Mystery Maniacs

🎙️ Episode:  https://share.transistor.fm/s/cfff0e03
đź““ Show Notes: https://midsomermaniacs.transistor.fm/episodes/mystery-maniacs-clues-and-reviews-8-31-26

New Mystery Maniacs Clues & Reviews for 08/31/26!

Show Notes
Alan Moore
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Moore

The History of Bryant and May
https://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/about/the-history-of-bryant-and-may

G.S. Denning
https://awfulagent.com/jabclients/g-s-denning/

Thanks again for listening!
 
Mark & Sarah

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Upcoming Tentative  Schedule


  • September 2:     Mystery Maniacs - Cold Cases - Midsomer Season 05 BINGE
  • September 2: September Newsletter
  • September 7: Mystery Maniacs - Clues and Reviews 09/07/26 
  • September 9:  Mystery Maniacs - Cold Cases - Midsomer Season 06 BINGE

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Creators and Guests

Host
Mark Bell
Co-host of Mystery Maniacs
Host
Sarah Smith-Robbins
Co-host of Mystery Maniacs

What is Mystery Maniacs?

Mystery Maniacs Podcast is a comedy recap podcast dedicated to British Mystery Television. Formerly, Midsomer Maniacs podcast.

Sarah:

Hey, Maniacs.

Mark:

Hey, Mystery Maniacs. It's Clues and Reviews.

Sarah:

It is.

Mark:

Boy, do we have something big to review in this.

Sarah:

Yeah. A new series that's being filmed that we're

Mark:

excited about. That's what you're talking about. Right? Yes.

Sarah:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah:

Hope you all had a good week. Two weeks.

Mark:

So a couple of things that we posted on social media about, we were gonna watch Blue Murder, but what do

Mark:

you know? Things got away from us this week. We didn't get it.

Sarah:

You mean Blue Murder Hotel?

Mark:

Yes, Blue Murder Hotel.

Sarah:

You guys, you have to understand, by the time I get home from work, go to the garage for an hour and a half to do Halloween stuff, come in, make dinner, eat dinner, go back out to the garage and then come in, take a shower, go to bed. Sometimes we watch a show in like a forty five minute show in two parts. Yes. It's like once while we eat dinner and then maybe the rest of it after I go out to the garage for the second time. It's like having two jobs that I work.

Mark:

Oh, and we also started getting up at 05:15 this week because Sarah's teaching.

Sarah:

Yes. Joy. Which is why we haven't got to the Blue Murder Hotel yet, but we will. If you've watched some of it, if you liked it, if you didn't like it, let us know. Share your opinions.

Mark:

I did post some pictures of the new Poirot, which I think look pretty good. You can find them on our social medias, but all over the place now.

Sarah:

I think I'm pleasantly surprised.

Mark:

Yeah. I think he looks better than he I thought he was gonna look, and he looks fastidious. Fastidious? What is that

Mark:

word? Fastidious.

Mark:

Fastidious. And he looks contained and small.

Sarah:

But he doesn't look like a caricature of Poirot. No. And he doesn't look like a joke.

Mark:

No. And he hasn't developed the egg ness yet.

Sarah:

Well, no. That's what But his head is shaped like an egg. Yes. That you don't grow into an egg shaped head.

Mark:

He's got more hair. Agatha Christie calls him

Sarah:

I know.

Mark:

An

Sarah:

egg. His head.

Mark:

Yeah. So

Sarah:

But your head shape doesn't change.

Mark:

But I think

Sarah:

But he does lose his hair. Yeah. So that exposes his egg ness.

Mark:

Yes. Exposed. And then while I found a fantastic playlist on YouTube, which was a bunch of old Hammer movies, which I could just play it, put on while I worked and it was fantastic.

Sarah:

Hammer movies must be half of the horrible movie that Mark seen it Yes. Category.

Mark:

And I saw one that I had not seen, called Vault of Horror from 1973. And in the middle of this vampire, I love anthologies. I love horror anthologies, and this is a great one. And in the middle of this part that was clearly about vampires, I knew it was a vampire straight away. There's Anna Massey being a vampire.

Sarah:

Anna Massey played Anoria Lityard in Written in Blood. Yes. In Midsummer, she's the one who was obsessed with her dead brother and had him upstairs in the attic and Yes. Tortured

Mark:

his And she's also

Sarah:

his widow.

