simply isn't viable for a 5-hr. miniseries. SfaN does this, and it's a serious detriment. Dalgliesh here may be the most insufferable, imperious detective protagonist I've seen. He acts like his greatest aspiration is to treat suspects as disrespectfully, even cruelly, as possible. Most of the time, my reaction was, "(insert vulgar phrase) this guy"...and to think, "Why should I spend my time with this character?"

He's associated with another series problem. Reactionary moralizing seems to surface now and then in the Dalgliesh shows I've seen. It feels just as weak and outdated as the appearance of Dalgliesh himself -- balding, mustachioed, forever in 3-piece suits and blue tie.

SfaN is not as bad as another Dalgliesh series, in which Dalgliesh went up to a sexually active bachelorette who was unconnected with the crimes, and basically blamed her promiscuity as partly responsible for what happened. Still, when one or two promiscuous people in SfaN question if Dalgliesh disapproves of their activity, he only stares at them stonily for a moment, then asks something else.

In a series that gives the soapbox to no less than three anti-abortion advocates, it would've been nice to also have at least one person stand up for a prochoice outlook. Predictably, but still annoyingly, no less than a minister persuades the pregnant woman to change her mind and not have her abortion. A holy roller proves to be a hypocritical blackmailer, but the series quickly brushes her off as an anomaly from a tiny radical sect. This time around, lesbians lose out on the sympathetic portrayal they got in "Death of an Expert Witness" -- here, they're all misandrist, crooked, and/or dirty old women.

The one challenge to this reactionary tinge is a scenario made from the blackest of irony -- a character prays for God's guidance to a good life, literally at the same time s/he unwittingly finishes his/her murderer's job with his/her own two hands. The angriest of atheists would avoid writing such a scene as too contrived!

I had reviewed this title about two years ago and still find it to be the very best mini-series from P.D. James. Tied closely with A Taste for Death in my list of favorites, the story is beautifully enacted by Roy Marsden and the rest of the cast. The nurses are beautifully portrayed as well as Mr. Courtney Briggs, the surgeon. A budding romance with Mary Taylor (Sheila Allen), the nursing school administrator, is also quite touching, as AD works through the list of suspects and the facts surrounding the murder of the two nurses at the training school. Dalgliesh can be both dominant and subtle in his quest for truth and justice. I especially like the flashbacks as AD meets the nurses and their friends and loved ones.

The denouement was beautifully and frighteningly portrayed as in the book, but there are some scenes missing. Some of these aspects are important to the story

This is how it appears on my current boxed set on DVDs I ordered from a BBC catalog about ten years ago. (About 20 years ago I experienced the same problem when I purchased the boxed set on VHS Not knowing the exact running time, I had taken a chance - both times. Though beautiful resolution and great acting, we just don't have the complete story) I would have given this one 10 out of 10 stars, but feel it is too bad that there are some pointless cuts. I had mentioned on a review board earlier about seeing this series on TV not long after it was first shown on Mystery! and taped it on VHS. When viewing it with my hubby, we found it to be an exciting, cohesive story. When I needed an extra VHS one day. I taped over it, sadly. In the 90's I ordered the set from a BBC catalog on VHS and noticed vital scenes missing. The same thing occurred about 10 or 12 years ago when I ordered the set on DVD. So I have both sets now without a few minutes of that footage. The same things are missing on the DVD boxed set.

I hope to find the real running time so I can purchase the set again on DVD. A response on a message board says I can get the series complete from Amazon in the UK. The question is, can I? Or was the series cut for good? The answer is NO.

I do wonder about the reason for the edit. (This also occurred with A Taste for Death, my other favorite mini-series.). In Shroud, I think one of them is really integral to the plot and is clearly stated in the book. It really makes all the difference when we see the inner AD.

IF anyone could help me in finding the original running time of this series, I would be so appreciative. It still remains at nearly the pinnacle of AD favorites, but was originally so much more.

Footnote: A friend purchased the Chronicles and the same unkind cuts occur there too. I noticed in her set that it says the best possible reenactment of the Series and how P.D. James was very pleased. I am surprised, but she wrote so many fine works that it must have been hard to keep track. She is my all-time favorite mystery writer. (I do think that they all look splendid if the viewers of the 80s and 90s like myself had not spotted the omissions).

I am hoping to find someone who taped the Series on VHS in reasonably good quality and can let me borrow a copy. (This would have been in the late 80s - early 90s time frame). At this stage they had a chance of being complete.

I am surprised about concerns for resolution. I have concerns for a complete story the way it was intended.

Shroud for a Nightingale is definitely one of my favourite adaptations, and possibly my all time favourite book from P.D James. It translates very well from text to screen, the only real problem, it's overlong.

The first thing that will grab your attention, the names of those appearing, some of the very best, including Sheila Allen, Liz Fraser, and of course the wonderful Joss Ackland.

I absolutely love the first two episodes, the hospital makes for a great setting, you see the hospital running well, but scratch the surface and underneath we discover hidden passions, lies, blackmail and of course murder.

It does dip in the middle a little, and part four offers you virtually nothing, it's so dull, but the final episode is a really dramatic conclusion.

Tame by modern standards, but I imagine that some of the themes they dealt with were pretty controversy for a 1984 audience.

Richard Harvey's music as always is enchanting and glorious.

I loved it, 8/10.

A very interesting, varied and believable cast including numerous student nurses, their teachers and a hospital surgeon. Wonderful acting performances by the younger actresses and by the actress playing Mary Taylor. Interesting, sometimes difficult interactions between Dalgliesh and Massingham when one or both are experiencing stress, beautifully acted by both men.

The scene with Dalgliesh and the aging widow was not erotic at all but more painful and pathetic; only Dalgliesh's wish for information kept him in the room with this drunken person whose behavior was puzzling if not downright unbelievable. The Australian woman who found it erotic must be very young; it was actually an ugly scene.

A fascinating mystery, otherwise.