 Powell came close to endorsing a real @-@ life model in Denis Capel @-@ Dunn , a lawyer and wartime lieutenant @-@ colonel in the Intelligence Corps , who was briefly Powell 's senior officer . Capel @-@ Dunn was nicknamed " The Papal Bun " , and was derided by his subordinates for his appearance and demeanour . He was described by his contemporaries as " a very fat , extremely boring , overwhelmingly ambitious arriviste . His conversations were hideously detailed and humourless " . He was responsible , apparently through spite , for preventing Powell 's promotion to the rank of major . When the historian Desmond Seward proposed Capel @-@ Dunn as the original Widmerpool , Powell hinted that he " might be on to something " . 
