AS SEEN ON TV: PORFIRY PETROVICH

PORFIRY PETROVICH

CREATED BY:

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

AS SEEN IN:

'Crime And Punishment'

AS PLAYED BY:

Ian McDiarmid

TV DIMENSION:

To Be Determined

STATUS:

Multiversal Recastaway

From Wikipedia:

"Crime and Punishment" ("Pryestupleniye i nakazaniye") is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. "Crime and Punishment" focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in St. Petersburg who formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her cash. Raskolnikov argues that with the pawnbroker's money he can perform good deeds to counterbalance the crime, while ridding the world of a worthless parasite. He also commits this murder to test his own hypothesis that some people are naturally capable of such things, and even have the right to do them. Several times throughout the novel, Raskolnikov justifies his actions by connecting himself mentally with Napoleon Bonaparte, believing that murder is permissible in pursuit of a higher purpose.

Porfiry Petrovich – The detective in charge of solving the murders of Lizaveta and Alyona Ivanovna, who, along with Sonya, move Raskolnikov towards confession. Unlike Sonya, however, Porfiry does this through psychological games. Despite the lack of evidence, he becomes certain Raskolnikov is the murderer following several conversations with him, but gives him the chance to confess voluntarily. He attempts to confuse and to provoke the unstable Raskolnikov in an attempt to coerce him to confess.

 

'Crime and Punishment' was a 2000 television serial produced by the BBC, starring John Simm as Raskolnikov and Ian McDiarmid as Porfiry Petrovich.

There were several TV versions of "Crime And Punshment" before the 2000 adaptation came along. One thing which might rule in this production's favor would be if they brought more of the novel into the series.

I found no mention of Porfiry in the main Wold Newton site, so there are no established theories as to his connection to members of the Wold Newton family. But as for the Tele-Folks Directory, I have a theory.....

Over the years it has been stated that Porfiry was the inspiration for the creation of Lt. Columbo by Levinson & Link. As a novel, "Crime And Punishment" exists in the TV Universe, as does its writer, Dostoyevsky. So his novel is actual a "true crime" chronicle, one which Columbo may have come across and realized during his reading that Porfiry's methods might be applicable in his own investigations once he became a detective. Columbo knew that he was not as smart as those around him, so he would be happy for any advantage he could find.....

BCnU!