“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast” Lewis Carroll
whimsical has two definitions:
playfully quaint or fanciful, especially in an appealing and amusing way: acting or behaving in a capricious manner
whimsy has three:
playfully old-fashioned or fanciful behaviour or humour: a fanciful or odd thing: a whim
One fictional character associated with this word is Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey whose family motto is “As my Whimsy takes me.”
My parents loved reading detective novels and Lord Peter was one of my father’s favourite sleuths. I have read most of the Wimsey stories and watched the two BBC series starring Ian Carmichael, screened in the mid ’70’s, which feel a little dated now. I had never imagined myself in the role of Harriet Vane until the BBC filmed a new series in 1987 starring Edward Petherbridge and Harriet Walters. This pairing was so perfect that, as she was saved from the gallows in Strong Poison, I felt completely drawn into the action. I regularly re-watch this ten episode series and it is such a shame the BBC were unable to obtain the rights to Busman’s Holiday in which Peter and Harriet marry and spend their honeymoon solving a murder case.
“Do you find it easy to get drunk on words?”
“So easy that, to tell you the truth, I am seldom perfectly sober.”
D L Sayers – Gaudy Night
“Do you know how to pick a lock?”
“Not in the least, I’m afraid.”
“I often wonder what we go to school for,” said Wimsey.”
D L Sayers – Strong Poison
lynnerevettebutler 
There are so many great BBC shows that I miss.. Two of my favorites were Keeping Up Appearances and Absolutely Fabulous. Thank God for Downton Abbey!
I enjoyed watching both those very different sitcoms too but it is the BBC drama series I tend to buy as DVD sets to watch on bleak Sunday afternoons during the winter. Jeremy Brett as Holmes, Joan Hickson as Miss Marple and the Inspector Lynley mysteries are amongst my favourites. I have the first Downton series on DVD but only time will tell if this too becomes a rainy Sunday favourite.
Hmmm. I’ll have to catch these. They sound interesting. I love a good detective story and the Carroll and Sayers quotes.
Hi Janice, I hope you can still buy these, I think Amazon have some of them, or perhaps they are still showing on one of the Satellite channels. I’m glad you like the Carroll quote; when my children were growing up I was frequently presented with several strange things to consider before breakfast and I often thought of his words.
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