Agatha Christie : The Miss Marple Collection (12 Disc Box Set) [DVD] [1984]

As mentioned by other reviewers, but worth repeating, if you read Agatha Christie's books Joan Hickson was Miss Marple. Every nuance of her performance is perfect, even down to clearing her throat before answering the phone. The investigating policemen also shine, i.e. Inspector Craddock, superbly played by John Castle, and Inspector ['nutty?'] Slack, equally superbly played by David Horovitch really are a joy to watch. In fact most of the clever wry humour of this series derives from the interactions between Miss Marple and the police, as wisely the murderers and victims play it very dark and straight. The complete series is a joy to watch, achieving almost Miss Marple perfection, even down to the theme tune. Perhaps surprisingly we bought this DVD set for my 11 year old daughter who loves this series despite finding Wallace & Grommet and The curse of the WereRabbit a bit frightening. 'A Pocket full of Rye' is her favourite, so it can also be a real hit with the younger generation. My personal favourite episode is 'Nemesis'. Despite Miss Marple being her favourite character, Agatha Christie only wrote these 12 novels.

Other reviewers comment that these Miss Marple episodes have been edited from that originally broadcast [while others refute this], but to be honest I can't remember that far back - they were first shown from 1984 to 1992, and my daughter loves this DVD set anyway. It seems unlikely these programs have been edited, as the BBC has gone to a lot of trouble with this set to present all the episodes serialised and sequenced exactly as they were when first broadcast. All the DVDs are English audio only [mono], with English SDH [hard of hearing] subtitles, rated PG, Regions 2+4 PAL UK, 4:3 standard TV and run-time is 1350 minutes. There's no DVD extras though, and the DVD 'book' case is attractive but a little bulky [8cm wide]. The picture quality and colour balance of this DVD set is quite good on a standard TV, although the older episodes are predictably slightly fuzzier than the later ones. This series contrasts well with the recent Geraldine McEwan's Agatha Christie's Marple, who tends towards a rather good Margaret Rutherford impression - who herself certainly wasn't Agatha Christie's idea of Miss Marple, but she was great simply as Dame Margaret Rutherford.

If I had to chose though, this Joan Hickson's adaption easily gets my vote every time. Typical Miss Marple quotes: "She looks just like an ordinary, slightly nosey, old lady, which to some extent is just what she is. Her camouflage is perfect. [But] her reasoning is flawless, her powers of synthesis formidable; and above all she never lets go". "Human nature is the same everywhere", replied Miss Marple. "He called me Nemesis, you know" said Miss Marple, "and he wasn't being entirely humorous". Top marks to the BBC for persevering and adapting all twelve Miss Marple books to such a high standard.

Don't be confused by the "starter kit" review - this is in fact the full series of Joan Hickson's Miss Marple. 12 stories over 12 discs, from The Body In The Library to The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side. It's a classic series, the perfect interpretation of these stories, and BBC Drama at its very best. The recent ITV version doesn't even come close. Due to their period setting, these have dated well. Highly recommended.

There she sits: A white-haired lady dressed in tweeds, a pair of knitting needles in her lap, more interested in village gossip than in the goings-on of the world at large - and out of nothing, she utters sentences like that.

For more likely than not, another murder has been committed; and Miss Jane Marple, elderly spinster from the village of St. Mary Mead, just happens to find herself near the scene of the crime. And also more likely than not, while the police are still toddling around searching for clues she'll find the solution - relying on her ever-unfailing "village parallels;" those seemingly innocuous incidents of village life that make up the sum of Miss Marple's knowledge of human nature, and to which she routinely turns in unmasking even the cleverest killer. "Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle, appealing manner - Miss Wetherby is a mixture of vinegar and gush. Of the two Miss Marple is the more dangerous," already observes Vicar Clement, the narrator of Miss Marple's literary debut, 1930's "Murder at the Vicarage" (although in the BBC series, only her fifth adventure).

