Agatha Christie's Marple

I am an Agatha Christie scholar, who has researched her work for years. Does that make me a better viewer? Not necessarily, but a more attentive one. I can honestly say this is one of the best TV adaptations and definitely worth of 10 stars. It's got everything and more. Please give it a chance and stop comparing it against other productions.

A series of adaptations of Agatha Christie novels, with Miss Jane Marple as the central character. A seemingly innocuous elderly woman with no background in criminal investigation, she has a knack for solving crimes, particularly murder.

Not in the same league as Agatha Christie's Poirot (the series starring David Suchet), but generally quite watchable. Miss Marple herself is quite bland, and certainly does not have enough colour or presence to carry an entire episode, let alone a series of 23 episodes. This is regardless of whether we are talking about the first 12 episodes, when Geraldine McEwan played Marple, or the final 11 episodes, when she was played by Julia McKenzie. McKenzie was the better of the two, having more gravitas and presence than McEwan, but neither inject much colour or engagement into proceedings.

To compensate for Marple's dullness, the main secondary characters are given depth, and are often made the focus of the episode. This includes some potentially interesting sub-plots and backstories. Marple is a fringe character for much of the episode and then swoops in towards the end to solve the crime. This strategy is not always employed, unfortunately, and, when it is, is not always done well, depending largely on the writing for the episode and the quality of the performances.

The mysteries themselves are generally quite intriguing. In some ways, this is where the Marple series is better than Poirot. Poirot mysteries were often highly complex, to the point of implausibility, with far-fetched back stories. Marple mysteries are more relatable and plausible.

I read and enjoyed all the Agatha Christies when I was a teenager. Despite this I love these adaptions, and I enjoy the new twists we get in the screenplays.

I have to say that Geraldine McEwan for me is the consummate Miss Marple, as envisaged by Agatha Christie, managing to combine the ideas of sweet little old lady, knitting pink woollies for babies, with intelligence, humour and determination. 'Just passing were you, Miss Marple?' 'Oh, Mr Burton!'

Julia McKenzie is not nearly as successful - have you noticed that her garb is far more severe, with jackets, stiff collars and plain hats rather than the cardigans, and flowery hats of McEwen? Even Joan Hickson, in the earlier series filmed in the 80s and early 90s, does not match EcEwan for authenticity.

I was absolutely gutted when the BBC regained the rights of Agatha Christie from ITV, there were still a few stories that could have been done to feature Miss M, The Seven dials mystery being one.

It's a very difficult series to rate, because the productions ranged from awful to wonderful. Why didn't they ask Evans and The Sittaford Mystery being the low points, with brilliance coming from the likes of The Blue Geranium, A Murder is announced and The Moving Finger.

Adaptations ranged from fairly accurate, A Pocket full of Rye and A Murder is announced, to wildly re written, Nemesis perhaps being the most altered.

They weren't afraid to add Jane Marple to Christie books where she hadn't appeared, in some cases it worked brilliantly, The Pale Horse and Greenshaw's Folly being about the best.

Initially we had Geraldine McEwan, pretty different to the character from the book, but cheeky with a sparkle, and a spry sense of humour. McEwan was unable to return for series 4, so Julia McKenzie was cast to take over. McKenzie was more accurate to the character in my opinion, and when the writing was good, she shone, wonderful in both The Pale Horse and Blue Geranium.

They seemed to take a few risks when it came to casting, we had Elaine Page, Griff Rhys Jones, Harry Enfield, Lisa Stansfield, all actually worked brilliantly, cast against type. The performance highlights came from Zoe Wannamaker, Sharon Small, Shirley Henderson and Fiona Shaw. The only time I felt the acting was in question was during 'Evans,' for that one I blame the script and poor direction.

Glorious scenery throughout, I loved the house that was used as Miss Marple's residence, such a pretty place. The period detail was spot on so many times, in terms of outfits and styling they nailed it, Bertram's wasn't my favourite adaptation but it's a beautiful looking episode, the sets and clothes are sumptuous.

The music was a little overdone at times, more so in Series 1, but a lot of the time it was enjoyable and melodic, The Body in the Library and Murder is Easy being better examples.

You need to watch these adaptations with an open mind, purists of Christie's work are likely to watch with unease. The acting throughout the series was excellent, it was the writers and producers that made the episodes great or poor.

People will always compare these adaptations to the BBC's, I did myself, but try to enjoy them without the comparisons, there'd have been no point making them identically, so plaudits for trying something different, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

My best advice for viewers of this series, especially for diehard Christie fans? Let everything you know about Miss Marple GO. Let it go, forget what you've read, what you've watched. Give up on comparisons. Let the 30's become the 50's. Let the artistic liberties override the canon. Stop being the Christie aficionado, expert, fanatic. Put your expectations in the bin and relax.

I basically learned to read with Christie novels...she introduced me to a lifetime obsession with detective stories, especially British-based adventures. I grew up loving Poirot, Tommy and Tuppence, and Miss Marple. I read and reread all of the stories. I also watched all the PBS/BBC adaptations over the years and yep Hickson was, in my mind and obviously in the minds of the majority of the raters here, the best personification of Jane Marple.

But in letting go of what I expected to see, and in allowing myself to NOT compare McEwan to Hickson and canon to plot changes, I was able to enjoy this series for what it is: a delightful, campy, visually wonderful entertainment opportunity. If you have any questions about how the look and feel of this series is, just watch the introductory titles.

Just. Let. GO. And allow yourself to enjoy the fun. If you can't, well, you're definitely going to be disappointed, which in and of itself is....disappointing.