Tommy & Tuppence: Partners in Crime Set 1 [DVD] [1983] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

"The Secret Adversary" and the short story collection "Partners in Crime" (both from 1922) were Agatha Christie's second and third-ever book, but their quirky protagonists, Tommy and "Tuppence" (Prudence) Beresford, were not to share the eventful career of their colleague Hercule Poirot, who had debuted two years earlier with "The Mysterious Affair at Styles;" nor that of Christie's almost equally well-loved (and personal favorite) village sleuth Miss Marple, whose first adventure ("Murder at the Vicarage") would not be published until 1930. Christie only authored three more Beresford mysteries: 1941's "N or M?" (a WWII spy thriller set in a coastal guesthouse), 1968's "By the Pricking of My Thumbs" (where a visit to a nursing home prompts them to track down the real-life object of a painting, only to find themselves hunting for a child murderer) and "Postern of Fate" (1973), the last book written by Christie (although not the last one published); more a postscript to the superior earlier stories.

Not as eccentric as Poirot and Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence are nevertheless immediately likeable, and perfectly cast in this 1980 - 1982 TV series with Francesca Annis and James Warwick, reprising their successful collaboration from the 1980 realization of Christie's "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" Taking its title from the second entry in the Beresford cycle, originally only the short stories contained in "Partners in Crime" were developed for television; "The Secret Adversary," although set earlier in the literary originals' sequence and providing critical background information on the couple's friendship, was only adapted as a feature film two years later. (Fortunately, the original order is restored in this video and DVD release.)

Although "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" had already proved Christie to be a writer of exceptional talent, her first Tommy and Tuppence adventures - penned for financial reasons as much as out of a desire to write - still show her style as a work in progress, sometimes lacking certainty as to what exactly works in terms of characterization and storylines. While she succeeds, like in the first Poirot mystery, to immediately draw in her audience, and the Beresfords are presented in as much detail as the little Belgian with the many gray cells, the plotlines - particularly that of "The Secret Adversary" - sometimes stretch credibility and have a whiff of the kind of story that Arthur Conan Doyle could get away with 20 years earlier, but which Christie herself (wisely) only took up infrequently later (and generally with more solidly constructed plotlines and often with Poirot as the main character). Thus, if the televised versions of these early Tommy and Tuppence stories appear somewhat less convincing than the subsequent, more acclaimed adaptations of Christie's Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries, this is at least partly owing to the literary originals themselves: The creators of the TV series reproduced the mysteries' "swinging Twenties" setting successfully and with a fine eye for detail; and Francesca Annis and James Warwick give terriffic performances as the vivacious, hat-loving Tuppence and her (almost) equally witty, slightly more settled husband.

Tommy and Tuppence's boisterous young assistant Alfred is portrayed by Reece Dinsdale (best known, since, as Guildenstern in Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" and D.I. Scott in the mid-1990s British cop show "Thief Takers"); and there are recurrent appearances by British TV regular Arthur Cox as Detective Inspector Marriott, in the televised version chiefly responsible for establishing the couple as owners of Blunt's International Detective Agency (in the books, the agency is a cover for the Beresfords' spy activities), who informally continues to consult them whenever he feels that Scotland Yard's official capacities have reached their limits.

"The Secret Adversary" sees Tommy and Tuppence after the end of WWI, both out of work (Tommy has been an intelligence officer, Tuppence a nurse) and looking for adventure. That opportunity presents itself when, as a result of two newspaper ads, they are sent on the hunt for a lost treaty which, if published now, would cause a general strike and throw the country into turmoil, thus playing into the hands of a mysterious criminal known only as "Mr. Brown," and set on nothing less than the attainment of absolute power. The key to the treaty is believed to lie with a young American woman named Jane Finn, who has likewise disappeared and whose cousin Julius P. Hersheimer (or is he really?), Tommy and Tuppence learn, is "the third richest man in America." - Further notable appearances here include those of Alec McCowen (influential barrister Sir James Peele Edgerton), Gavan O'Herlihy (Hersheimer), Peter Barkworth (intelligence chief Carter) and Honor Blackman, as well as George Baker of "Inspector Wexford" fame, as members of "Mr. Brown"'s gang.

The shorter "Partners in Crime" mysteries have Tommy and Tuppence hunting for a vanished perl and uncovering, in turn, the mastermind behind a string of poisonings (drawing on Christie's trademark knowledge acquired when she was a nurse in WWI herself), the culprit of a murder during a masked ball, and the evil spirits responsible for a series of seemingly unearthly occurrences in an old house (again drawing on Christie's own experience, as the sleuthing couple's client is compelled - like Christie's mother periodically - to rent out rooms in her large house as a means of survival). The common trait of these mysteries is Tommy and Tuppence's repeated assumption of the roles of famous literary detectives; most obviously by attending the aforementioned masked ball disguised as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

While not quite on the level of Christie's more famous mysteries and their recent TV adaptations, this series is an enjoyable romp through the the swinging 1920s' London. And who knows - maybe 20+ years after its initial airing we'll see a realization of one of Tommy and Tuppence's later adventures? Annis and Warwick might be about the right age for "N or M" now ... or even better, "By the Pricking of My Thumbs," which unlike the earlier mysteries easily stands up with the best of Christie's other works!

