Detektei Blunt

I am a huge Agatha Christie fan, and of the TV series "Agatha Christie: Poirot". I wanted to see this series for the lovely Francessca Annis and I really love it. It is entertaining and light-hearted, it is not as complex as Poirot and Marple and that is not a bad thing really. James Warwick and Francessca Annis are perfect as Tommy and Tuppence, and Reece Dinsdale is amusing as Albert. The period detail is splendid, Annis looks stunning in her costumes and the scenery is beautiful. The music is playful and fun, and the dialogue is nice. The mysteries are suspenseful and keeps to Christie's style decently enough. If anything, this series should've lasted longer in my opinion, it is not the best mystery series out there, but it is pleasant to view. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Absolutely and gorgeously great. The fact that it was made almost 25 years ago only adds a peculiar charm to the production. I even love the old video feel to it - feels almost like watching something 'live', not the edited scenes shot over several sessions. They didn't usually pay too much attention to period details in the early 80s, but this show is a refreshing change, even though a modern viewer might be distracted by the sometimes too obvious studio sets. Annis and Warwick are so good that the characters might easily have been written especially for them. The acting style might appear a bit theatrical for some tastes, but they have found the key to playing the protagonists the way actors did in the twenties and thirties. I trust times and people were more "artistic" than they are nowadays, therefore I feel secure that they did take the right direction and succeeded remarkably well. Perhaps one wouldn't be allowed to create such characters in a modern hi tech TV series, but back then it seems they just had a lot of fun doing what they did.

Tremendous fun to watch, and fortunately available on DVD.

This is a must have DVD for every Agatha Christie fan ! It is just as i imagined Tommy & Tuppence from the short stories. There is a lot of humor and Annis and Warwick are superb as are most of the rest of the cast. The whole series has an intimate feel about it that i liked very much. Every episode is a spoof on one of the famous detectives of the time the stories were written like Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown etc. as Agatha Christie intended. It would be nice if ITV decided to use Warwick and Annis again for a follow up on this series, they could use the novels about Tommy and Tuppence this time as they are written about the couple when they are older. It would be a good idea to do this instead of remaking Miss Marple or Poirot movies.

Being an Agatha Christie fan,it bothers me when someone adapts one of her works and never bothers to read the source material. This outing has an enjoyable cast,crisp direction,nice period touch in the sets,cars and costumes. Much to my amazement,they actually followed the original stories. Francesca Annis is fun as Tuppence,James Warwick muskies a great Tommy and Reese Dimsdale is fun as Albert,the office mainstay. It's a glance at English Life in the twenties in the upper brackets. Manor houses,servants,costume balls,things that are out of date nowadays but fun to look at. Too bad Francesca and James never reteamed for N or M,or By the Pricking of my Thumbs. The other adaptions I liked were "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" with Francesca and James,and "The Seven Dials Mystery" with Jame Warwick,all of them excellent.

I read a few other reviews, of this series, & felt like saying that they seemed to miss the point. Being familiar with the original novel "The Secret Adversary" (which was made into a full-length TV feature after these) as well as the "Partners in Crime" short stories I believe that those involved with this series captured the spirit the author intended very well indeed.

The tone of the original stories was much lighter than that of other Agatha Christie novels and the playfulness & risque humor (which come across clearly in the dramatizations) came right from the characters in the books. I also believe the overly stylized performances were perfect for the period & mood of the pieces. The acting actually comes across more as a good staging of a Bernard Shaw or Oscar Wilde play in the style of the early 20th century than as a current modern TV program & I for one completely enjoyed the contrast.

2 side notes: I've purchased these on DVD as well as the sets of the Poirot series & while the Poirot are exceptional (wonderfully made & acted) I actually enjoy re-watching the "Partners in Crime" Series more because the emphasis is much less on the crime than on the characters, compared to the Poirot series which always seems to need a twist (right out of Christie) and some kind of action/chase sequence (not so much from Christie).

Also, I'd personally love to see James Warwick and Francesca Annis reprise these roles 20 years on, since there were several novels ("By the Pricking of my Thumbs" and "Postern of Fate" are the two I remember) which caught up with Tommy & Tuppence later in their lives.