Campion learns that a mediaeval relic called the Gyrth Chalice, which for hundreds of years has been in the care of the Gyrth family at the village of Sanctuary, is threatened by an international gang of art thieves. For the Gyrths the stakes are high - if they lose the Chalice, their country estate will revert to the Crown. Campion travels to Sanctuary with Val Gyrth, and almost at once Val's aunt Lady Diana is found dead in the middle of a wood, apparently frightened to death... it seems the gang is already on the job.
When the safety of the ancient Gyrth Chalice is threatened, Campion embarks on a dangerous assignment to protect it. He soon discovers that his adversary will stop at nothing - even murder - in order to get the Chalice.
A murderer is on the loose at Cambridge, where the family of the late Professor John Faraday is being murdered. His niece's husband Andrew is found in the river with a bullet in his head, then his daughter Julia is poisoned and his son William is attacked. Campion is called in by a friend, and Caroline Faraday, the Professor's widow, retains hin to protect her eccentric children William and Kitty and to find the murderer. Campion finds himself working on the case with Inspector Stanislaus Oates.
Campion receives a letter from an old Cambridge friend, asking him to help find a missing uncle of his fiancée. Campion is convinced that the murderer is part of the Faraday household.
'Pig' Peters dies and is buried... but then he turns up dead again...
Campion investigates the murder of 'Pig' Peters, whose funeral he attended three months earlier.
Campion, getting away from it all, visits his friend Belle Lafcadio, a rich art collector. Trouble begins with murder at an exhibition of pictures by a dead artist. First one body turns up, then another... and the identity of one of the departed comes as something of a surprise.
Campion is convinced that a third murder is imminent. The inquest into the death of Claire Potter reveals that she died from nicotine poisoning.
Campion searches for the crown of a lost kingdom. Campion is asked to find documents that will prove that the Frittons are the rightful owners of a tiny Dalmatian state where oil has been discovered.
Campion returns to Pontisbright in disguise in order to track down Savanke.
Campion visits the country house of the famous dancer Jimmy Sutane to investigate a string of unpleasant practical jokes, and falls in love. On Campion's first night at White Walls, another guest, Chloe Pye dies - though whether by accident, murder or suicide remains to be seen. Then there are more deaths, and Campion finds himself under pressure.
Influenced by his feelings for Linda Sutane, Campion refuses to believe the evidence against her husband Jimmy, and continues trying to clear his name. But when another murder occurs, Sutane's innocence becomes impossible to sustain.
Campion is drawn into the family feuds besetting the Golden Quill publishing business. One of the Barnabas family, who own the company, is found dead, leaving Campion's friend, Mike Barnabas, as the chief suspect.
Campion is determined to prove the innocence of his friend Mike Barnabas, arrested for the murder of Paul Brande, but in trying to do so he puts his own life in jeopardy.
American Judge Crowdy Lobbett has suffered several attempts on his life and has decided to leave the United States and travel to England in the hope of finding a safe haven. The Lobbett family meet Campion on board their transatlantic liner, and the Judge's son Marlowe asks him to help with their problems. Campion takes the Lobbetts to the village of Mystery Mile, where he has friends, but the Simister gang is on the Judge's trail and he soon disappears, leaving Campion and the Lobbetts with a kidnapping to solve in a hurry.
Judge Lobbett mysteriously disappears, Biddy Pagett is kidnapped and Lugg tries to warn Campion off the Simister mob investigation, but he refuses to give in.
British screen legend Peter Davison sits down to give us an invaluable insight into the iconic 1989-1990 mystery drama series Campion, the BBC’s second adaptation of Margery Allingham’s highly celebrated set of detective novels. In a string of mysteries that call for a Lagonda-fuelled romp through 1930s England, Campion captivated audiences with its imaginative storytelling and string of inspired characters. Davison reveals how he embodied Campion’s gleaming eccentricities, what the preparation was like for his third leading role in a major BBC series, following on from his successes in Doctor Who and A Very Peculiar Practice, and what it was like to be immersed in the world of one of Britain’s most-loved authors from the golden age of detective fiction.
BBC programme explaining costs for producing series. Looks behind the scenes for the filming and costings of making Campion.
