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Original poster

Murder is Easy, again?

151 replies

Janinejones · 17/12/2023 11:19

This new one is being plugged hard. Do we really want them to make another 1950s version? It was written before WW2 but I have not seen one set then.
We have 3 recent ones set in the 50s already I think.

OP posts:
Original poster
Janinejones · 27/12/2023 21:23

Lunde · 27/12/2023 18:27

Well Miss Marple wasn't Scottish but I don't think anyone complained about Geraldine McEwan playing the role.

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LOL. Miss Marple is not in the story.

OP posts:
Catlover1705 · 27/12/2023 21:26

Switched off after 25 mins as boring.

Original poster
Janinejones · 27/12/2023 21:31

How many errors have you seen?
A kiosk taking cash bets in the street - No, still illegal
A copper carrying his truncheon in his hand as he walks down the street. - No.
All the police seem to be wearing caps. - No, helmets would have been more common.
Inquest in a panelled hall. No, more likely the pub.
Constable with Cap indoors at Inquest - No.
Slap-dash. Bollocks

OP posts:
PandoraRocks · 27/12/2023 21:31

Switched over. So sick of the BBC messing with original authors to fulfil their woke agenda.

1975wasthebest · 27/12/2023 22:10

The lead actor is dreadful in the part.

Flibbertigibbettytoes · 27/12/2023 22:23

PandoraRocks · 27/12/2023 21:31

Switched over. So sick of the BBC messing with original authors to fulfil their woke agenda.

What makes it feel so woke to you? The only thing I find annoying is the flashback/memory stuff as I'm getting fed.up.of detectives needing dark back stories. Talking of which I love the Shetland cast in new roles.

Citrusandginger · 27/12/2023 22:28

Was looking forward to this, but it's not good. What a disappointment.

TheOccupier · 27/12/2023 22:35

Not loving this. The overly bright colours are distracting as is the unnecessary shoehorning in of a woke agenda... If the bbc want to make a drama that includes characters of colour, that is absolutely fine but they should create something new! Plenty of interesting stories to be told about west Africans coming to the UK in the 20th century.

1975wasthebest · 27/12/2023 22:46

I’ve read the Times piece and feel the screenwriter is being disingenuous, to put it politely, about some of her decisions. But it’s the BBC, so of course she had to tick some boxes.

I gave up watching this crap after 45 minutes.

TheOccupier · 27/12/2023 22:47

@Flibbertigibbettytoes what makes it feel woke? What doesn't?! Endless references to the Empire, colonialism, police racism, rich white people unethically collecting African artefacts, not to mention the struggles of the working classes... Clunky and dull.

Unicornsunited123 · 27/12/2023 22:50

I'm loving it and looking forward to tomorrow night! I've also saved all other agatha christie bbc tv adaptations and plan on binge watch them this week!

Meadowgrasses · 27/12/2023 23:02

I liked it. Lead character was good in the main although his accent flipped from time to time. I am a big Christie fan but I thought this was well done- the black and Indian characters were in the village for a reason so it didn’t feel anachronistic.

Flibbertigibbettytoes · 27/12/2023 23:06

I don't get the 'wokeness' rage. It's pretty restrained Christie and there were loads of colonial reference in Suchet's Poirot (my favourite AC)

TheOccupier · 27/12/2023 23:12

I prefer adaptations to be true to the original. Agatha Christie's stories are snapshots of particular places and times and that is a large part of their appeal: I don't see the need to try and change them to align with today's values. Won't spoil it but the wokeness ramps up in part two...

BeaLola · 28/12/2023 00:52

Utterly awful

Twonewcats · 28/12/2023 01:00

I've never heard of the story, so I didn't gave any preconceptions.
I loved it, loved the slightly oversaturated colours at times, thought the acting was pretty good.

SammyScrounge · 28/12/2023 02:42

1975wasthebest · 27/12/2023 22:10

The lead actor is dreadful in the part.

I agree. Totally failed in trying to be a master Detective. And he managed to make his lines expressionless.

Newestname002 · 28/12/2023 04:15

Catlover1705 · 27/12/2023 21:26

Switched off after 25 mins as boring.

Same here... 🌹

SutWytTi · 28/12/2023 06:09

PandoraRocks · 27/12/2023 21:31

Switched over. So sick of the BBC messing with original authors to fulfil their woke agenda.

Agatha Christie herself considered the TV adaptations of her works to not be radical enough, she understood times change.

It is boring when culture has to be frozen in aspic.

Too many people need everything to be the same as it always was, it makes TV dull. Those who don't like anything new can watch repeats, surely?

SutWytTi · 28/12/2023 06:12

TheOccupier · 27/12/2023 22:47

@Flibbertigibbettytoes what makes it feel woke? What doesn't?! Endless references to the Empire, colonialism, police racism, rich white people unethically collecting African artefacts, not to mention the struggles of the working classes... Clunky and dull.

Edited

But in what way are those things 'woke'?

All of them are things that happened, you must know that there was an empire etc.

1975wasthebest · 28/12/2023 08:48

Agatha Christie herself considered the TV adaptations of her works to not be radical enough, she understood times change.

She died in 1976, so she never saw most of the adaptations of her work, including those wonderful and faithful BBC Miss Marple dramas in the 80s that starred Joan Hickson.

Twonewcats · 28/12/2023 09:22

SutWytTi · 28/12/2023 06:12

But in what way are those things 'woke'?

All of them are things that happened, you must know that there was an empire etc.

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Yep, I can't abide people saying things are "Woke" as a sweeping comment, when it's nothing of the sort.

Also, re works/history being updated etc, Six The Musical is one of the most popular stage shows just now, which is modern, has allowed younger people to get drawn into the story/history, and everyone raves about it

TheOccupier · 28/12/2023 10:49

SutWytTi · 28/12/2023 06:12

But in what way are those things 'woke'?

All of them are things that happened, you must know that there was an empire etc.

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Woke, politically correct (as we used to say before "woke" became a thing), call it what you like. It's the decision to use something that should be entertaining and for which there's a clear creative brief (the original novel) to "educate" viewers about the various iniquities of the British Empire, posh/rich white people, misogynistic men, the police etc etc. It's boring and clunky and just not enjoyable to watch - the BBC's Christmas Agatha Christie drama should be entertaining nostalgia, not this didactic sludge. I don't need or expect to get my education from murder mysteries - of course I'm already fully aware of all the issues the writer was so determined to shoehorn in! Hugh Laurie didn't feel the need to do any of this tedious "updating" with his recent adaptation of Why Didn't They Ask Evans and it's a much better watch as a result.

Twonewcats · 28/12/2023 11:04

TheOccupier · 28/12/2023 10:49

Woke, politically correct (as we used to say before "woke" became a thing), call it what you like. It's the decision to use something that should be entertaining and for which there's a clear creative brief (the original novel) to "educate" viewers about the various iniquities of the British Empire, posh/rich white people, misogynistic men, the police etc etc. It's boring and clunky and just not enjoyable to watch - the BBC's Christmas Agatha Christie drama should be entertaining nostalgia, not this didactic sludge. I don't need or expect to get my education from murder mysteries - of course I'm already fully aware of all the issues the writer was so determined to shoehorn in! Hugh Laurie didn't feel the need to do any of this tedious "updating" with his recent adaptation of Why Didn't They Ask Evans and it's a much better watch as a result.

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I did find it entertaining.