My wife is really a Agatha Christie fan. So she has all the poirot serie and just want to have the tommy & tuppance serie.
She did like to see them again and got a lot of memories,=. allthough it isn't subttitled she could follow it very good .

So she likes to watch trhis over and over again.
Just like the poirot's.

A marvellous writer was Agatha Christie

The Secret Adversary

Who is Mr. Brown?

After the Great War, out of work Captain, Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) accidentally comes across his lifelong friend and pal Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley (Francesca Annis). Tuppence is also out of work. Over their sparse meal they speculate on doing any job of anybody for outrageous fees.

This speculative talk was over heard and the wheels are set in motion when Tuppence is given the opportunity and gives what she thinks is a false name. This sets off a series of events that employs them to find a missing girl and the identity of a mysterious Mr. Brown.

Made for TV and fairly transparent, this film still has all the ambiance of a BBC Agatha Christy production. It is a period piece and employs many major English actors. One actor you can recognize right off is Honor Blackman who played Pussy_Galore in "Goldfinger" (1964).

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The Affair of the Pink Pearl

A pearl of great price

After their re-introduction in "The Secret Adversary", it looks like Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and Tuppence (Francesca Annis) are married and after finishing their first case are looking for a little more action. They get the opportunity to purchase the international detective agency and with the help of their new friend Albert (Reece Dinsdale) set up shop.

Before Tommy can stop her Tuppence promises their first client their 24 hour guaranteed special. If they can pull this off then they will be in with the right crowd to be thought of incase a pink pearl should end up missing.

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House of Lurking Death

Death is like a box of chocolates

Agatha Christie's "The House of Lurking death" adapted by Jonathan Hales.

Mary Chilcott (Louisa Rix) receives a box of chocolates. She naturedly shares them with others to find that the chocolates were lased with poison. Not enough to kill but to make everyone sick. Being private and figuring that the anonymous came from someone in that very house, contacts Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and Tuppence (Francesca Annis) of the international detective agency.

Naturally as with their first two episodes or movies Tommy and Tuppence are both wise beyond their time and do some of the dumbest things that lead them to the solution of the problem. Will they be there in time to save Mary or if not will they be able to figure out who and how it was done. More important why.

As with most of the Partners in Crime series we are fare ahead of them on the whom. The fun is to watch them figure out not only the whom but the other details. This story is a period piece of just after The Great War.

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Finessing the King

Keep your eye on the queen of hearts

Agatha Christie's "Finessing the King" adapted by Gerald Savory.

Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and wife/ assistant Tuppence (Francesca Annis) of the international detective agency are getting bored when Tuppence notices an anonymous advertisement in
The Daily Leader (local new paper.)

"I should go three hearts, twelve tricks, Ace of spades, necessary to finesse the king."

Of course it is an obvious secret message. However being clever they figure that the message is some sort of rendezvous. It is to take part at the Three Arts Ball (costume ball) where one of the sleuths gets to dress up as Sherlock Homes and the other as Dr. Watson. One guess as to who gets to be homes.

After the ball is over, like most of the revelers, they go to xxx to have a drink an early breakfast. There they notice a man costumed as the local paper entering a private booth with a woman and coming out alone. We are way ahead of them on the plot

As with most of the "Partners in Crime" series we are fare ahead of them on the whom. The fun is to watch them figure out not only the whom but the other details. This story is a period piece of just after The Great War.

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The Clergyman's Daughter

A mysterious man with a gold tooth

Agatha Christie's "The Clergyman's Daughter" adapted by Paul Annett.

Miss Dean, a clergyman's daughter inherits The Red House, a great house, from her father's deceased and supposedly rich old aunt. Nobody has found any money so to keep the house she must rent it out. The only problem is that it appears to be haunted. There are other complications.

Miss Dean turns to Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and wife/ assistant Tuppence (Francesca Annis) of the international detective agency for help as had been predicted by Tuppence.

As with most of the "Partners in Crime" series we are fare ahead of them on the whom. The fun is to watch them figure out not only the whom but the other details. This story is a period piece of just after The Great War.

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Made for TV and fairly transparent, this film still has all the ambiance of a BBC Agatha Christy production. It is a period piece and employs many major English actors. Detective Inspector Marriott (Arthur Cox) played the newspaper reporter Salcombe Hardy in Dorothy L. Sayers' Have His Carcase (1987).

Agatha Christie's Romantic Detectives (Tommy & Tuppence 1 & 2 / Why Didn't They Ask Evans? / Seven Dials Mystery / Agatha Christie A Life in Pictures)

Agatha Christie's Seven Dials Mystery