Colin Watson (writer)
Encyclopedia
Colin Watson was a British writer of detective fiction
and the creator of characters such as Inspector Purbright and Lucilla Teatime. He is most famous for the twelve Flaxborough
novels, typified by their comic and dry wit and set in a fictional small town in England
which is closely based on Boston, Lincolnshire
. He worked as a journalist in Lincolnshire
and the characters in his books are said to be highly recognisable caricatures of people he encountered in his work.
The central character, Inspector Walter Purbright, is perhaps not the most intellectually dazzling detective in fiction. He does, though, provide an unusually solid core of decency and civilisation around which more fanciful and sometimes whimsical events can be strung. His understanding of the case in hand emerges from a process of polite, measured enquiry. Purbright's decency is at the heart of Watson's thesis: that civilised life depends on basic tolerance, decency and the honesty of its guardians. His commitment to total impartiality, his refusal to be deflected by special interests and social position and his scrupulous refusal to cut procedural corners all go to make up a quintessentially English hero.
Four of the Flaxborough novels were adapted for television by the BBC under the series title Murder Most English. The adaptation successfully reflected key elements of the books: the gentle behind-the-times feel of a small English market town
, the merciless targeting of the pretensions of the town's bourgeoisie, and his determination that whatever exotic trappings are used to decorate the plot, the central crime is always motivated by money. Anton Rodgers
starred as Purbright with Christopher Timothy
as Detective Sergeant Love. Colin Watson produced the ninth Flaxborough novel, One Man's Meat, to coincide with the series.
, a game of dominoes
and all things tasteful. She first steps off the train in Flaxborough (a town once described as having the fictional solidarity of Arnold Bennett
's Five Towns) in the fourth mystery set there, Lonelyheart 4122. She likes the town so much that she settles there, even though her attempt at swindling through a lonely-hearts bureau nearly makes her the third woman killed by another swindler. She appears in all subsequent Flaxborough novels except Blue Murder. By the eleventh volume, Plaster Sinners, she is the proprietress of the 'House of Yesteryear' in Northgate, Flaxborough, and a regular attender at local auctions. Her old talents and sleight of hand remain much in evidence. On one occasion two glass decanters are rendered extremely cheap when she casually transfers the stoppers to a tray of miscellaneous items, which she then bids for as well. Her final appearance is in Whatever's Been Going On At Mumblesby? where we find her with an assistant called Edgar and offering opinions on the marketability of such religious relics as saints' kneecaps. In the 1977 Murder Most English BBC television series, which offered adaptations of four of Colin Watson's Flaxborough novels, Lucy Teatime was portrayed by Brenda Bruce.
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
and the creator of characters such as Inspector Purbright and Lucilla Teatime. He is most famous for the twelve Flaxborough
Flaxborough
Flaxborough is a fictitious town in Lincolnshire, created by author and local journalist Colin Watson as the background for a series of detective novels featuring Detective Inspector Purbright and a cast of similar comic characters....
novels, typified by their comic and dry wit and set in a fictional small town in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
which is closely based on Boston, Lincolnshire
Boston, Lincolnshire
Boston is a town and small port in Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England. It is the largest town of the wider Borough of Boston local government district and had a total population of 55,750 at the 2001 census...
. He worked as a journalist in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
and the characters in his books are said to be highly recognisable caricatures of people he encountered in his work.
The central character, Inspector Walter Purbright, is perhaps not the most intellectually dazzling detective in fiction. He does, though, provide an unusually solid core of decency and civilisation around which more fanciful and sometimes whimsical events can be strung. His understanding of the case in hand emerges from a process of polite, measured enquiry. Purbright's decency is at the heart of Watson's thesis: that civilised life depends on basic tolerance, decency and the honesty of its guardians. His commitment to total impartiality, his refusal to be deflected by special interests and social position and his scrupulous refusal to cut procedural corners all go to make up a quintessentially English hero.
Four of the Flaxborough novels were adapted for television by the BBC under the series title Murder Most English. The adaptation successfully reflected key elements of the books: the gentle behind-the-times feel of a small English market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
, the merciless targeting of the pretensions of the town's bourgeoisie, and his determination that whatever exotic trappings are used to decorate the plot, the central crime is always motivated by money. Anton Rodgers
Anton Rodgers
Anton Rodgers was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film and in television dramas and sitcoms.-Life and career:...
starred as Purbright with Christopher Timothy
Christopher Timothy
Christopher Timothy is a Welsh actor, television director and writer. Timothy is possibly best known today for his role as James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small; more recently he has starred as Dr. Brendan 'Mac' McGuire in the British television drama Doctors...
as Detective Sergeant Love. Colin Watson produced the ninth Flaxborough novel, One Man's Meat, to coincide with the series.
Miss Teatime
The most entertaining of Colin Watson's characters is without doubt Miss Lucilla Edith Cavell Teatime, that most ladylike of con-women whose occasional lapses into verbal vulgarity make her all the more endearing. She has a liking for whiskyWhisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...
, a game of dominoes
Dominoes
Dominoes generally refers to the collective gaming pieces making up a domino set or to the subcategory of tile games played with domino pieces. In the area of mathematical tilings and polyominoes, the word domino often refers to any rectangle formed from joining two congruent squares edge to edge...
and all things tasteful. She first steps off the train in Flaxborough (a town once described as having the fictional solidarity of Arnold Bennett
Arnold Bennett
- Early life :Bennett was born in a modest house in Hanley in the Potteries district of Staffordshire. Hanley is one of a conurbation of six towns which joined together at the beginning of the twentieth century as Stoke-on-Trent. Enoch Bennett, his father, qualified as a solicitor in 1876, and the...
's Five Towns) in the fourth mystery set there, Lonelyheart 4122. She likes the town so much that she settles there, even though her attempt at swindling through a lonely-hearts bureau nearly makes her the third woman killed by another swindler. She appears in all subsequent Flaxborough novels except Blue Murder. By the eleventh volume, Plaster Sinners, she is the proprietress of the 'House of Yesteryear' in Northgate, Flaxborough, and a regular attender at local auctions. Her old talents and sleight of hand remain much in evidence. On one occasion two glass decanters are rendered extremely cheap when she casually transfers the stoppers to a tray of miscellaneous items, which she then bids for as well. Her final appearance is in Whatever's Been Going On At Mumblesby? where we find her with an assistant called Edgar and offering opinions on the marketability of such religious relics as saints' kneecaps. In the 1977 Murder Most English BBC television series, which offered adaptations of four of Colin Watson's Flaxborough novels, Lucy Teatime was portrayed by Brenda Bruce.
The Flaxborough Novels
- Coffin, Scarcely Used (1958)
- Bump in the Night (1960)
- Hopjoy Was Here (1962)
- Lonelyheart 4122 (1967)
- Charity Ends at Home (1968)
- The Flaxborough Crab (1969) - U.S: Just What the Doctor Ordered
- Broomsticks over Flaxborough (1972) - U.S: Kissing Covens
- The Naked Nuns (1975) - U.S: Six Nuns and a Shotgun
- One Man's Meat (1977) - U.S: It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog
- Blue Murder (1979)
- Plaster Sinners (1980)
- Whatever's Been Going on at Mumblesby? (1982)