Originally airing on TV in the 1980s, the BBC's adaptations of Agatha Christie's twelve Miss Marple novels featured Joan Hickson in the title role; quickly establishing her as the quintessential Miss Marple even in the view of the grandmother (or rather, grand-aunt) of all village sleuths and "noticing kinds of persons"'s creator, Dame Agatha herself. (After seeing Hickson in an adaptation of her "Appointment With Death," as early as 1946 Christie reportedly sent her a note expressing the hope she would one day "play my dear Miss Marple.") Prior versions, partly involving rather high-octane casts, had seen as Miss Marple, inter alia, Angela Lansbury and Margaret Rutherford, but had been decidedly less faithful to Christie's books. While Lansbury holds her own fairly well when compared to the character's literary original in 1980's "Hollywood does Christie" version of "The Mirror Crack'd" (and that movie's ageing actresses' showdown featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Kim Novak is a delight to watch), the four movies starring Rutherford are only loosely based on Christie's books: Dame Margaret's Miss Marple, although itself likewise a splendid performance, has about as much to do with Agatha Christie's demure and seemingly scatterbrained village sleuth as Big Ben does with the English countryside, and of the scripts, only "Murder, She Said" is an adaptation of a Miss Marple mystery ("4:50 From Paddington"), whereas two of the others - "Murder at the Gallop" and "Murder Most Foul" - are actually Hercule Poirot stories ("After the Funeral" and "Mrs. McGinty's Dead," respectively), and "Murder Ahoy" is based on a completely independent screenplay.

Following the rule that ever since Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Lestrade every great private detective needs a policeman he can outwit, the creators of the BBC series inserted the character of Inspector Slack into almost all storylines - hardly in keeping with the literary originals, which are set over a period of more than 30 years and thus, exceed the career span of a policeman already advanced on his professional path at the time of his first encounter with Miss Marple; even if the BBC's Slack is promoted from D.I. in the series's first instalment, 1984's "The Body in the Library" (where he really does appear) to Superintendent in 1992's "The Mirror Crack'd" (which is originally only an Inspector Craddock story). Yet, Hickson's and Horovitch's face-offs are a fun addition; and one is almost ready to pity Slack, who hardly ever gets a foot down vis-a-vis Miss Marple's quick rejoinders and, in the words of her friend, retired Scotland Yard chief Sir Henry Clithering, "wonderful gift to state the obvious." (During a conversation with Craddock [John Castle] in "The Mirror Crack'd," Slack - whom Miss Marple herself, in the TV adaptation of "Murder at the Vicarage," has already likened to a railway diesel engine, or in that story's literary original to a shoe vendor intent on selling you patent leather boots while completely ignoring your request for brown calf leather instead - unaware that he is talking to one of Aunt Jane's nephews, rather unsubtly credits her with having "a mind like a meat cleaver.")

Although Agatha Christie herself reportedly preferred Miss Marple over Hercule Poirot, the demands of her audience compelled her to bring back the moustachioed Belgian with the many little grey cells much more frequently than the village sleuth from St. Mary Mead. All the greater the tribute paid to "Dear Aunt Jane" in these lovingly-executed adaptations - and how wonderful to finally see them reunited in a single box set.

Episodes:

"The Body in the Library" (written 1942, BBC 1984)
"The Moving Finger" (written 1942, BBC 1985)
"A Murder Is Announced" (written 1950, BBC 1985)
"A Pocket Full of Rye" (written 1953, BBC 1985)
"Murder at the Vicarage" (written 1930, BBC 1986)
"4:50 From Paddington" (written 1947, BBC 1987, a/k/a "What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!")
"At Bertram's Hotel" (written 1965, BBC 1987)
"Sleeping Murder" (written 1976, BBC 1987)
"Nemesis" (written 1971, BBC 1987)
"A Caribbean Mystery" (written 1965, BBC 1989)
"They Do It With Mirrors" (written 1952, BBC 1991)
"The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side" (written 1962, BBC 1992)