Giles and his beautiful New Zealander wife Gwenda return to the UK, whilst driving through the sleepy village of Dilmouth, they drive past a house which Gwenda falls in love with, the couple quickly snap it up and move in. Gwenda starts to feel deja vu and memories of the house haunt her, she feels like she's been there before and also believes she witnessed a murder there. Miss Marple is called in to solve the puzzle and protect Gwenda.
Sleeping Murder is one of my favourite Agatha Christie novels, it has some really dark elements to it, it's very captivating with real life and intriguing characters. I think the production team did an excellent job making it, they characters seem like real people, nobody is too over the top, the story is not too way out.
There are several scenes that stand out, firstly the Dutchess of Malfi play, Jacobean drama is particularly heavy, but those words 'cover her faced mind eyes dazzle she died young,' they have such an impact, Gwenda's reaction is wonderfully sincere, the whole staging of the scene is brilliant. The unveiling of the murderer scene is also brilliant, so creepy and sinister.
There is lots of tension, they succeeded in creating a definite sense of unease, the music is really spot on, it fits perfectly. The English countryside looks so beautiful too.
The acting as always is spot on, not a single weak link in the chain. Joan Hickson is as always bang on the money. John Bennett is excellent as Richard Erskine, what a great actor. Freddie Treves is very good as the sinister Doctor Kennedy, John Moulder Brown is charming as Giles, but it's Geraldine Alexander that puts in a truly fabulous and believable performance as Gwenda, her interpretation is somehow better and more sincere then the character in the book. For years I believed she was actually a New Zealander, so she did a good job with the accent.
An excellent production that's a must for any fan of mysteries, may be a little plodding for some, but I think it's spot on, beautifully acted it's such a clever story. 9/10 Miss Marple as the hero!
