Agatha Christie: Time for a rest?

[Celiamary]

Kenneth B having another go with the silly moustache.
Did I see that Emma Thomson is doing a new version of "Why didn't they ask Evans?"
Why? Do they think it is easy money? TV repeats will be a nice little top up for the pension.
They will all be entirely off the pace, long lingering shots of 'clever' interiors and artfully positioned props.
Stop it.

Oh I completely agree!

It's always slavish attention to set-dressing and total abandon with the actual plot.

I HATED the recent BBC adaptations, it always feels supremely arrogant to make huge changes to plot - write your own fucking thriller if you want.

I’m a huge Agatha Christie fan, and regularly read the books again. Yes I loved David Suchet as Poirot- better than Ustinov in my opinion.
Having said that I went to the cinema to see Branagh in Murder on the Orient Express, and this weekend I saw Death on the Nile. I enjoyed both and Branagh makes a good job of it. And it was a real treat to see French and Saunders in it too!

@TragicMuse

Oh I completely agree!

It's always slavish attention to set-dressing and total abandon with the actual plot.

I HATED the recent BBC adaptations, it always feels supremely arrogant to make huge changes to plot - write your own fucking thriller if you want.

Thank you! Agree completely! Were you as horrified as I by the mangling of Tommy and Tuppence?

Actually, as a huge Agatha Christie fan, i disagree. True, i didn’t like “Agatha Christie’s Marple”, because i didn’t really like the actress, but I quite like the trend of remaking them in different settings - it’s like seeing Shakespeare set in a modern high school, or 20s chicago mobsters, it works but keeps the interest fresh. I didn’t expect to like the first Branagh (stupid beard, obvs) but genuinely loved it.

I think either go an watch it or don't 🤷‍♀️ I went to see Death on The Nile and loved it, I've seen all previous versions, but thought this was visually stunning. The cast was excellent.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

Joan Hickson IS Miss Marple, agreed. Also: Miss Marple is MISS Marple, not Marple.

I hope the BBC never has a crack at a new style approach to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, which is my favourite and her masterpiece.

Why anybody would ever think they could improve on the 1974 Murder of the Orient Express baffles me.

See also: the Coen Brothers (whose work I mostly adore) having a crack at remaking The Ladykillers.

I have terrible news. I watched DOTH yesterday. Not a patch on the Peter Eustinov version and he was talking about retiring to the countryside to grow marrows. It took all my strength to not jump up and shout at the screen. I would have done if the cinema wasn't full.

Murder of Roger Acroyd is a classic, I don't think even David Suchet could do it justice and he is my favourite Poirot.

I also agree Joan Hickson is Miss Marple

@Toddlerteaplease

Totally agree on Jeremy Brett and Suchet. However I don’t get what people love about the Hickson Miss Marple so much? Is it because the adaptions are faithful?
To me she’s far far too flavourless to the point of being boring - recently saw Hickson as another character in the old movie of “why didn’t they ask Evans” and was shocked by how much life and character she had, IMO she could have used a bit more as Miss Marple.

The other thing is that compared to the Brett Holmes and Suchet Poirot, the Hickson era versions of Miss Marple are very amateurish feeling and don’t look near as good as those other two. Especially in comparison to the Brett Holmes adaptions which are from the same era and look absolutely wonderful even by today’s standards, they’re like something from a community playhouse by comparison.

Isn't that the point of Miss Marple though? She's supposed to be a gossipy village lady in the 1950's. I find the newer adaptations far to glamorous. And Johanna Lumley as Dolly Bantry is just dreadful.

@Toddlerteaplease

I agree they have faults, however Marple is described as having a twinkle about her or similar - I don’t get that from Hickson. Actually Hicksons audio readings of the books are IMO the best recorded versions.

They are at times overly glamourised in the newer versions (and I dread to think what they would do today) however there is a real amateur playhouse feel to the Hickson versions, rather than just being a plain period drama ala the early Sherlock Holmes with Brett. Perhaps it was just down to budget but for me they would have been better if they were stylistically better in the vein of the Brett Holmes adaptions or the early Suchet Poirots.

I’m a huge fan of old adaptions and love the Brett Holmes and Suchet Poirot as well as the old Tommy and Tupence and the version of “why didn’t they ask Evans” with the same actors (from Tommy and Tupence), I even loved the “7 dials”. But for whatever reason Hicksons Miss Marple has always left me cold. I know some of the stories are butchered but I prefer McEwan, she had that twinkle.

Different strokes I guess, but for whatever reason despite being the kind of person who should love it - I can’t get into the Hickson Marple and It’s be tried several times.

