The Secret of Chimneys

In Julia McKenzie's sixth outing as Agatha Christi amateur sleuth Miss Jane Marple, she visits the country estate of Lord Caterham (Edward Fox), at which guest Count Ludwig von Stainach (Anthony Higgins) expresses an interest in the lovely Lady Virginia Revel (Charlotte Salt), who is also pursued by her intended, Anthony Cade (Jonas Armstrong), plus Bill Eversleigh (Mathew Horne) and George Lomax (Adam Godley), each of whom proposes matrimony.

Other ladies of the manor and guests, Agnes (Laura O'Toole), Treadwell (Michelle Collins), Bundle (Dervla Kirwan), and Miss Blenkinsopp (Ruth Jones), join in the fun until bodies begin to pop up around the lavish estate, maintained by Jaffers (Alex Knight).

Inspector Finch (Stephen Dillane) serves as a bright spot, with his soft-spoken, gentlemanly manner, as he investigates without the benefit of law enforcement officer assistance the body discovered in the basement corridor with a suspect's hovering above it after a blast is heard, causing residents and guests to search the grounds, with Miss Marple at the forefront of the snooping.

During the course of the next evening's dinner, a soup of mushroom and sage is laced with the next murder weapon, a secret ingredient causing the next body to plop, a factor which doesn't initially seem to tie in with the first murder, or are these the second and third homicides at Caterham Manor?

When a suspect or two are arrested, Miss Marple begins to tie together a series of clues leading to the perpetrator, who recalls via flashback scenes an earlier murder, connecting to this recent double homicide, paving the way for Lady Virginia Revel to decide among her suitors, or, should we say, her surviving suitors if any remain innocent of murder, that is?

This adaptation of "The Secret of Chimneys" contains wonderful Cinematography with its excellent location shots plus its flowing camera movements, as well as its effects of creating live action footage from still photography, and its morphing from daytime to night-time seemingly effortlessly although excessive sound effects' noise does irritate the dialogue's pleasant conversational tone at times.

(Extra points for Stephen Dillane in his authoritative yet personable role of Inspector Finch.)

Ah, the eternally recurring and inevitably clichéd pieces of criticism that one encounters in almost every single review of every single instalment in the "Agatha Christie's Marple" series... It's always "True Agatha Christie lovers will hate it" this, and "the original Christie novel ruined" that. Please let me assure you; - I am an obsessive Agatha Christie admirer, and I'm perfectly okay with the fact that the series' writers took the liberty to make drastic changes to plot, characters and denouements. What matters mostly, to me at least, is that the adaptations remain respectful to the style, settings and storytelling of Christie's original creations. And that is definitely the case in ALL episodes of the series.

The most obvious change in many of the individual episodes, including here in "Secret of the Chimneys", is the inclusion of Miss Marple as the protagonist, simply because she wasn't the heroine in Christie's original novels. She's usually dragged in as a guest at a party, or as a close friend of one of the real lead characters and then gradually steps into the shoes the original novel's sleuth.

"Secret of Chimneys" is pure, old-fashioned Agatha Christie goodness. In 1955, in order to restore the status of their once glorious estate, Lord Caterham and his daughters invite a group of aristocrats gathers for a weekend of lobbying and Cognac-drinking at the Chimneys domain. Late in the first evening already, the eccentric guest and Austrian diplomate Von Steinach is shot and killed in a secret tunnel underneath the mansion. The crime quickly gets linked to the unsolved theft of a valuable diamond and the disappearance of a housemaid in 1932, but what exactly is the connection and who is the murderer? Slick spinster Marple to the rescue.

Although I have absolutely nothing against her, it's still difficult for me to accept Julia McKenzie in the role of Miss Marple, even after five more than adequate instalments. Her performance is very good, but Geraldine McEwen (lead actress in seasons 1-3) remains the ultimate Miss Marple to me. The supportive cast here is excellent, including familiar faces (Edward Fox, Adam Godley, ...) and a stunning natural beauty in the shape of Charlotte Salt.

This is so good on so many levels, the location, the wonderful all start cast of so many brilliant artists the filming and direction, costumes the score, attention to detail and then the whole thing is wrecked by post editing... Not a single scene or shot isn't edited to be on screen for more than 1-3 seconds creating a strobing effect that complete ruins the whole production. Take it back and reedit it properly we do not all have the attention span of a cocker spaniel. Could have really enjoyed this, pity ..... to pad this out to the minimum ten lines ill add that this trend of late to edit TV to shots that last no longer than one to four seconds is becoming all to common. I hope this advertising like attention trend will be arrested by the ratings Really ten lines minimum for a review ?

I am a huge fan of Agatha Christie, both her books and most of the adaptations based on her stories. The stories are clever and complex and the characters are interesting. That said, I was disappointed with The Secret of Chimneys. As far as these Marple adaptations go, it is not as awful as At Bertram's Hotel and Sittaford Mystery which were not only poor adaptations but severely lacking on their own terms too, but it is not the best either, Murder is Announced, Moving Finger and Pocket Full of Rye were surprisingly well done.

Starting with the good things, the adaptation is blessed with lovely production values. I loved the scenery and costumes as well as the photography, while the house itself was amazing. The music was very good too, not just the wonderful Vienesse Waltz that repeated itself but the accompanying music too. The script has its moments, there are some juicy red herrings and nice attempts at humour, while the direction was okay. The cast in general are first rate, Julia MacKenzie is a splendid Miss Marple(despite the fact The Secret of Chimneys is not even a Miss Marple story), shrewd, inquisitive yet very charming, while Stephen Dillaine is excellent. Out of the supporting cast, Edward Fox and the lovely Charlotte Salt come off best, and Anthony Higgins(his deep voice and accent reminded me slightly of Gary Oldman's Dracula) and Michelle Collins are decent.

However, despite these good things, the adaptation suffers from a very jumbled and convoluted plot with plot holes galore. I think it started off fine and intriguing, but it was about halfway through where it started getting complicated and hard to follow. The revelation was to say the least baffling, yes I got the culprit and the motive but some other explanations had me reaching for the rewind button. I also think in an attempt to cram a lot in, the adaptation felt rather rushed, so some parts felt skimmed over and underdeveloped. While the cast were fine in general, one or two members suffered from some moments of bad writing and character development. Anthony Cade was the main one, Jonas Armstrong looked dashing but he came across as bland and perhaps too earnest. I think this was the fault of the writer, turning a clever and cunning yet likable character into a very wimpy and uncharismatic shadow of his former self. Plus is it me or did the early attack on Virginia seem rather forced? The other was George Lomax, Adam Godley tried hard, but Lomax was made way too stiff and dull here. Consequently, the relationships between the two men and Virginia were very unconvincing. Just for the record, I don't mind changes to books, as long as the spirit is maintained. Sadly, the adaptation lacked the playful and witty charm of the book.

So overall, not a complete waste of time but disappointing. Hopefully The Blue Geranium will be an improvement. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Miss Marple visits Chimneys, the estate of Lord Caterham. While there, the Lomaxes are visited by Count Ludwig Von Stainach. That evening the Count is found dying in the estate's secret passage, with Cade, one of the young guests, standing over him. Suspicion falls on Cade but it doesn't seem so cut and dried. Inspector Finch of Scotland Yard is soon on the case, assisted by Miss Marple. An event at the estate 23 years earlier may have a very large bearing on the case.

Quite intriguing, with a rather unpredictable culprit. Some interesting sub-plots, especially the romantic angle involving Virginia.

Stephen Dillane is great as Inspector Finch, as is Charlotte Salt as Virginia. Edward Fox is a bit stuffy as Lord Caterham.