Mark:

Tom's m I five contact. Oh, that's right. Later. Yeah. She plays another character.

Mark:

So

Sarah:

But you saw her. She was what, like, 25 If or

Mark:

she was 22, I was impressed. Yeah. But she had some snaggle toothness, and then she had You mean because

Sarah:

she was a vampire?

Mark:

No. No. She had bad teeth and then she had vampire teeth.

Sarah:

Bad teeth of a different kind. I see Midsummer people is what it is. It's like you can't you can't watch any if you've seen all of Midsummer, you can't watch any British TV without seeing Midsummer actors and other stuff.

Mark:

Well, it's funny that Sarah brings this up because I also watched this week the Game of Thrones spin off, The Night of the Seven Realms. And I watched the first episode and it was good and everything, and I was really paying a huge amount of attention. I was doing other stuff while I was working on the couch and stuff like that because, you know, you know me.

Sarah:

Got this 16 this without Sarah show.

Mark:

Yes. Yeah. I can do 16 things at once. And then the credits for the second episode ran, and it said Danny Webb. And I'm like, tits in a tree.

Mark:

I don't remember Danny Webb being in this

Mark:

show.

Sarah:

If you don't know who Danny Webb is, we call him tits in a tree because in an episode of Midsommar, I think it's Dancing With the Dead. He plays a retired pilot. Yes. No. A plane crash investigator.

Sarah:

Yes. And he's telling somebody in the pub about all the horrible stuff he's seen at plane crash investigations, including a pair of tits hanging from a tree. Yes. And so whenever we see Danny Webb in anything, we go, oh, it's tits in a tree.

Mark:

He's in the first episode of Poirot.

Sarah:

He's also in another midsummer where he plays a ghost tour operator. Yes. The one where Joyce sees a ghost

Mark:

three. He's just he's one of my favorite dudes. Yeah. And so I was like, Sarah, Danny Webb's going to be in this episode. And I hear his voice because it starts with a flashback of the character.

Mark:

And the main character is is Danny Webb's squire. So I hear his voice. I'm like, Sarah, Sarah, Danny Webb's gonna be on this show. And Danny Webb walked out of what I learned was a brothel.

Sarah:

It's a hovel.

Mark:

And it is all of Danny Webb.

Sarah:

So Mark says, Come see, because Danny Webb's in this, and I didn't know that. And he looks really good for his age because he's in his 70s, right? Yep. So I come around the corner as Danny Webb comes around the corner and he is buck naked.

Mark:

He is full frontal naked.

Sarah:

With what we have now learned is the prosthetic 10 inch in full view. Like, woah, woah, woah, woah.

Mark:

And it

Mark:

it okay.

Sarah:

You could say it looks good for his age, but I didn't need to see all

Mark:

of him. It is a quality prosthetic because there was a moment, there was a tiny moment

Sarah:

It's got gray pubes.

Mark:

Where I looked and it went,

Mark:

wow.

Sarah:

You go, Danny.

Mark:

Think about tits in

Mark:

a tree.

Mark:

Think about You could as big

Mark:

as a tree. But it ends up that it's a prosthetic. We did some research.

Sarah:

You did some research.

Mark:

We found out that the special effects guys that did this wrote this whole Instagram post and story about how they had done it and that Danny Webb was super awesome.

Sarah:

Of course he was. Because he like You don't have that kind of career if you're not good to work with. Yeah. But wow, would that be awkward? It worked.

Sarah:

Like

Mark:

he goes to the bathroom.

Sarah:

I kind of wish I'd never seen him. Wow. Is it CGIP or is it really hooked

Mark:

No, to no, it's hooked up to a

Mark:

thing on his leg. It's amazing what Danny Webb did for that show. And then later on, he gets to cut somebody's head off. So

Sarah:

If you wanna see that, go check out Night of the Seven Realms.

Mark:

But what is what is real is Danny Webb looks fantastic for a seven year old 70 year old

Sarah:

Yeah.

Mark:

He does. In the rest of his body.

Sarah:

So You can't evaluate that part because that was a prosthetic. It's like, next time, think twice before calling me into the room to

Mark:

show me That's all.

Mark:

I can just see Danny Webb going, oh, woah. That's big. Okay.

Sarah:

Let's try.

Mark:

Let's go with it. Let's go with it.

Sarah:

So Or maybe it was in his contract. I'll be naked, but

Mark:

If I'm naked.