@MissyB1

I’m a huge Agatha Christie fan, and regularly read the books again. Yes I loved David Suchet as Poirot- better than Ustinov in my opinion. Having said that I went to the cinema to see Branagh in Murder on the Orient Express, and this weekend I saw Death on the Nile. I enjoyed both and Branagh makes a good job of it. And it was a real treat to see French and Saunders in it too!

I couldn't agree more. Particularly loved the new death on the Nile

@KookaburraSits

I wish they'd adapt Dorothy L Sayers. I know the BBC did some over 30 years ago, but I'd love to see Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane brought to life again. I wish they wouldn't just do animations of the same books and again and again when there's so much other material to mine.

I hadn't realised they were so long ago. Edward Petherbridge was excellent as LPW, and most of the series was very good, but Gaudy Night was a disappointment.

@EthelTheAardvark
"I hadn't realised they were so long ago. Edward Petherbridge was excellent as LPW, and most of the series was very good, but Gaudy Night was a disappointment."
Gaudy Night was hard work to read compared to the others, I found.

What?! Gaudy Night is entirely responsible for my choice of university.
That scene in the punt

I'm so excited that Why Didn't They Ask Evans is being shown on Britbox soon. It's one of my favourite Agatha Christie books and I've never seen a TV adaptation of it before. I've even continued with my Britbox subscription purely to watch it!

Also reinstated Disney Plus as Death on the Nile is on there from next week.

There can barely be a person alive who doesn't know 'whodunnit' in 'Death On The Nile'. If you've watched telly on a Sunday afternoon at any point in the last thirty-odd years, you'll have seen either the Ustinov film or the TV one with Emily Blunt as the victim. See also: 'Evil Under The Sun'.

Just trying DOTN now and wow it's rubbish! The opening is unnecessary and Jacqueline is way more attractive than Linnett which is nonsense. The green screen is as bad as the terrible MOTOE and I'm already so irritated with it. I don't have a problem with them being remade (as long as they don't have the audacity to change characters, endings, and murderers - yes BBC in looking at you) but Branagh's 2 attempts both feel off. It feels am dram/ Victoria Wood pastiche but with money, so odd.

I thought the opening sequence was one of the better parts - albeit a bit uncomfortable given what we've now know about Hammer.

I think in this version, Emma Mackey's character is written as having more sex appeal than Gal Gadot's, but I wouldn't say she's necessarily more attractive. Gadot is generally accepted to be a very good-looking woman. In all the adaptations, the difference in looks between Linnet and Jacqui isn't supposed to be all that marked - it's more about Linnet's money and breeding and station. And the two characters have always been played by woman of comparable beauty - Lois Chiles wasn't more beautiful than Mia Farrow, and nor was Emily Blunt more attractive than Emma Griffiths Malin.

It wasn't a great film, though. I agree with that.

Maybe it's a confidence thing, they're both stunning but I've always thought of Jacqueline as being shy/ unconfident, or at least pretending to be and she's the opposite in this.

I probably shouldn't watch it as it's the same style as MOTOE which irritated me then and still does now but I'm still confused as to how such a good cast (in general) and the amount of money in the film equals such a strange result. Maybe it's me as I love the 1970's Nile and the ITV/ Suchet Orient Express. I even enjoyed the old radio 4 adaptation more!

The recent Death on the Nile made me weep. They changed the victims! Introduced new characters. And sexed it up when it didn't need it.

Ordeal by Innocence with Bill Nighy was ridiculous. If you are going to change the murderer etc call it a completely different name and have a tagline 'screenplay inspired by the story of Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie'.

I agree, it wasn't Ordeal By Innocence at all. That was the last Phelps adaptation I watched.

Plus the BBC/ Phelps decimated The Dublin Murders which are fantastic books.

'I've always thought of Jacqueline as being shy/ unconfident.'

She's never played that way, though. The wife in 'Evil Under The Sun' certainly is, but Jacqui is fucking fearless. Unstable, yes. And prepared to make an exhibition of herself by following the Doyles around and talking loudly about how badly they've treated her - but surely not lacking in confidence.

It wasn't very good, though. Branagh is a pretty good director but he sure loves a tracking shot in these adaptations. It's a funny old world when Russell Brand is probably the best thing in a movie.

@airrrrAIRRRRiELLLL

Ordeal by Innocence with Bill Nighy was ridiculous. If you are going to change the murderer etc call it a completely different name and have a tagline 'screenplay inspired by the story of Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie'.

Totally agree. Several other adaptations also come to mind. Also please stop introducing love interests for Poirot. Poirot only ever had eyes for one woman: Countess Vera Rosakoff.

I was going to see the new DOTN might not bother now.
I liked MOTOE though that Kenneth Branagh did. Went with my son and his girlfriend and they didn’t know the ending. Enjoyed it with them.