User Reviews

As Ames and March are discussing the recent theft of the Fairways diamond, Willie Button, the young newsboy who delivers papers to March, bursts in and tells March that his poodle, Moxie, has been stolen. Ames, ever the curmudgeon has no patience with this interruption and asks in disgust if this is a joke. March, with his hallmark kindness says "Not to Willie." March then asks Willie, an engaging young boy, to tell him the whole story. As the story unfolds, March believes there may be a connection between the missing poodle and the theft of the Fairways diamond. Sir Nigel Fairways is the proud owner of a standard poodle show dog named DuBarry. An American, Mrs. Brewster is very anxious to buy this poodle from Sir Nigel. There is a nice twist to the story with Mrs. Brewster's character but the episode highlight is March's interaction with Willie. Often in this series, March takes the time to listen to people in his avuncular and kind fashion and exhibits a true empathy and caring for people and this, along with his sense of humor, make the March character so delightful.

This episode was a bit of a mixed bag for me, I find myself somewhere in the middle of the reviews here, I didn't hate it, nor did I think it particularly good. It was watchable, but instantly forgettable.

It's such a soft mystery, compared to other cases the good Colonel investigated, this one just seems a bit silly.

On the plus side, there is a very strong female lead character, which does make a little bit of a change, Doris Nolan is excellent as Linda.

I don't have strong feelings either way. 5/10.

Episode 12, "The Case of the Kidnapped Poodle" is easily one of the weakest, as obvious and unexciting as its title. The Fairways diamond has been stolen from the home of dog fancier Sir Nigel Fairways (Michael Shepley), and Inspector Ames (Ewan Roberts) has set his sights on Mrs. Linda Brewster (Doris Nolan, previously seen in "The Abominable Snowman"), an American houseguest of Sir Nigel's, who believes that Colonel March can help her avert suspicion by pointing the finger at Sir Nigel himself. Meanwhile, March involves himself in another (seemingly unimportant) case, the kidnapping of his newsboy's poodle, but there turns out to be a connection between the two, especially after a call to South Africa clears up the rather humdrum investigation. Young Kit Terrington is an embarrassment, reading his lines off camera, but the ever professional Karloff proves a delight, even under these circumstances.

THE CASE OF THE KIDNAPPED POODLE is the weakest episode yet of the Colonel March series. The child-focused storyline feels like it belongs on children's television and the title is something you'd expect from an Enid Blyton book. There's a little more to the story than that, but this is still well below the expected talents of the one and only Colonel March.

The only thing that makes this episode slightly watchable is a warm and witty performance from Boris Karloff as the titular detective. Ewan Roberts is quite good fun as the increasingly exasperated sidekick and it's good to see old-time villain Michael Shepley (who seemed to prop up endless numbers of those 1930s-era country house murder mysteries) adding another character to his collection.