Sarah:

And you need to do me a favor. And I get to keep it. I mean, what are they gonna do with it? Nobody else is gonna wear it.

Mark:

What are

Mark:

they going to do with it?

Sarah:

It is. It's Jeremy is. Maybe the company that makes it puts it on.

Mark:

Danny, we finally have you on the show.

Sarah:

Where's dong? Did you bring it? No. The special effects company has it in a case Yes. You know, in their showroom where they show off

Mark:

their work. Sir Arlen's dong.

Sarah:

You're bizarre. I hope people follow that story.

Mark:

It's very weird.

Sarah:

There are some new cool shows coming out soon. Finally, we get shows that actually have start dates that we can be excited about.

Mark:

So Tommy and Tuffman starts basically in two weeks. It is on Netflix, and it is modern Tommy and Tuppence.

Sarah:

It was on BritBox.

Mark:

No. It's I think it's Netflix.

Sarah:

Okay. On one or the other. Yeah. But it's set in modern day. It's not

Mark:

nineteen twenties. Day. Tuppence. Which, that's gonna be interesting.

Sarah:

Yeah. Knowing some of the plots of those, I don't know how they translate.

Mark:

I don't know how they're gonna like

Sarah:

But I will.

Mark:

Remember, there's the whole episode about the boots of the ambassador.

Sarah:

I know. Like, I don't Again, it doesn't translate.

Mark:

I don't know

Sarah:

why. Some more shoes, dude.

Mark:

Yep. Just go get some more shoes. Ludwig season two starts October 13.

Sarah:

That I'm very

Mark:

excited on BritBox.

Sarah:

David Mitchell.

Mark:

And another show we watch on Netflix is The Gentleman.

Sarah:

It's a Guy Ritchie show about an aristocrat. Turned criminal. Turned criminal. It's funny, but it's also very violent.

Mark:

So if you're not in It is this guy or not a cozy. No. It's not a cozy.

Sarah:

But there is a new cozy that we just heard is now in production called the Detection Club, which is a BritBox thing. And it's Chester GK Chesterton, Dorothy Sayers, and Agatha Christie, who are they were

Mark:

They're contemporaries.

Sarah:

They are contemporaries. Well, and they were they did have kind of an informal club called detection club, where that's where the rules of detection came from. The rules that they agreed to write by, to give the reader, to always give the reader a chance to solve the mystery And not hide clues, or it's where they made an agreement that they wouldn't have twins be a trick, you know, that kind of thing.

Mark:

That sort of thing.

Sarah:

But in this new series, the authors are the characters, and they wind up solving mysteries together.

Mark:

So it's an alternative reality where they are crime solving crime writers.

Sarah:

Yeah. I think they're inadvertent crime solvers. I don't think they go looking for it, but it happens.

Mark:

It's 10 episodes, which is a long series these days.

Sarah:

Yeah. It's usually six or eight maybe.

Mark:

So I'm eager to see it because I'm a big fan of a comic called The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which is an Alan Moore comic from the nineties, early two thousands. Yeah. Early two thousands where he takes a number of characters and puts them in a group together, and they become espionaged crime fighting sort of group. And I always like them to

Sarah:

if father Brown, lord Peter Whimsy, and miss Marple got together.

Mark:

Yes. Yeah. So what are are there stories like that that you would like to see?

Sarah:

What? Like, authors?

Mark:

Yeah. Or

Sarah:

Creators of some sort?

Mark:

Characters together or authors and characters. That's like, I think that Murdoch did it really well where they had the Sherlock Holmes storyline. We all knew it wasn't actually Sherlock Holmes, but then he met

Sarah:

because it couldn't be because he didn't exist.

Mark:

Yes. But then he met the writer of Sherlock Holmes, who was a character in the show who did not know Murdoch because Murdoch was not a real person.

Sarah:

Right. In reality. Yes. Yes. But sir Arthur Conan Doyle meets a person who is convinced that he is the character that Doyle created.

Mark:

And I always wonder like that. I always wondered why there's not a Sherlock where he solves the Jack the Ripper murders. Now I know a lot of people have done it later on, but there's no Doyle one there.

Sarah:

So you asked me ahead of time to think about this question of authors that I would wanna put together in a fictionalized version of them and have them solve crimes or something. And I actually went the Sherlock Holmes angle. But the three real people that I would like to see fictionalized versions of have to work as a team. Yep. Are Alan Moore.

