The Teahouse Detective"The Teahouse Detective" is based on the "Old Man in the Corner" stories of the Baroness Orczy, which were penned in the early 20th century. The Old Man occupies a seat at a table in a London teahouse and solves mysteries in situ based on public news and information; he relates his solutions in conversations with a woman journalist; in the stories, she is unnamed, but in the BBC series her name is Polly Burton. The Baroness Orczy was a Hungarian emigre to Britain who is best remembered for her novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel, set against the background of the French Revolution. I read The Scarlet Pimpernel a long time ago; it's a rip snorter that rips and snorts in all the right places, but be advised that the Baroness, as methinks would befit a Baroness, is a confirmed royalist. The radio episodes take the form of conversations between the Old Man and the journalist, interspersed with somewhat overwrought dramatizations recreating the events of the crime. Learn more at (Wikipedia).Series description provided by Frank Bell. |