Happy Christmas to the Agatha Christie estate
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Blimey there hasn't been a day over the festive period when I haven't turned on the TV to find an Agatha Christie based programme on. David Suchet or Peter Ustinov as Poirot and then there is the trio of Miss Marple programmes.
Watched them all though !:D
Watched them all though !:D
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Alibi has been showing the real Miss Marple as well
I cant get alibi.:(
I know many regard Joan Hickson as the definitive Miss Marple, but I don't actually remember the Miss Marple of the books being quite as dotty and dithering as JH always portrayed her.
I'm quite comfortable with the recent characterisations (Geraldine McEwan & Julia McKenzie), though not so keen on the actual screenplays.
I quite liked the back story of the Geraldine McEwan version, with the forsaken love of WW1, and the penchant for American thrillers.
Anyway, at least they're not Margaret Rutherford.
Strangely enough, for me the dreadful mess that ITV has made of the character has led me to appreciate the Rutherford Marple a lot more
She was quite dotty and dithering in the books, but is often using it as a mask as that is what people think harmless old ladies should be like. The people who know her better, tend to view her as an interfering busybody/nosy parker. In the books she's quite often called an "old pussy", definitely not a good thing to google
Agatha Christie based programme
Disclaimer: Any resemblance between this programme and the original Christie novel is purely coincidental.
THe AC Estate is really onto something here. Hundreds of jobbing writers are producing brand new scripts (just drawing on a list of titles and character names provided by Agatha Christie). People watch what is in effect a new story, so they dont become stale. Each one earns a bob or two for the estate, without needing AC around to write anything.
I watched most of them as well.
I quite enjoy them, I just pretend they're not supposed to be Miss Marple stories.
I was meaning the way she half talks to herself, and the apologetic way she offers advice to the police. She seems to come over as unsure, when really she is not. I think the recent players have been more definite, which I think is a more accurate characterisation. Having said that, the screenplays for Joan Hickson were better, IMO.
You're spot on - that's always been the beauty of the character. On the outside she's a stereotypical dotty old lady but on the inside her mind is as shrewd as they come. People who take her at face value do so at their peril.
Characters with something to hide are often lulled into a false sense of security because of the way Miss Marple comes across initially. That enables her to do a lot of digging without anyone realising what she's up to. In fact, she's fully aware of how she's perceived and consciously uses it to her advantages at times.
Miss Marple in the books acted dotty and dithering in order to gain information and be seen as non threatening, but she was steely and firm when things needed to be done. I think Joan Hickson got it spot on - if you watch the dramatisations with Joan playing the role you will see that she's only dotty and dithering some of the time!
I love watching adaptations of Agatha Christie's books - for me David Suchet is a perfect Poirot - he's just how I imagined Poirot might look from Ms Christie's desciptions.
The only problem of course is, I've read all the books so many times, the reveal of the murderer is never going to be a surprise to me. I actually enjoy looking at who they have cast to play all the various characters, then shake my head disapprovingly or smile appreciatively depending on whether I think they got it right or not.
Thanks. I just dont particularly remember that side of her. But it is many years since I read the books.
The copyright extends to (I think) 70 years after the death of the Author, not when the book was written. It may not be 70 years, but it certainly starts from the Author's death.
I think Christie died in the 70s, in which case copyright still has plenty of time to run - over 40 years still left if 70 years is correct.
Dame Agatha died in 1976 so if the 70 year thing is right that the copyright would run out in 2046
Suchet is the definitive Poirot just as Brett was the definitive Holmes.
Geraldine McEwan is bad enough (but at least she wasn't the main character) but the 'plot' - not to mention the SFX!!
I know the house in the episode was called The Chimmneys, and it was on itv.
Thanks