Sarah:

Yes. Guys, if you don't know anything about Alan Moore, he thinks he's a wizard. Okay?

Mark:

He is a wizard, Harry.

Sarah:

I mean, like, he's got a beard down to his navel and wears crystals.

Mark:

Yeah. He writes comics. Well, he doesn't write many comics anymore, but he writes amazing, intricate novels.

Sarah:

He did From Hell, and

Mark:

he did V for for Vendetta. Watchmen.

Sarah:

But he is eccentric to the max. Okay. So I would put Alan Moore, Kareem Abdul Jabbar- Oh. Who is a Sherlock Holmes expert-

Mark:

Expert.

Sarah:

And has written some really good versions of Sherlock Holmes, and Lucy Worsley.

Mark:

Oh, that would be fantastic.

Sarah:

I wanna I just wanna see the three of them have to do something. Yes. Like a reality show. Just like, I don't know, make a sandwich.

Mark:

They need to be on celebrity, traitors.

Sarah:

Those three together having to do something. Just seeing Lucy deal with Alan and his weirdness would be worth my time.

Mark:

That would be fantastic.

Sarah:

Yeah. So those are the three I would put together. Who would you put together?

Mark:

I also have kind of an eighties one. I would I I always because the the three writers that I read the most of in the eighties were Clive Barker, Stephen King, and Ray Bradbury. And I always loved the notion that those three guys got together and did something.

Sarah:

They would have a lot to talk about.

Mark:

They would have a lot to talk about. I think that they would have nothing but respect for each other. I think both, it's clear that both King and Clive Barker grew up reading Ray Bradbury.

Sarah:

Yeah. So I went for more of a conflict thing.

Mark:

Oh, that's Put

Sarah:

the people together who have nothing have very little in common except some common knowledge.

Mark:

Well, if if you wanna do that,

Sarah:

Never mind that Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Yes. The basketball player.

Mark:

Yes. We are telling you about Kareem Abdul Jabbar, basketball player.

Sarah:

A Conan expert and has written some amazing books. If you've not if you like Sherlock Holmes, you have to read those.

Mark:

He completely reinvented himself as a mystery writer and a Koenig Doyle scholar.

Sarah:

But he is twice as tall as Lucy Worsley, historian, who is a tiny person.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

And those two together

Mark:

with Alan In Moore being freaking

Sarah:

It would just be under

Mark:

I think we could throw Stephen Fry in there too.

Sarah:

You can always throw Stephen

Mark:

Fry Yes. You can probably always throw Stephen Fry in there.

Sarah:

He would probably smooth out the wrinkles.

Mark:

The other thing other one I was trying to think about was Robert Howard and Lovecraft and that early pulp magazine writer.

Sarah:

But again,

Mark:

that's pretty much too much time. Like each other. Yeah. Like, they really, really disliked each other, and they were also really unlikable people. I don't wanna watch that

Sarah:

show if they're unlikable.

Mark:

But if we're doing Conan Doyle, the thing I learned about when I was doing some research on Hounded Baskervilles was that the first chapters of Hounded the Baskervilles came out in the same issue of the Strand magazine as the first stories of the time machine by HD Wells. Oh. Like Racist. First of all, what a banger of a of a book.

Sarah:

Yeah. That was a magazine to buy.

Mark:

Second of all, those two characters, I think, would be interesting to put together.

Sarah:

Yeah.

Mark:

Those two writers.

Sarah:

Yeah. So you asked me to come up with the authors I would put together as fictionalized versions of themselves and then characters I would put together. So the characters I put together are along the same theme.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

So Jonathan Creek.

Mark:

Okay.

Sarah:

Okay. Arthur Bryant from the Bryant and May books by Christopher Fowler.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

Guys, if you haven't read Bryant and May, you're missing out.

Mark:

They are so good.

Sarah:

Christopher Fowler, unfortunately passed away a couple years ago. I have read that whole series at least four times.

Mark:

And that those books have a huge influence on what I'm doing right now.

Sarah:

Bryant and May are amazing. Yeah,

Mark:

absolutely. But

Sarah:

Arthur Bryant is this tiny, born old person. Yes. You never really know how old he is because he's always very old. He's been old. Very curmudgeonly, but he's an excellent detective.

Mark:

But he's lovable.

Sarah:

And he's also strange.

