Cirrus@Austlit

'Some years ago a pleasant British crime procedural was named The Last Detective. The title was shorthand for, ‘If we needed someone to solve this crime you would be the Last Detective we would send.’ The Last Detective, of course, was always the first to solve it.

'Two recent news stories recalled the series. Both concerned the film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. At a time when the news is awash with economic stress, rising inequality, wars and rumours of war, and multiple threats to democracy, the last stories I would have thought pertinent were that of the recovery of the bus used in the movie, and the project to remake the film involving its original cast.' (Introduction)