Roderick Alleyn

Roderick Alleyn is a fictional character who first appeared in 1934.cite book |author=Marsh, Ngaio |title=A man lay dead|publisher=Collins|location=Great Britain |year=1934 |pages= |isbn=0-00-615591-X (Fontana, 1960, edition) |oclc= |doi=] He is the policeman hero of the 32 detective novels of Ngaio Marsh. Marsh and her gentleman detective belong firmly in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, although the last Alleyn novel, "Light Thickens", was published as late as 1982.

Marsh mentions in an introduction that she named her detective Alleyn after Alleyn's School, colloquially known as Dulwich College, where her father had been a pupil. Like the school and the Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn after whom the school is named, the detective's surname is pronounced "Allen".

Background and Early Life

Roderick Alleyn is a gentleman detective, whose family and educational background may be deduced from comments in the novels. In brief, Alleyn was apparently born around 1892-1894, graduated from Oxford around 1915, served in the army for three years in World War 1, then spent a year (1919-1920) in the British Foreign Service. He finally joined the Metropolitan Police as a constable in about 1920 or 1921.

Marsh's 32 novels form a chronological series that follows Alleyn's detective career. When the series opens ("A Man Lay Dead", 1934), Alleyn is aged about 40 and is already a Chief Detective-Inspector in the CID at Scotland Yard. As the series progressesPolytonic|, Alleyn marries and has a son, and eventually rises to the rank of Chief Superintendent.

Family Background

Throughout the novels, Alleyn is clearly a member of the gentry. He is the younger brother of a baronet, and was raised in Buckinghamshire where his mother, Lady Alleyn, continued to live. Lady Alleyn is unseen until the sixth novel, "Artists in Crime" (1938).

From the beginning of the series, Alleyn's father is dead: his older brother, Sir George Alleyn, is already enjoying the baronetcy. Their late father implicitly had at least one brother (Alleyn's paternal uncle), because the first novel ("A Man Lay Dead", 1934) mentions a cousin, Christina Alleyn, who (like Sir George) remains an unseen character. Christina is a chemist who trained at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1934, Christina Alleyn is in her mid-twenties.

Alleyn is on tolerably good terms with his older brother, Sir George Alleyn, the current baronet, who throughout the series is an unseen character. In "Artists in Crime" (1938), their mother indicates that Sir George is more conventional and less intelligent than his detective younger brother. Like his younger brother, Sir George entered the Foreign Service: in the much later novel, "When in Rome" (1970), Alleyn remarks that his older brother was once the British Ambassador there.

In the earliest five novels, Alleyn is single—and quite attracted to actresses, as described in both "Enter a Murderer" (1935) and "Vintage Murder" (1937). Subsequently, in "Artists in Crime" (1938), Alleyn meets Agatha Troy whom he later marries. Troy is a famous painter, particularly of portraits, and features in many later novels. They have one son, Ricky; Ricky plays major roles as a child in "Spinsters in Jeopardy" (1954) and as a young adult in "Last Ditch" (1977).

Birth, Education and Early Career

Alleyn was reportedly educated at Eton and Oxford, and worked in the British Foreign Service for a year (1919-1920) before joining the Metropolitan Police. The reasons for the switch in careers are never made explicit.

Early in his police career, Alleyn wrote a textbook that became widely admired: "Principles and Practice of Criminal Investigations", by Roderick Alleyn, M.A. (Oxon), C.I.D. (Sable and Murgatroyd, 21s), which is mentioned in a footnote to Chapter 6 of "Vintage Murder" (1937).

In the first few novels, Alleyn is in his early forties. In the first, "A Man Lay Dead" (1934), Nigel Bathgate (Alleyn's future Watson) is clearly stated to be twenty-five, and Alleyn is much older, judging by the tone of his remarks to Bathgate. In the second, "Enter a Murderer" (1935), there is a minor inconsistency, in that Bathgate appears to be slightly younger than before. Bathgate says that he has been working as a journalist for only 15 months, ever since he 'came down' (that is, graduated) from Trinity College, Cambridge. However, Alleyn comments that is is almost 20 years since he (Alleyn) came down from Oxford. Assuming both gentlemen graduated with a typical three-year Oxbridge degree at around age 21, then in 1934 or 1935 Bathgate is about 22 or 23 and Alleyn is about 20 years older, indicating his birth was around 1893 or 1894.

