Miss Marple: Nemesis

If you have read the novel, you will be just shocked at all the radical plot changes which have been made for no good reason whatever. The central characters now include nuns and a Luftwaffe pilot and a WWII-injured officer; the settings have been altered to the same degree. These changes do not make the story more interesting or more suspenseful, but rather more cluttered and silly and labored. The 1987 version stayed much closer to the book (and had more running time to play with) and was, consequently, much better. Why, why did the writers do this? Why? Well, suppose you haven't read the book or seen the 1987 version and are coming to this show cold. I suppose you could do worse with your time. But really the "melodramatic" clutter and the additional silly subplot elements that have been thrown in put this sort of on the same level of, well, a "Colombo" episode. And not one of the classic ones either.

A friend of Miss Marple's, John Rafiel, dies. He leaves Miss Marple with a message that a murder needs to be solved. His only clue - two tickets on a Daffodil coach tour. Accompanied by her nephew, the semi-famous author Raymond West, Miss Marple joins the tour. The other members of the coach party were also invited by Mr Rafiel. Some have links to Mr Rafiel, some not. What do they have in common and who was murdered?

Reasonably interesting. Decent degree of mystery though difficult to work out the murderer on your own - the clues aren't sufficient.

Engagement is limited. Here was a great opportunity to have a great rollicking romp of an episode, due to Richard E Grant playing Raymond West. He does his best to liven things up, Withnail and I style, but his screen time is limited and the sub-plots he is given don't really go anywhere.

Another interesting point from the cast/crew is Nicholas Winding Refn directing the episode. He would go on to direct feature films like Bronson, Drive and Only God Forgives.

Most interesting aspect of the cast is that this was to be Geraldine McEwan's final Miss Marple episode. In the next season she was replaced by Julia McKenzie.

My exposure to Miss Marple is strictly through the TV and movie adaptations. I adored Joan Hickson (Agatha Christie's preferred Miss Marple), who somehow was able to pull off a mix of mildly dotty old lady, mysterious Sybil, and avenging angel, all while employing the instincts of a superb detective. The 1987 series also tried to convey a reasonably realistic picture of post-war Britain, which was fascinating.

To me, Geraldine McEwan's Miss Marple strains too hard to be ingratiating (maybe it's the direction).

I've watched a couple of installments from this new Miss Marple series, and I found "Nemesis" to be the most logy and confusing of all.

The supporting performances were very good, but it is a mystery series after all and the only mystery I really cared to have solved was, When is this going to end?

I did think this was a poor adaptation of the book by Agatha Christie, and I did think it is one of the weaker Marple adaptations. Honestly, sorry but the Joan Hickson version was much better. There is some very nice period detail and some lovely camera-work and costumes, there is some nice music and the supporting performances from Amanda Burton, George Cole and Richard E.Grant were fine. And you are left asking questions throughout, like a whodunit expects you to. However, the story was a mess, it bears little resemblance to the original story, and most of the plot changes were unnecessary. Also I have never quite been convinced by Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple, she just isn't my idea of the character. Miss Marple is very clever and very wise, not fussy. That is the main reason why I keep saying see the Joan Hickson versions instead, because Hickson was born for Miss Marple, and her interpretation was the truest to the Marple in the book. The script was quite poor, even for an Agatha Christie adaptation,the pacing was off and I am the only one probably who found the final solution confusing, and there was a lot of overacting going on in some parts. Overall, very disappointing, could have been so much better. 4/10 Bethany Cox

After THE SITTAFORD MYSTERY last season, I stopped expecting good things from Marple episodes-- I sat down to watch with the lowest possible expectations. NEMESIS is a complete rewrite. The Rafiels are now Nazis (what is with the producers and Nazis???), Michael was in the Lutwaffe. Everything from Nora Broad to the disposal of the body was completely changed. Contrary to popular belief, the killer is the same as the book, however, his or her character is so dramatically altered that it is easy to see why everyone is confused. I did not particularly enjoy this episode, but after THE SITTAFORD MYSTERY, every episode seems to have SOME sort of decency.