The Mrs Bradley Mysteries

Classic Radio Crime

By: Gladys Mitchell

Narrated by: Mary Winbush, Leslie Phillips, Full Cast

Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

Mary Wimbush stars as unconventional psychoanalyst sleuth Mrs Bradley in these two full-cast dramatisations of stories by Gladys Mitchell. Colourful, cynical, intimidating and extremely intelligent, Mrs Bradley is one of the most unorthodox detectives in the history of Golden Age crime fiction. The heroine of 66 novels by Gladys Mitchell, she has also appeared in several radio adaptations and a BBC TV series starring Diana Rigg.

In these two dramas, she puts her extraordinary mind to work investigating cases of disguise, dismemberment, mayhem and murder. In Speedy Death, a country house in the 1920s is rocked by a murder which takes place in a room which is first locked, then later unlocked. A startling secret is uncovered, and as fingers point and the suspects begin to turn on each other, another death occurs.... The Mystery of a Butcher's Shop sees Mrs Bradley probing some alarming events in the village of Wandles Parva, as Rupert Sethleigh goes missing and a headless body is found jointed in the butcher's shop.

These entertaining dramatisations, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1990 and 1991, star Mary Wimbush as Mrs Bradley, with Leslie Phillips as Carstairs.

©2017 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2017 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Pathetic! Don't waste your credit

Any additional comments?

Go for Dorothy Sayers, Lord Peter, radio dramas over this. The storyline and acting in these radio mysteries are rather pathetic; and, Mrs. Bradley laugh isn't amusing, it's annoying.

Very faithful adaptations

I enjoyed these radio adaptations of Gladys Mitchell's first two Mrs. Bradley mysteries. They were up to the typically high standards of BBC radio and were very faithful to the source material. Those reviewers who complained about Mary Winbush's laugh perhaps haven't read the original novels; Mrs. Bradley is often described as having a "hideous cackle." I found these far more entertaining than the television adaptations starring Diana Rigg; while I like Rigg, she did not embody the true character of Mrs. Bradley. Mary Winbush did a beautiful job.

Who is who?

Well, I got lost trying to keep track of the characters and identify the voices. If this had been easier, the story could have made more sense and even been good. What’s with that laugh????

Two books murdered by the BBC

The mrs Bradley Mysteries
Good reviews on BookLikes me to try out Gladys Mitchell's rather unique take on the female upper-class sleuth. I'm one of those folks who feels obliged to start such things from the beginning, so I went in search of an audiobook version of the first book "Speedy Death".
I could only find a BBC dramatisation that presents "Speedy Death" and "The Mystery of the Butcher's Shop" in a condensed version that accords only ninety minutes to each.
"Speedy Death" is presented at pace worthy of the title. The overall feel is that of a pantomime intended for adult consumption. The cast is competent. The production standards are smooth but perhaps a bit too tongue-in-cheek. It seems to me that the dramatisation is cosy almost to the point of being self-mocking whereas the themes in the book : murder, extra-judicial execution, transgender living, lesbian attraction, abusive men and a self-possessed, manipulative older woman would have been quite shocking when the book was published in 1929. Gladys Mitchell seems to be playing Quentin Tarrantino to Agatha Christie's more conventional Cohen Brothers but the BBC have turned her efforts into something close to a farce.
"Speedy Death" is populated by damaged, privileged people who seem to have no understanding of just how broken they all are. Mrs Bradley, our heroine is a high-functioning sociopath, strong on insight and short on empathy, who stalks ruthlessly and gleefully through the pack of upper-class walking-wounded, mentally vivisecting them with accuracy and obvious, almost manic, pleasure.
I finished the dramatisation "Speedy Death" feeling that I'd been shown the pop-up book version of what might well be a fascinating novel.
Things got worse when I reached "The Mystery Of A Butcher's Shop". The main murder committed here seems to be by the BBC who effectively killed this novel by slap-dash attempts at humour and a script so clumsy as to be negligent. They added insult to injury by inflicting "Them Bones, Them Bones, Them Dry Bones" as a chorus sung at random intervals.
I suspect that this novel never had a particular strong constitution as it leans too heavily on the sensational supported by the improbable but the BBC have managed completely to drain it of any life it once had.
I'm interested in reading Gladys Mitchell but I'll stick to her text in future.

Love these classic crime radio dramas

I loved this Mrs Bradley radio crime drama - everyone's performance was great . My only complaint is that it was too short ( but then all the radio dramas are short ) and I found Mrs. Bradley's maniacal laugh a bit disconcerting at first in that I didn't know whether she is insane or not ....not that it matters ultimately !! :)

BRILLIANT BUT SPOILED by VULGAR BATTLE AXE LAUGH

This should be entitled “Mrs Baggily” as that laugh is so rough and vulgar it is an insult to the Mrs Bradley character of which actress Diana Rigg plays with classic aplomb in the Mrs Bradley TV series. Otherwise this radio version is passable for a series I love. If you decide to record more, please, drop the battle axe laugh.

weird but wonderful

I'd forgotten how very strange these stories are! Excellent performances that capture the brittle, somewhat amoral tone of the original.

Didn't get to the end

Too annoying by far, the inane laughing of Mrs. Bradley.
i would not recommend this to anyone as it would probably be a kind of torture that drove someone to do violence.
very irritating.

Worth it just to hear Mary Wimbush laugh

Two tales by Gladys Mitchel, Adapted for radio , full of period atmosphere, A great cast, and of course Mary Wimbush as the main character, irreverent to the core, Perfect listening

Absolutely dreadful

The stories are ludicrous, the acting is appalling - like pantomime acting. The plots make no sense whatsoever, and most of the actors sound so similar, it's difficult to tell who is supposed to be speaking. In the first story there is someone with the loudest and most ridiculous laugh - I couldn't tell which character it belonged to (perhaps more than one?!) as it seems to get interjected into conversations randomly.

Authentic and excellent

Fully enjoyed each dramatisation - only wish there were more. Some reviews find Mrs Bradley’s witch-like cackling off putting, but that is precisely her character.

Ok

I found this story a little difficult to listen to and found difficult to finish. I lost track of who's who's as lots of characters in plot with similar voices. Mrs Bradley laugh though was amusing.