The fifth novel, "Vintage Murder" (1937), is explicitly set in New Zealand in June 1936—according to an epilogue dated September 1936 and set three months after the novel's action. In Chapter 16, Alleyn states his age, while speaking to a teenager: 'Rude you think? I'm twenty-five years older than you. Old gentlemen of forty-two are allowed to be impertinent. Especially when they are policemen.'

"Vintage Murder" (1937) also indicates Alleyn spent three years in the army after graduating, presumably during World War 1. Nowhere in the series are details of this military service ever given. Immediately after the army, he spent a year in the British Foreign Service. A much later novel, "Scales of Justice" (1955), gives sketchy details of this period in Alleyn's life.

The sixth novel, "Artists in Crime" (1938), rapidly follows the action of "Vintage Murder" (that is, occurs in late 1936), and contains letters between Lady Alleyn and her younger son during his return to England. These show that Alleyn's mother turns 65 in 1936, and that Alleyn is about 20 years younger. The same correspondence shows that Lady Alleyn's birthday is on the seventh of September, and that Alleyn's (forty-third) birthday follows soon after. Hence, from information in the fifth and sixth novels, Alleyn was probably born in September or October, 1893.

Alleyn as a gentleman detective

The gentleman detective has long been a staple of British crime fiction, particularly in novels from the Golden Age.

One obvious comparison with Roderick Alleyn is the fictional Lord Peter Wimsey. Alleyn's family background resembles the relationships created by Dorothy Sayers for "her" fictional Lord Peter Wimsey (born 1890). Like Alleyn, Wimsey has a titled older brother, who however is far more grand—he's a duke. Like Alleyn, Lord Peter's brother is less intelligent and more conventional than his more famous younger sibling. Alleyn's mother, Lady Alleyn, closely resembles in manner the Dowager Duchess of Denver, Wimsey's mother. Both ladies are affable and intelligent, and strongly support (and perhaps prefer) their younger sons. One marked difference between the fictional biographies of Alleyn and Wimsey, who are about the same age, is in their military service during World War 1. Alleyn's army service is glossed over and never discussed, whereas Wimsey's distinguished service on the Western Front has mentally scarred him for life.

Like Alleyn, at least two of Agatha Christie's detectives clearly belong in the gentry. Her elderly spinster, Miss Marple, is not from the aristocracy but is quite at home amongst them, while the the diminutive "Mr. Satterthwaite" (in The Mysterious Mr. Quin (1930) and Three Act Tragedy (1934)) has a similar background and is wealthy besides. Her most famous detective character, [Hercule Poirot] , is a foreigner, and is thus outside the English class system (of which Poirot takes advantage).

Two later and widely known gentleman detectives may also be compared to Alleyn. These are Adam Dalgliesh, created by P. D. James, and Inspector Morse, created by Colin Dexter. Like Alleyn, Dalgliesh flourishes in the Metropolitan Police despite being definitely gentry, but is a recluse and a poet. However, Morse works in Oxford and is (or was) upwardly mobile: he apparently won a scholarship to Oxford but subsequently failed. Like Alleyn and Wimsey, Morse served in the British army before joining the police.

Adaptations

Several of the Roderick Alleyn novels have been adapted for television, though none as yet for mainstream cinema release. Four novels were adapted for New Zealand television in 1977, with Alleyn played by George Baker. "Colour Scheme" and "Died in the Wool" are set in New Zealand, while "Opening Night" and "Final Curtain" are set in London. The theme of "Opening Night" involves a New Zealand actress with a startling resemblance to the lead actor.

Nine novels with British settings were adapted for British television. In the second series, Alleyn was played by Simon Williams in the first story, "Artists in Crime" (1990), and then by Patrick Malahide in eight more tales (1993-94): "A Man Lay Dead", "The Nursing Home Murder", "Final Curtain" (the second TV adaptation), "Death at the Bar", "Death in a White Tie", "Hand in Glove", "Dead Water" and "Scales of Justice".

DVD Release

"The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries" (the 1990s British productions) are available on DVD as a four disc pack.

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