The Miss Fisher Files

An episode-by-episode recap of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

[themissfisherphiles]

Lunch with Kerry Greenwood!

What a treat it was to lunch with Kerry Greenwood! She had great tales to share, including why she created Phryne and how Phryne helped her avoid calamity. Her lovely partner David was with us as w…

[themissfisherphiles]

Coming to you from LAX as we prepare to fly to Oz!

[patricia-holm]

Miss Fisher Polyamorous?

I want to start by saying I LOVE the Miss Fisher Philes podcast and really love the addition of Jo Jo Stiletto to Mary and Chandler’s excellent commentary. 

The recent podcast on Season 3, Episode 1, Death Defying Feats really got me thinking.  Unfortunately the comments were closed so I decided to write up my thoughts here.  

I believe Jo Jo suggested that the episode, and especially Jack’s speech about being a ‘liberal minded man’ is hinting at a future polyamorous relationship between Jack and Phyrne.  I might have stated that too strongly.  It could be that they are just hinting at a willingness for the show to consider it.  

My first response was to shout NO! at my car radio.   It really troubled me.  I love thinking about Jack and Phyrne in an unconventional but still monogamous relationship in the future.  It blew up my assumptions.  Plus a bunch of fan fiction ideas I had.  But the more I thought about it, the more interesting the notion became.  

First, I don’t think that Jack Robinson is going to consider polyamory in 1929.  I think that hoping for Jack and Phyrne to be polyamorous is a projection not an interpretation.  Jack is a respected DI in a world that is about to become considerably more conservative when the depression hits in the end of 1929.  Even if he wanted to, and I don’t believe he does, he couldn’t.  

Why don’t I believe he wants to be polyamorous?  Because he falls hard.  He stayed married for years because he believed that the vows meant something.  He denies himself pleasure by living a solitary and work-addicted life.  Phryne is cracking that veneer but I don’t think he has the emotional capability to navigate a situation where he loves more than one woman or can love one woman but have relationships with many.  Whether you agree with polyamory or not, it is not for the faint of heart.  

But second, the books actually do have Phyrne in a polyamorous relationship.  The book fans would be okay with a polyamorous relationship on TV, but the author and the tv writers steered away from that in the way that they wrote Jack and the Phrack relationship.  In the books, Phyrne is acknowledged as Lin’s concubine.  She is in love with Lin as evidenced by all the times she talks about missing him and preferring him as a personal and sexual partner.  She still has other sexual partners, but he only has her and his wife.  Though, I think it fair to say that Phyrne is less polyamorous than she is in a kind of ‘open relationship’ in which neither party judges the other for sexual activities but they have a preferred central relationship.  The TV show could have done this with Jack but it chose not to.  Jack is portrayed throughout as a ‘one-woman man’.  

Last, I think exploring Jack and Phyrne as a potential monogamous coupling is just as interesting as a polyamorous one.  Both the books and the show give the viewer glimpses of how Phyrne is as broken as Jack is.  While she is a super-hero (I agree with Mary and Chandler about that), her ability to form close bonds is very restricted.  She has Mac and Dot, but the person she reaches for in her grief over Janey is Jack, whom she recognizes as also being broken.  She was hurt by Rene and the person she reaches for again is Jack, who while broken, represents a model of a loving partner in a relationship (remember she still thinks he is married in this episode).  I think that TV show is showing how Phryne and Jack are bonding through the parts of them that are broken and need healing.  My sense is a polyamorous relationship would not provide that healing.  At least not yet.  

[themissfisherphiles]

Thanks for the thoughtful dialogue, @patricia-holm! Your reading of it was so interesting and had us thinking about it all over again, too. We enjoy considering other ways the characters could have been transitioned from book to screen, and the polyamory issue presents all kinds of interesting possibilities! Perhaps we can petition Every Cloud to create a choose-your-own-adventure version of the show to be able to explore these avenues further. ;)

Also, thank you for letting us know that comments were closed on the site. That was not intentional and has since been remedied by the simple click of a button!

[themissfisherphiles]

Dear Jack and Hugh: We are extremely disappointed in you.

