Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple Gift Set (1984)

I am not quite sure why the BBC chose to start its new series with these three stories. Perhaps it was simply the setting, since two of the three were first published in exactly the same timeframe as the dramatizations were to be set. However, they passed over two stories in that era when choosing the third story. Perhaps it was just that these three stories made the best vehicles to show off their choice as Joan Hickson for Miss Marple. In the twelve Miss Marple novels, the aging sleuth gets really annoyed with the villains only four times, these stories represent three of them.


The Body in the Library

The body of a pretty young woman is found in the library at Gossington Hall, home of Colonel and Mrs. Arthur Bantry. The police have a hard time believing that no-one in the house has any idea who she is or how she got there. Fortunately, Dolly Bantry asks an old friend to help -- Miss Jane Marple.


A Murder Is Announced

A murder is announced in the Chipping Cleghorne Gazette to take place on October 5th, 7:00 PM at Little Paddocks cottage. The residents, Miss Blaylock, her cousins Patrick and Julia, her friend Miss Bunner and Mrs.Haymes the gardener, all claim to have no idea what it is about. It is hardly surprising when several neighbors drop by under false pretenses. At precisely 7:00 the lights go out and a shots ring out. When they come back on, a body lies on the floor. Miss Marple must unravel the mystery quickly, before the killer can strike again.


A Pocket Full of Rye

Wealthy business man Rex Fortescue is a tyrant and a bully. When he collapses in his office and the autopsy shows he was poisoned, no one is particularly upset or surprised. However, when the fast rising body count includes the hideous murder of a young friend of Miss Marple, she takes it very personally.

Crime Does Pay

The third disk of the current edition includes Crime Does Pay, a 1990 episode of the British television show Western Approach. The city of Torquay threw a celebration of the 100th birthday of their favorite citizen, the late Agatha Christie on September 15, 1890. This show focuses on Dame Agatha, her life, her work, and her legacy. It includes the first formal meeting between Miss Jane Marple (Joan Hickson) and Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) who greet each other in character.

Obviously, the original 1984 release of this set did not include this 30-minute documentary. I cannot be sure, but most of the complaints about DVD quality and packaging seem centered on the old release of this set, which has a cover quite different from the one shown above. I have not been able to find a copy of the earlier version to check this out myself.

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The following series review information was first published as part of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple - Collection 1 and Agatha Christie's Miss Marple - Collection 2.

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Joan Hickson as Miss Jane Marple.

While there have been a lot of dramatizations of the works of Agatha Christie (1890-1976) and many actresses have played her best known detective, Miss Jane Marple, few have done it well. It was not until the BBC began a series of Miss Marple in 1984 with veteran actress Joan Hickson (1906-98) in the title role that the famed amateur sleuth finally came to life on the screen.

The success of this series was immediate, and from 1984-1992, all twelve of Christies full-length Miss Marple novels were presented. Of course, the series came with the usual high BBC production values and excellent supporting casts, but is really Hickson's signature portrayal of Jane Marple that set this series apart from all others, and makes it the definitive collection of these wonderful stories.

Now it is true that Margaret Rutherford made a smashing success playing Miss Jane Marple in a series of movies in the 1960s, which are remarkably funny and highly recommended in their own right. Yet Rutherford's Miss Marple was a far cry from the quiet English lady of the novels. It was no secret that her boisterous, robust, comedic Miss Marple was not at all to Christie's taste. However, those movies may inadvertently have lead to Hickson getting the role. Reportedly, Christie met Joan Hickson on the set of Murder She Said (1961), while she was playing the supporting role of Mrs. Kidder. In a 1993 interview, Miss Hickson recalled "She said to me, 'Someday I would like you to play my Miss Marple.' I was quite taken aback, as I was young at the time!"

Time has made it clear that this was one case in which the author knew best. Hickson has the perfect touch for Miss Marple, having just the right mix of doddery old biddy and relentless killer shark. She knits and chatters her way through afternoon tea, while her keen mind and infallible insight into criminal behavior tears away at the facades of all around her. She hears everything, sees everything, says nothing and believes even less. As Miss Marple herself comments in one mystery, "Very dangerous to believe people, I haven't for years."

Hickson, who was already 78 by the time the first episode aired, is really a perfect match for the Miss Marple of the novels. She is old, frail, white haired and just a little unsure on her legs. She underplays her role brilliantly, simply being around while things happen, gossiping apparently aimlessly while hardly ever asking a direct question. With a series of "Ohs" and 'Ahs", she allows her pray to talk away, never sensing the danger that lies behind her sharp eyes. Only in private conversation with the police or her rare confrontation with the murderer, does she reveal herself to be a ruthless criminologist, with razor sharp logic and a rat-trap mind. Very little escapes her. One police inspector who had been embarrassed more than once by her sleuthing skills, remarks to an associate, "She slithers around like a velvet cobra." And so she does...

Of course, Joan Hickson was no stranger to Agatha Christie roles. She has appeared on screen 15 times in parts based on Christie novels:

Love from a Stranger (1937)
Murder She Said (1961)
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (1980) (TV)

The Body in the Library (1984) (TV)
The Moving Finger (1985) (TV)
A Murder Is Announced (1985) (TV)
A Pocket Full of Rye (1985) (TV)
The Murder at the Vicarage (1986) (TV)
Sleeping Murder (1987) (TV)
At Bertram's Hotel (1987) (TV)
Nemesis (1987) (TV)
4.50 from Paddington (1987) (TV)
A Caribbean Mystery (1989) (TV)
They Do It with Mirrors (1991) (TV)
The Mirror Crack'd (1992) (TV)

She also made audio tapes reading Miss Marple's 13 short stories. In addition she has played in Christie works on stage. In fact, some credit Joan Hickson's performance in a stage version of Agatha Christie's Appointment with Death as being the "real" first time Christie chose Hickson to play Miss Marple. With both ladies now deceased, who can say?

