2. Peter Wimsey
Created by: Oxford educated essayist, poet and translator Dorothy L. Sayers. Sayers considered her translation of Dante's Divine Comedy to be her finest work, but most readers are likely to profess a preference for the 11 novels and 5 short story collections starring aristocratic amateur sleuth Peter Wimsey. From 1923's Whose Body to Busman's Honeymoon in 1937, Sayers' mysteries are the most consciously intellectual and literary of the mystery novel's Golden Age and have made her second only to Christie as the best regarded of the Detection Club. Many of Wimsey's stories are rooted in Sayers' own experiences: from The Nine Tailors' bellringing to Gaudy Night's Oxford women's college.
What's his appeal?: Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is in some ways an archetypal upper class fop and in others a man of unreasonably extensive talents and intellectual brilliance: sort of two parts Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster to one part Hugh Laurie as the Holmesian Gregory House. Full of easygoing wit and charm and a very sharp mind, Wimsey verges on the overly idealised superman, essentially Sayers' ideal man. However, she is smart enough to give her brilliant hero equally deep scars and flaws. It becomes increasingly apparent that Wimsey's service as an officer and intelligence operative in the First World War have left him with an abiding case of post traumatic stress disorder. His flippancy is actually a method of keeping himself from forming any meaningful attachments. So, a genius level investigator with deep psychological issues: sounds like many of the most popular TV characters of recent years.
Sidekicks and supporting cast: Wimsey's valet Mervyn Bunter is occasionally the Jeeves to his Wooster, with Sayers including a dash of class satire. More than a master-servant dynamic, however, Wimsey and Bunter share a far deeper bond forged in their disturbing war experience together. Perhaps better known, Harriet Vane is the other significant recurring role in the Wimsey books. An Oxford educated mystery writer, Vane is one of the most blatant author surrogates in literature. Her first appearance, in Strong Poison, has her falsely suspected of murdering her lover and Wimsey proving her innocence. Eventually Vane marries Sayers' hero and their honeymoon is the final story for both. The writing is, however, enjoyable enough that Vane never becomes an outright Mary Sue and the audience are able to engage with the relationship and be genuinely happy when Vane accepts Wimsey's proposal at the end of Gaudy Night.
Any on screen previous?: Unlike the previous detectives on this list, TV audiences are likely to have a passing familiarity with Wimsey through a couple of previous TV adaptions. During the 1970s five Wimsey mysteries were filmed as a sequence of miniseries starring Ian Carmichael, previously best known for the role of Bertie Wooster and bringing some similar quality to Wimsey. Later Edward Pethebridge, the lead in 70s M.R. James Ghost Story for Christmas - The Ash Tree, would star in 1980s TV versions of three of the Wimsey-Harriet Vane novels, although never getting to the final one, Busman's Honeymoon.
If they only made one: Gaudy Night, in which Harriet Vane returns to her Oxford women's college and finds a poison pen campaign against the female scholars, is usually cited as Sayers' best mystery novel, engaging with debates about women's roles in society, class and academia. It is Vane who is really the protagonist here, with Wimsey not appearing until half way through and a version of the story would probably benefit from an audience familiarity with the two characters and their relationship. A better one-off might be Murder Must Advertise, in which Wimsey goes undercover as "Death Bredon" in an advertising agency. Arguably the most fun Wimsey novel, the advertising setting would gain some audience attention post-Mad Men.