Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage

Joan Hickson was the embodiment of Miss Marple. Many actresses have played Miss Marple but none of them have surpassed Joan Hickson's portrayal. This is the first story of Miss marples debut not counting the short story that was previously published. I think if Agatha Christie was alive when this was out she would have been pleased. Excellent who done it. I miss those days.

When Mrs. LaStrange first attends services, the vicar asks if she is just there "for the season", to which she said, "Well, to everything there is a season". The vicar replies, "Oh yes, "Proverbs'". No, that quote is from the Book of Ecclesiastes. One would think vicar would know that. BTW, this exchange does not appear in the novel.

Also, Mr. Dawes, the curate, is described to be a Jesuit. Why would what appears to be a Presbyterian church employ a Catholic priest? The curate is in the novel, but is never referred to as a Jesuit.

It is difficult to understand ITV's decision to remake the Miss Marple series, because in Joan Hickson we have the definitive interpretation of Agatha Christie's amateur sleuth. This particular story, Miss Marple's first fictional outing,dates from 1930, but the writer, T.R. Bowen has skilfully updated it to the 1950s. The script is witty and the cast is endowed with such acting stalwarts as Paul Eddington and Rosalie Crutchley. If the plot does not seem so original now it is because Christie's work was so often copied, and what must have seemed innovative in 1930 now appears to be hackneyed. All that said it is a story well told and worth a couple of hours of anyone's time.

Like Cabot Cove in Maine, USA, St.Mary Mead in Great Britain seems to be the murder capital of that country. You would think so with Miss Marple solving all those murders in and around there.

The murder victim in this case is a very nasty sort of man who has the title colonel from his army days. Robert Lang is a nasty version of that satirical figure from the United Kingdom between the wars Colonel Blimp. his guy expects his family to address him as Colonel and they do. He's pretty disliked by one and all.

Reverend Paul Eddington finds Lang slumped over his (Eddington's) desk at the vicarage. There's a long list of suspects.

What the two who planned it also planned to use Jane Marple as an alibi witness as they know she's outside tending her garden at the time planned. Both make sure Joan Hickson sees them. It's what throws off both Scotland Yard as Miss Marple.

Hickson comes pretty close to what I think Agatha Christie wanted in Jane Marple. Hickson was 80 when she did this Marple series for the BB, this particular episode. The villains think her advanced age makes dotty. But she fools them.

I really enjoyed this adaptation of "The Murder at the Vicarage". It is not as good as the delightful "A Murder is Announced" but it is very enjoyable, and not only one of the better Joan Hickson adaptations, but a considerable improvement over the Geraldine McEwan version(though that was one of the better adaptations of that series I feel). The pace is solid, the pace was a problem I had with "They Do it With Mirrors" which is my least favourite of the series, and the story is well structured. There is a nice witty script and lovely production values. The acting is very good in general, the only weaknesses for me being that James Hazeldine underplaying his role of Lawrence Redding and Polly Adams a little too stiff as Anne. Joan Hickson really makes this work though, with a simple charm and wisdom she is for me the best Miss Marple, and out of the supporting cast I loved Cheryl Campbell as Griselda, a delightful performance from a great actress. I liked the music too, really pleasant to listen to. Overall, I really enjoyed this adaptation. 9/10 Bethany Cox