Eligor 140093; Peugeot 403; Cabriolet; Columbo

Year of Release: N/K

Columbo is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC from 1971 to 1978 as one of the rotating programs of The NBC Mystery Movie. Columbo then aired less frequently on ABC from 1989 to 2003.

The character and show popularized the inverted detective story format (sometimes referred to as a "howcatchem"). This genre begins by showing the commission of the crime and its perpetrator; the plot therefore usually has no "whodunit" element of determining which of several suspects committed the crime. It instead revolves around how a perpetrator known to the audience will finally be caught and exposed.

The series' homicide suspects are often affluent members of high society; it has led some critics to see class conflict as an element of each story. Suspects carefully cover their tracks and are initially dismissive of Columbo's circumstantial speech and apparent ineptitude. They become increasingly unsettled as his superficially pestering behaviour teases out incriminating evidence. His relentless approach often leads to self-incrimination or outright confession.

This Eligor was sourced in November 2019 from Wessex Auction Rooms auctioneers