I'm glad some people liked it, but it was disappointing to me because it lacked suspense and tension.

It was OK as a psychological study, but I didn't really care about the solicitor's wife and their relationship - that's not what Christie is about imo. It just seemed like padding - as did the endless singing of the same song. The whole thing could have been done in an hour.

Dwelling on the coughing solicitor just made it more dreary and dull. The twist wasn't as big a shock as it should have been.

His popularity is a total mystery. He was awful in The Secret Agent too. And yes, that face...

Both. And more I should think.

I have not seen earlier versions, so I judge this version on it's own merits, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I thought the acting was excellent especially from Toby Jones and Andrea Riseborough.

Should have gone to Specsavers......

I still can't get Dobby's screachy voice out of my head. But now I also have that image of him (Mayhew not Dobby, lol) bonking last night. It was awful.

Unlike many people, I don't actually mind when they change the plot (or even shoe-horn Miss Marple into stories that didn't include her like they did with the last Marple series), provided it is entertaining and works as a story. Otherwise, they might as well is make a single version for posterity and never bother again.

I can forgive that because I'm in love with Mathew MacFadyen's Darcy.

(And I'm usually a purist about these things ).

I never watch dramas but was hooked by this from the start I thought the tension and suspense was played perfectly. He seemed to be choked by the smoky misty atmosphere and claustrophobia......
when the case was over his breathing got better and the air clearer...perfectly paced too , I was never bored. Kept expecting a twist but didn't expect this.
expected the star on the moons lover to be in on it or something....
best thing I've seen this christmas

I can't agree with that, when you think of what Joan Hickson's brilliant acting brought to Miss Marple.

Fair enough. Maybe because I have seen it before I was expecting something different.

But before her we had had Margaret Rutherford.

I must check out the original though

Oh God, yes!
"I love, I love, I love you.. " While standing in the field, with the morning sun raising behind him.. Sigh..

I think all this is true, I liked it because I cared about the solicitor and his wife. But if I didn't, then I would certainly think they got the balance all wrong. I liked what it said about John in the end, he was so desperate to win his wife's approval that he acted as bad as the 2 'monsters'. A good portrayal of the damage felt after the war..... although that isn't what the story is about is it? I totally get why people think it's drivel, they changed the focus of the story.

Also that song got on my nerves too.


I can accept that excuse we are only human. Though nobody lives up to Colin Firth for me, my first TV character love back in the day.

Can't agree with the comments complaining about lack of suspense, mystery and tension. I thought there was plenty and it definitely went up several gears tonight compared to last night. It was chilling, dark and disturbing. Very good I thought. In contrast, I was unmoved by last year's totally incredulous ATTWN.

That was excellent. Never saw that ending coming.

I haven't seen Margaret Rutherford's Miss Marple. She was a brilliant actress too, though.

She wound me up, because in my memory she was always pruning her rose bushes while a critical discussion was taking place right on the other side, too convenient (I was pretty young). That's all I think of when I imagine her lol.

I think that the "and then there were none" story doesn't really lend itself to filming. It's hard to transfer from the book, in my opinion.

It felt totally superfluous to the rest of the story - as if they had to tag it onto the end to get the full two hour running time. I think it would have worked better if that entire scene had been cut (ditto, the scene were they were clumsily having sex), so it had ended with Mayhew walking away from the Voles in the hotel corridor. Either that, or after the big reveal by the Voles, Mayhew returns to his hotel room, tells his wife he's going for a walk, then it cuts to him walking into the sea. He was distraught enough after the Voles' reveal - there was no need to suddenly have his wife kick him (metaphorically) in the guts.

The ending aside, I thought it was atmospheric and, on the whole, well acted (the scene with the maid being led to the execution room was particularly powerful). It did need to be better paced - they could easily have reduced it to 90 minutes.

She was brilliant as Miss Marple. The definitive version.

Margaret Rutherford only did 3 or 4 Christies but she was a loveable actress to people of my generation. Joan Hickson then did almost all of Agatha's works and became the definitive Marple albeit the physical opposite of Rutherford....

I can't really disagree as it is something they have changed for this version.

I viewed the murder as a means to understand Mayhew's character, the lengths he would go to. So it felt totally in keeping for me, but this isn't a character study technically so it is 'off'.

There's plenty of the full version of Margaret's Marple on Youtube