The Sittaford Mystery

This is a review of the first installment in a two-part version of THE SITTAFORD MYSTERY on TV. Once again, although there is no Miss Marple in the original story, the writers have planted her in the midst of all the characters staying at an old inn. That's not the objection most of the comments here have to make. What IS resented is the fact that story elements have been drastically changed by the writers of the teleplay, even changing the identify of the murderer in the original story.

This is the kind of thing bound to upset purists who want their Agatha Christie stories told without all the unnecessary changes. What upsets me is that, first of all, GERALDINE McEWAN does not make a plausible Miss Marple. She's much too mild-mannered and lacks the intelligent inquisitiveness that Joan Hickson displayed so well in her interpretation of the role on the former British series.

But secondly, not having read the original recently, I was totally unaware of all the changes when viewing the first hour and I found it an engrossing kind of story, if a bit confusing in the way the narrative unfolded, especially with regard to the opening scenes at the Egyptian tomb. But TIMOTHY DALTON gave a compelling performance, using his personality to put some life into the role of Captain Trevelyan (whom I later found out dies in the first chapter of the Christie story). It took a whole hour for his death to take place here.

But that was a minor change, according to all these other comments, and at this point I have no idea what awaits in the second installment.

I can only say that despite all these "flaws" in the presentation, I thoroughly enjoyed the story with its ingredients of a fierce blizzard, an old country inn, a seance where a death is predicted, an assortment of strange guests, and a bevy of competent British players, some of whom (Rita Tushingham in particular) I never would have recognized without reading the cast list. It was nice to recognize JAMES WILBY as Mr. Kirkwood, proprietor of the hotel.

So, while I confess I did enjoy the first segment, I can understand why many were disappointed in the drastic changes to the story. The writers did the same thing with several other Christie "adaptations," including one of my favorites, EASY TO KILL (even the title was changed to "Murder Is Easy" and it ruined a perfectly good Christie story by changing the emphasis to the romantic leads and practically leaving the murderer out of the story).

Personally, I enjoy all of these Christie stories but do not think Miss Marple or Poirot should be injected for the sake of whatever following these kind of things have on TV.

I have a major problem with these particular Miss Marple mysteries in that I don't remember - or don't recognize - the actual stories because I read them so long ago. I think possibly the only way to watch these is if one forgets they are supposedly adapted (and apparently, all they take is the title) from the Christie novels.

The production values for this series are quite high and the casts are very good. In this one, we have such stars as Timothy Dalton, Rita Tushingham and someone who reminds me of Zac Efron in ten years, James Murray. Miss Marple herself (Geraldine McEwan) never seems to be the main character; they manage to turn the footwork over to someone else, and then Miss Marple solves the crime. Now, in the books, Miss Marple solved the crimes by being an excellent observer of human nature, based on the people she knows or knew in her town of St. Mary Mead. This Miss Marple very rarely mentions St. Mary Mead or compares any characters or incidents to the people she knew there. She is also a little too sly for the Miss Marple in my mind.

It seems a shame to upset so many people by trashing the books, renaming the characters, and redoing the plot.

I'll take issue with one thing that was complained of - the fifty minutes it took to get to the murder. Years and years and years ago, there was such a thing as a story buildup. If you watch the movie San Francisco, the earthquake doesn't happen until the last half hour or thereabouts. One got to know the characters and their interpersonal relationships first. Of course, this type of storytelling has gone out of style. If you're going to have an earthquake, a ship sinking, or a murder, it has to happen in the first five minutes. Since I didn't know this story from Adam, I have to admit the buildup didn't bother me. It's done so rarely.

All in all, one star as an Agatha Christie story, five stars for the production values, the acting, and the mystery. It just has NOTHING to do with anything Dame Agatha wrote. What's the point?

Having read the book several times, I know the story well, but knowing ITV, this is going to be a complete reworking, so my review is based purely on the drama.

Captain Clive Trevelyan war hero, top Sportsman and touted to be the successor to Winston Churchill as PM is murdered, all possible suspects and Jane Marple are trapped in a hotel, she has to work out whodunnit.

It's a very tongue in cheek production, it could almost have been written for Margaret Rutherford and filmed in black and white. It's one not to be taken too seriously. It looks really good, and I think the snow helps build up a degree of claustrophobia, the escaped prisoner also adds to the story.

Good turns from Patricia Hodge and Rita Tushingham, both are fun. The best performances come from Zoe Telford and Paul Kaye I thought. Laurence Fox looks like he had fun. I can't help feeling Geraldine looks like Andy Capp at times, all she needs is a leather jacket.

I don't think the part Timothy Dalton was given was big enough for him to get his teeth into, he felt a little clunky at times.

Hugely over the top in all ways, but if you take it for what it is it's an enjoyable if flawed 90 minutes. 7/10 (I'm a little biased I associate this story with an amazing day.)

With Sir Winston Churchill ailing and set to step down as English Prime Minister, Clive Trevalyn looks set to become the next PM. A popular war hero who made his initial fame and fortune as an explorer and archaeologist in Egypt, he seems to have the world at his feet. While staying at his residence in the village of Sittaford he is murdered in his bedroom. There are several guests at his house, so the suspect list is long. Luckily Miss Marple is on hand to solve the mystery.

Fairly interesting mystery. A bit dry though - the engagement level is quite limited and Miss Marple is quite a bland character. The formula in this series has been to give much screen time to a non- Marple character, making them the central character, allowing them to carry the episode and thus take the attention away from Marple. This also makes for interesting sub-plots. In this case, no non- Marple central character emerges, so it is a bit duller than usual.

Can't fault the cast though: Timothy Dalton is charming as Clive Trevalyn. We also have Carey Mulligan, Zoe Telford and Mel Smith. Smith is the pick of the bunch, bringing some humour, resourcefulness and tough-mindedness Trevalyn's loyal assistant John Enderby.

It occurred to me that, when you rank all 23 episodes of "Agatha Christie's Marple" from highest to lowest IMDb-rating, "The Sittaford Mystery" is all the way at the bottom of the list. That being said, 6.8/10 is still a terrific rating many movies and TV-shows would be very happy with, but it's remarkably weaker than the average rating of the series. I can think of a few reasons to explain why the installment is slightly less popular.

First and foremost, the source novel is one of Agatha Christie's most known stories, but it doesn't feature Miss Marple anywhere. It's not the only episode based on a non-Marple novel, but the lead character is usually ingeniously processed into the other stories, whereas she's pretty much the third wheel on the wagon in "The Sittaford Mystery". Moreover, Miss Marple solves the murder without even coming near the scene of the crime. She bases her theories on what others tell her, whilst she's stuck in a mansion during heavy snowfall. I know she's good, but she cannot be that good. Secondly, it takes an awful long time before the murder is committed. The film is over halfway already when the killer strikes, which leaves very little time to guess along for the culprit's identity and motives.

And yet, don't be too alarmed, as "The Sittaford Mystery" is nonetheless a compelling TV-movie with a very intelligent finale. Great performances, as usual, and the most momentous appearance here is definitely Timothy Dalton. His biggest role will always remain that of James Bond, of course, but personally I prefer to see him as a sneaky and callous figure, like he did in "The Doctor and the Devils", "Hot Fuzz" or here in "The Sittaford Mystery".