but still, for a moment, it could be the compassionate, wondering comment of something that isn't quite human itself.

Forgive me if I've brought this up before, but wouldn't he have been wonderful as Agatha Christie's Mr. Quin? Which then raises the question of casting Mr. Satterthwaite. (ETA -- Henry Travers?)

It is not difficult to read Colpeper as a queer character.
Gibbs too, or is that just me?