[themissfisherphiles]

It's been a month since the Con, and we are missing our fellow Phryne fans SO BAD. We discuss the highlights of the 2018 Con. There were so many!

[themissfisherphiles]

We're back! We talk with Marsha Samuel, author of the "Wanderlust for One" travel blog and Patron Saint of Small Towns and Second Cities.

[themissfisherphiles]

The delightful Ruby Rees gives us the scoop on what it was like to play Jane.

[themissfisherphiles]

In honor of Miss Fisher Con 2018, here's an episode to keep you company while you make the journey to Portland! We are joined by the always-fabulous Jo Jo Stiletto to talk about the start of Season 3.

[themissfisherphiles]

It's Christmas in June! We talk with special guest Erik Hanberg (Mary's husband) about this creepy Christmas episode, as well as other holiday-related TV shows and films that are in our annual viewing rotation. Grab some hot cocoa and a warm blanket and join us!

[themissfisherphiles]

More or Less: How Deadly Was 1920s Melbourne? Behind the Stats - BBC Radio 4

We investigate the murder rate in popular crime series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

The BBC radio show “More or Less” did a comparison of actual murder rates to fictional ones in several popular mystery series, including Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Turns out that Season One isn’t far off—Melbourne was a dangerous place in the ‘20s!  Even more fascinating was their mention of Madge Connor, Melbourne’s first female police officer. She joined the force in 1917, receiving only half the pay of her male colleagues. She completed all sorts of undercover surveillance assignments and helped put a number of criminals behind bars. She lobbied tirelessly for equal pay, and, in 1924, succeeded in obtaining it—something that wouldn’t happen for decades in other fields. 

She was forced to retire in 1929, and rather than be given a police pension like male officers, she was given “a handbag full of notes.” With her job gone, she became a private investigator. You can read more about her here and here . What a fascinating woman!

[themissfisherphiles]

The #metoo episode of MFMM. Full of difficult topics, it's a tough one to digest, but their willingness to tackle these subjects is a testament to the show's integrity. It's the best of the series wrapped up in a single episode.

[skirtswithpocketsplease]

We are joined by a very special guest—Mary's mom!—as we discuss memories of their 1987 family trip to PNG, Australia and New Zealand.

For years, I’ve been dying to figure out the epic trip I took when I was 8. It was a joy to piece together my fuzzy memories with my mom. No great surprise—we remembered very different things!

[izzyandlouie-deactivated2024050]

The Rippon Lea Estate

The house and gardens of this beautiful estate feature in seven episodes throughout the three series.

It has been ‘home’ to no less than SIX owners :

Lydia and John Andrews - Cocaine Blues 

The Melba Cruise Salon of Beauty - Murder a la Mode

Frances and Aubrey Wilde - Murder a la Mode

The Carbone family - Murder and Mozzarella

Raymond Hirsch - Framed for Murder

Prudence Stanley - Murder in the Dark, Death and Hysteria, Game, Set and Murder

COCAINE BLUES

MURDER IN THE DARK

MURDER A LA MODE

FRAMED FOR MURDER

MURDER AND MOZZARELLA

DEATH AND HYSTERIA

GAME, SET AND MURDER

[themissfisherphiles]

Wow! We knew Rippon Lea was used a lot but had no idea it was the beauty salon or the courtyard in Mozzarella!

[themissfisherphiles]

As a special holiday treat, we talk to MFMM producers Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger of Every Cloud Productions. We find out how the film has been helped by the success of the Kickstarter campaign, what it's been like to make the transition from TV to film, and we learn some fun little tidbits about Kerry Greenwood as well. We were delighted to get to talk to them, and we hope you enjoy listening to our conversation!

[themissfisherphiles]

Special guest alert! The Tailor joins us to talk radio, menswear, vintage props, and which day of the week you are supposed to mend your clothes.

[themissfisherphiles]

The Miss Fisher Philes are embarking on a new journey—a travel podcast! Join us for tales of adventures near and far.

[themissfisherphiles]

This one is twice the fun! We are joined by JoJo Stiletto and Sailor St. Claire to talk about That Scarf and the fact that this episode is very, very brown.