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Agatha Christie's Miss Marple Bibliography.

# 1930 The Murder at the Vicarage (introduced Jane Marple)
# 1933 The Thirteen Problems (Thirteen short mysteries, featuring Miss Marple)
# 1942 The Body in the Library
# 1942 The Moving Finger
# 1950 A Murder is Announced
# 1952 They Do It with Mirrors
# 1953 A Pocket Full of Rye
# 1957 4.50 From Paddington (also known as What Mrs. McGillycuddy Saw)
# 1962 The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
# 1964 A Caribbean Mystery
# 1965 At Bertram's Hotel
# 1971 Nemesis
# 1976 Sleeping Murder (Miss Marple's last case, written four decades earlier)

Notice that this isn't the order that the TV shows were released. While the novels are not heavily intertwined and can be read in virtually any order, there are continuing minor characters, some of whom die during the course of the series. However, it is hard to complain about the TV series mixing things up, when Christie did it herself. Miss Marple's last case was actually the third Miss Marple novel written, but Agatha Christie would not allow it to be released until after her death. Consequently it "resurrects" characters that have been long deceased, further muddying the true sequence.

One petty quibble of mine was that A Caribbean Mystery has major characters in common with Nemesis. In fact, by releasing Nemesis first, the BBC gave away an important plot twist in A Caribbean Mystery. Perhaps that was why they rearranged the order of the shows when they made the DVDs available in sets. Alas, for me it was already too late.

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The Productions.

As is clear from the bibliography, the first novels were written in the 1930s - between the wars. However, the BBC chose to set this series in the quiet, peaceful, British countryside following World War II. This is an ideal setting. Much of the rural village landscape had little changed by the 1980s, and the period costumes and cars were still readily available. Also, it has the significant advantage of being before modern forensics redefined the detective story.

Of course, since I was a child in England in the 1950s, the setting contains considerable nostalgia value, but it also allows me to verify the accuracy not only of the places and costumes, but also the character and nature of the people. This all felt very real to me.

As is normal in a BBC production, the cast is composed of the fine character actors with which the country apparently abounds. The high quality of the performances applies not only to the leads, but right down to the cameos and walk-ons. The sets too are first rate, and the choice of locations also adds much to the mood.

The first two of the stories (The Body in the Library and A Murder Is Announced) were originally aired in three 50 minute episodes, while the rest of the series were two episodes each.

As to the stories themselves, I must admit that of all the great detectives, I find the cases of Miss Marple to be the most baffling. Like most mystery fans, I like to treat the stories as a puzzle and try to detect the villain before the hero does. In this, I am usually successful. However, time and again I found myself approaching the end of a Miss Marple story with no idea of the true culprit or their motive.

Finally, it dawned upon me that I was in part, following along with the thinking of the fictional detective by analyzing their reasoning from the questions they ask. Miss Marple confuses me because she does not ask questions. She hovers; she listens; she observes. Rarely does she give any inkling as to what she is thinking, who she suspects, or even what information she thinks important. On the rare instances she does reveal her thoughts, she asks strange enigmatic questions. In one case she says to the Chief Inspector investigating a murder, that the real question was why a murdered girl was not wearing her best dress. If we could understand that, she assures him, the murderer would be quickly revealed. What is even more baffling is that she was right.

However, fun as solving the mystery was, it only accounted for the first time I saw each show. (Actually, that really only counted for 10 of them. For one of them I remembered the villain from a movie, and for another I had already read the book.) What is really amazing about these productions is their rewatchability. Even after seeing my favorite episodes three or four times, I still spot some new nuance when I see them again. This is the kind of staying power that only the very best productions can provide.

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DVD Quality.

I have seen all of these mysteries, most several times, but since I caught some of them on PBS and A&E, I cannot swear that I have seen every single DVD. Normally, that would not be important, but in doing my research on the Internet, I came upon a number of reviews complaining about the quality of the DVDs. I also came upon a similar number of reviews saying that the DVDs were fine. I can only say that I have seen DVDs from every set of shows, and I have never seen anything to complain about myself. Whether this was an early problem that was fixed, a problem with a bad batch or a problem with a single DVD, I cannot say.

I can't imagine that anything short of the most abysmal quality could make a show about a very old lady chatting become "unwatchable" as one reviewer claimed. Here the value is in the story, the script, the plots and the incredible performances. Whether or not I can count the lampposts on a distant mountain on a HD TV seems rather irrelevant. Still, I would be remiss as a reviewer if I did not mention this issue here.

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The DVD Sets

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple Gift Set (1984)
- The Body in the Library
- A Murder Is Announced
- A Pocket Full of Rye

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple - Collection 1 (2001)
- The Mirror Crack'd
- 4:50 from Paddington
- A Caribbean Mystery
- Sleeping Murder

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple - Collection 2 (2002)
- The Murder at the Vicarage
- Nemesis
- At Bertram's Hotel
- They Do It with Mirrors
- The Moving Finger

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: Classic Mysteries Collection (2006)

- Includes all 9 mysteries from Collection 1 and 2.

Agatha Christie's Marple: Series 1 (2005) Starring: Geraldine McEwan

This is a recent ITV remake of four of the stories (Murder at the Vicarage, The Body in the Library, A Murder Is Announced, and 4:50 From Paddington) with Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple. While there is no doubt that this is a fine quality production, eminently watchable and I love Geraldine McEwan, it simply does not compare to the earlier series. After seeing Joan Hickson in the role, it is going to be very difficult to watch it played by anyone else. McEwan has to work so very hard to achieve the stillness that comes naturally to Hickson.

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Recommended: Yes

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