Dr. Gideon Fell

Dr. Gideon Fell was the detective in many of John Dickson Carr's detective stories. (What Fell is a "doctor" of is never really clear, though it likely isn't medicine). Fell is old, heavy, opinionated, and learned, especially in classical literature. He often wears a cape and a shovel hat--a wide brimmed hat with a low, rounded crown associated with British clergy. In addition to the narrative, the stories typically involve a romantic subplot, in which a potential romance si threatened by the backwash from the crime. In many of the stories, Fell is drawn into the mystery by his good friend, Chief Superintendent Hadley of Scotland Yard.

The Gideon Fell stories were written by John Dickson Carr, widely acknowledged as the master of the locked room mystery (Carr wrote other stories under pseudonyms). Some claim that the character of G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown influenced that of Gideon Fell, but Fell's slight irascible, bombastic personality is so different from Father Brown's that I have trouble seeing a resemblance.

In this BBS series, the casting of Donald Sinden as Fell is masterful. Sinden brings the good doctor to life quite remarkably. Learn more at Wikipedia: Gideon Fell, John Dickson Carr.

Series description provided by Frank Bell.