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Original poster

Witness for the Prosecution

66 replies

Clawdy · 27/12/2016 09:53

Brilliantly acted, gripping, but I wish there had been more of an Agatha Christie feel to it - the swearing and sex scenes, especially that rather gratuitous Mayhew one, just seemed wrong to me. It reminded me a bit of Rillington Place - wrong Christie!

OP posts:

ChadSexington · 28/12/2016 19:28

RustyBear as soon as I typed that I knew it was wrong. I suppose I meant the 'family retainer' devoted type of servant. There are maidservants stealing jewels, blackmailing valets etc. Not forgetting the devious companions .

Northernlurker · 28/12/2016 19:35

Yes but Rusty most of those are in one book - murder on the orient express.

RustyBear · 28/12/2016 19:37

No, NL, only 5 of them. And actually I've just remembered another one in one of the categories...

RustyBear · 28/12/2016 19:38

And a blackmailing butler...

RustyBear · 28/12/2016 19:54

Actually, possibly 6 in MOOE....

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 28/12/2016 20:46

I love Murder on the Orient Express. I think I have read every crime novel and story Agatha Christie ever read (many times over in most cases) and it's right up there in my top ten. The film is terrific.

Nevertheless, another great favourite of mine, Raymond Chandler, did have a point when he said of MOOE 'Only a halfwit could guess it'.

cherryrednose · 28/12/2016 23:55

Watched both episodes on iplayer but didn't enjoy it - it all seemed really heavy-going and crass. ITV have done far better with AC, I've watched their Marple and Poirot episodes numerous times, they manage to make them fresh while staying faithful to the original.

I watched The Secret Agent earlier in the year so I've really had enough of Toby Jones scuttling round London in an old coat and hat.

NormaSmuff · 28/12/2016 23:56

good programme.
beautifully filmed.
We knew it was the maid!

southeastdweller · 29/12/2016 19:05

Nowhere near as good as the film, which was two hours like this version was but padded the story out by focusing more on Mayhew and a new character, his nurse. The twist in the story is one of AC's best so it's a shame this version didn't do the short story justice. Hated the sex scene and the WWI sub-plot also felt inappropriate.

Great atmosphere and acting but otherwise very disappointing.

Rhubarb01 · 29/12/2016 20:33

I quite enjoyed it for what it was but agree it's not a story in the normal Agatha Christie mould. I suppose we're used to a rather familiar 'comforting' feel to her stories set in pleasant country houses with 'nice' people who often do some pretty unpleasant things but ultimately get their comeuppance.

I have to agree that the filming of these period dramas through what looks like a permanently 'murky' filter gets on my nerves. It's not the only period drama that seems to do this. I wish they wouldn't.

BurnTheBlackSuit · 29/12/2016 22:36

Really disappointed with it. ACs story is excellent. BBC ruined it- the actual murder and trial parts were pretty much brushed over. No tension and suspense built up at all.

And instead they filled it in with unnecessary sex scenes and weird other things- why would the woman be happily wandering through a WW1 trench with bombs going off? Plus I hate how every scene was smokey and yellow. Yes, we get it that London was a bit smoggy in those days, but when it has no relevance to the story, it is unnecessary to show in such effect when it makes it hard to see what's happening.

crystalgall · 30/12/2016 23:06

I think the WW1 stuff linked to the final scene. Romaine gives a wonderful speech about what war does to young minds and the devastation it causes. The monsters created out of a hopeless war filled with carnage. It's what creates the moral abyss the two characters find themselves in which allows them to kill so ruthlessly.

I found that really interesting. Andrea riseborough is such an amazing actress.

crystalgall · 30/12/2016 23:07

And Leonard's speech in ep 1 about coming back from the war with such expectations after all their suffering and finding that actually no one gave a shit and left them to suffer in poverty.

VanillaSugarAndHogmanyBlackBun · 31/12/2016 08:36

Vera Brittain discusses this same issue crystal - in RL, the war was brushed over in the 1920s. People found the injured soldiers embarassing. A man with one leg would end up as a doorman and the younger generation would laugh. It's incredibly sad and a real inditement on our society. I wonder if the writer was trying to draw a parallel with the Iraq/Afghan war? This is why the Invictus Games are so important on every level - sorry, going off topic here!

derxa · 31/12/2016 09:20

Very enjoyable but WW1 preaching was annoying.

Elendon · 31/12/2016 10:03

why would the woman be happily wandering through a WW1 trench with bombs going off? Plus I hate how every scene was smokey and yellow. Yes, we get it that London was a bit smoggy in those days, but when it has no relevance to the story, it is unnecessary to show in such effect when it makes it hard to see what's happening.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25762151

There were brothels in WW1 and close to the line as well. The suggestion being that Riseborough's character was one of them.

Pea soupers were rife in England's cities at that time. Currently the fog in the South East is so bad it's causing major disruption. Can't even begin to imagine what it would be like before the Act to clean up the air came into place.

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