Agatha and the Truth of Murder

This was a very enjoyable and engrossing drama that was much better than I had anticipated. The characters were well defined and well acted, the story was engrossing (if a little far-fetched), and the production quality was top-notch. Ruth Bradley was extremely engaging as Agatha Christie and it was lovely to see Pippa Haywood on our screens again. Yeah, it was good!

Kind of funny how the Agatha Christie character says she has a problem of making the most unlikely character(s) the murderer(s) in her novels but her readers manage to figure out who it is a few pages in; I picked off who the culprit/culprits was/were in pretty early on (and it's not because I'm particularly clever).

Simply put, the actors are great, sets and costumes are great, story is a little too... er... simple. Entertaining and worth watching, just don't expect a head-scratcher.

Yours truly is a genuine Agatha-Christiephile. I know that's not an official term, but what else would you call someone who's literally obsessed with everything regarding the legendary female mystery-author. I worship her novels & short stories, love the flamboyant film-adaptations of her most famous books and am fascinated with the enigmatic facts of her personal life. In 1926, Christie disappeared for a period of eleven days. An impressive search party followed, and she was eventually located in a hospital supposedly with amnesia. Multiple speculations arose, but the true circumstances and reason of her disappearance were never fully clarified. This modest made-for-TV production is a fictional tale about where she could have been, much like the 1979-film "Agatha", directed by Michael Apted and starring Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman. At first, I was reluctant to see this, but I'm glad I did because it's a compelling and well-acted, albeit largely inconspicuous little film.

The 36-year-old Agatha Christie balances on the verge of a massive depression in 1926. Her husband Archie insists for a divorce, so that he can marry his much younger mistress, and she suffers from a writer's block because her fans always guess the identity of the culprit of her stories via the wrong method. When she's literally begged to help solving the real-life murder of nurse Florence Nightingale, who got brutally bludgeoned to death on a train six years earlier, she sees an opportunity to both escape her personal problems and to perform research and seek inspiration for her work.

The plot isn't exactly plausible, but it's nice to see how the writers attempt to hint at the possible origin of famous Agatha Christie stories that followed after 1926, like the luring of guests to a remote location (And Then There Were None - 1939) and the train settings for "4.50 from Paddington" and "Murder on the Orient Express". The anti-climax actually fits the plot rather well. None of the performances are highly memorable, but the entire cast does their best. You're still better off reading an authentic Christie novel, but "The Truth of Murder" certainly isn't a waste of time.

A simply wonderful crime film that deserves watching and recommending to everyone. This should be watched as a Double Bill with the recent Murder On The Orient Express. The characters are never just one note as the writers and actors flesh out each part with real sparks of life. Agatha has some wonderful little put downs for the condescending men that she meet throughout the film, very much like Kenneth Branagh's film the dialogue is of the period and not modernised. The direction does look at the period with a modern eye, too how women where and are still treated by men and even other women. By the way i'm a man, make of that what you will. This film was a hoot to watch and a pleasure to recommend.

When I heard the premise, and heard that it wasn't endorsed by Agatha Christie's family, or indeed the estate, I feared the worst, so in truth I watched it with exceedingly low expectations, and is so often the case, I really enjoyed it. I thought the plot, direction, acting, and general vibe were all terrific.

The last time I watched something which tried to explain away Agatha's disappearance it involved The Doctor, Catherine Tate, and a giant wasp, this proposed a slightly more Earthly solution, but was equally as entertaining and witty.

Great acting, I loved Ruth Bradley's interpretation of the great writer, Samantha Spiro and Pippa Haywood were excellent also.

Bravo to those involved, a great Agatha Christie fix, ahead of The ABC Murders.

9/10