Mark:

Yeah, he's strange and curmudgeonly, but so lovable.

Sarah:

And then the third person I would put with them is Warlock Holmes. Oh. From the

Mark:

So if you have not read the Warlock Holmes

Sarah:

books Again. Wow. If you like Sherlock Holmes, these books are by GS Denning, and Warlock Holmes is Sherlock Holmes reimagined as a warlock. He is supernatural, and he is insane.

Mark:

And you must you must be it's like our episodes. You gotta read the Sherlock Holmes book or story. Then you read the Warlock Holmes book or story. And, like, there are so many jokes.

Sarah:

Oh my gosh. So many jokes.

Mark:

The epic so there's a Sherlock Holmes story about a cyclist. And the Warlock Holmes story, I had to stop the car. I was laughing then.

Sarah:

Because you were listening to it.

Mark:

So funny.

Sarah:

The audiobooks are well worth it. Yes. If you like audiobooks Yeah. It's a series

Mark:

that's worth listening It it's bizarre. And, like It's so funny. Like, the police detective what is his name? The the guy who's the from Scotland Yard

Sarah:

Yeah.

Mark:

In the Warlock Holmes books, he's a vampire. Yes.

Sarah:

But he's still a good policeman.

Mark:

And the thing is Watson is completely straight. Yeah. And he's, like, completely out of a normal guy. And he's, like, freaking out

Mark:

a lot of time.

Sarah:

Those are really good. But Warlock Holmes and Arthur Bryant and Jonathan Creek together

Mark:

Yeah.

Sarah:

Would be this kind of like, is it a paranormal thing that's happened or isn't it? Yeah. Kind of I think it would be fun to

Mark:

You figure know I it love all that good stuff. I also think I've mentioned this on the main podcast before. I love the notion of secondary characters. The woman with the calf gloves from Triangle with Rhodes Mhmm. Hastings, Miss Lemon The people who don't get in George.

Sarah:

Enough screen time. People. Time.

Mark:

Yeah. All these people getting together behind the backs of the detectives and solving some crime or being the reason that crimes get solved by the the main character.

Sarah:

It's Joyce planning little clues Yes. For Barnaby so that he figures it out. Yeah. Yeah. Was fun too.

Mark:

And Watson and Hastings, I've always thought would would fit into that. Watson would be very old. Yeah. But he would fit into that group of people.

Sarah:

Yeah, that would be fun to see.

Mark:

They could come to him and say, I've been hired by this detective as a helper. How should I do it?

Sarah:

Or you you worked for an eccentric detective. How did you get through it?

Mark:

And he could say he could say this book writes itself because he could say, well, actually, Sherlock Holmes was not all he thought he was. I was the real brains behind the outfits, and this is what you'll have to do with your detective.

Sarah:

Make myself look dumb when I wrote him up because otherwise he'd be upset and his feelings would be hurt, and he's impossible to live

Mark:

That's that writes itself.

Sarah:

Right? Yeah.

Mark:

And why there isn't a Poirot, miss Marple crossover? Where where what? Where that should have happened. We should have had it. It should have happened.

Sarah:

Because Christy never wrote it, and the estate is very protective.

Mark:

They're super protective.

Sarah:

Of her stories.

Mark:

So Which is There is a new, Miss Marple coming out in September. Another? Yeah. The hotel one.

Sarah:

So there's Tommy and Tuppence, a new Poirot, and a new new Marple coming out as

Mark:

book.

Sarah:

Oh, okay.

Mark:

So sorry. Listeners.

Sarah:

Yes. What either authors would you put together to become a crime fighting team or characters would you put together? Yep. Oh my gosh, you guys are gonna come up with crazy ideas. Yes, please.

Sarah:

They're gonna be awesome.

Mark:

Please send us your crazy ideas.

Sarah:

Instagram, email, subreddit, wherever you wanna put them, put them. We'd love to hear them and share them.

Mark:

Yep. We've heard some from amazing people lately, and I think that this format is working out and we're just having a great time right now. So

Sarah:

Yeah. Let us know what you think. Alright. Bye, Maniacs.

Mark:

Bye, Maniacs. Thanks for joining us on the Mystery Maniacs podcast. If you enjoyed our crazy podcast today, don't miss out on future episodes. Follow us on social media for updates, beyond the scenes content, and exclusive sneak peeks. Subscribe, like, and share to spread the word.

Mark:

Bye, Maniacs.