The only reason I watched this show as a kid is that my dad always correctly guessed the guilty party within the first 10 minutes. Astounding. I kept hoping he'd stumble just once, but it never happened. When I would ask him how he pulled it off, he'd just smile and tap the side of his head with his forefinger.
Nero's on-going arguments with Fritz (Colin Fox) on how to properly roast an ear of corn or how much time it takes to scramble eggs are absolutely priceless. Plus, I felt as cozy in Nero's office as he did.
If you watched the extended episode from the link I posted - there is the wonderful business with Fritz and the mob on how to make "gravy". The additional stuff in that one makes me really want to see the other longer versions.
The apartment building set is the actual star in this sleek series, don't you agree?
I just want to know, at the current cost of land on the Island, how they can waste so much room with secret passages.
That's exactly how I feel. They're not the Miss Marple from the books, but the films themselves are entertaining and loads of fun, and I wouldn't miss owning them. Would love to see Blu-ray versions someday.
Matt - Britbox has these streaming in HD. I don't know if they really are better but it does hold out hope that someday we might get Blu-rays.
I thought I would post a picture of Nero's office.
Great summary Jeff. Wonderful show with the peerless Joan Hickson, if you read any of the books, you see Joan in the prose, my favourite is Nemesis. The films have a nice opening theme and look fantastic on blu ray.Miss Marple (BBC version)
From 1984 to 1992, Joan Hickson put the definitive stamp on Agatha Christie's spinster sleuth, in a series of twelve wonderful BBC adaptations of the Miss Marple novels, all featuring beautiful location filming, terrific casting and witty scripts which “open up” the books well, making a few cosmetic changes from the novels here and there but otherwise staying completely true to their tricky plots and overall spirit. The Miss Marple stories are slightly "cozier" than the Poirots, but Christie's intricate plotting and deft handling of assorted character types remain.
For those unaware, Miss Marple is a bird-like elderly lady who looks like a harmless and innocent old village gossip - which she is, to a certain extent - but who has, as Chief Inspector Slack (played here to deadpan effect by David Horovitch) states, "the mind of a meat cleaver" and who is "a nice-looking, gray-haired cobra sliding about." Miss Marple uses her extensive knowledge of human nature and psychology, gleaned from years of observing the patterns of behavior and the various peccadillos of the residents of her village, St. Mary Mead, to solve assorted murders. She’s an amateur detective, naturally, but such is the power of her criminological brain that she is ultimately consulted by the various police inspectors on the case (in the aforementioned Slack's case, begrudgingly). And as an amateur, she can often inveigle herself into the middle of an investigation without arousing suspicion, being viewed by all and sundry as merely a harmless old busybody.
Impecably produced, written and performed, this is top notch Golden Age Detective stuff all the way…and I’ve grown to absolutely love the little lilting ditty that is the “Miss Marple” theme in the BBC series. Whenever it crops up in the incidental music of one of these adaptations, you know Hickson’s “silver-haired cobra” is on the scene, prowling for clues.
There have been Marples before and since, including Margaret Rutherford, Helen Hayes and Angela Lansbury - but as far as I’m concerned, none can hold a candle to Ms. Hickson, with her pitch perfect combination of dithery old bitty act and steely-eyed, implacable machine of justice. (Hickson was Dame Agatha’s own preferred choice for the role, though she didn’t portray the character until well after Christie’s death.) To many fans, Joan Hickson is the definitive Miss Marple, just as Jeremy Brett is the definitive Sherlock Holmes and David Suchet the definitive Poirot. Hickson has an extraordinary stillness about her. Coupled with her piercing, unblinking blue-eyed gaze and sharp, unsentimental intelligence ("a mind like a bacon slicer"), she is the very embodiment of the seemingly nice old lady who sits, observes all and puts two and two together with a ruthless logic. No other actress has come anywhere close to nailing the character as well as Hickson, IHO.
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After the BBC version concluded, rival channel ITV took up the mantle, to decidedly mixed effect. While still boasting sumptuous production values, the ITV Marple series is seriously flawed both in the casting of Miss Marple and the producers’ mistaken belief that they can better Queen of Crime Christie’s often fiendishly clever mystery plots. Geraldine McEwan (ITV’s first choice as Marple) was far too twee and twinkly, and her successor Julie Mackenzie too sweet and bland. The series played fast and loose with Christie’s plots to detrimental effect, as well as crowbarring Miss Marple into adaptations of novels in which she had never appeared in the first place. This later series remains watchable as slick popcorn fodder, but is a big step down from the BBC version.
As always, one’s mileage may vary. But for me, while the various other film and television adaptations have their merits, only the BBC Joan Hickson version gets every ingredient right. If at all possible, get your hands on the beautifully remastered Blu-Ray sets (all three of which Matt H. has reviewed here for the HTF).
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Well Russ you did it again. I gotta take another look at this one. We watched the first one some time ago and it just didn't take. I don't know why. We'll definitely have to give this one another try.
It'll grow on you, Marv. I guarantee.
I thought I would post a picture of Nero's office.
We are not the only ones that noticed - here is someone building miniatures.
And someone else went to the trouble to work out floor plans.
Ha! It does. But Nero was there first. Here is the description by Rex Stout, the author from 1949.
I picked up a copy of this one several years ago... and it's been languishing on the shelf ever since just waiting for me to find "the right time" to pop it in. It was a complete blind buy based solely on reviews and that my wife and I really enjoy British mystery programs. I really need to cure that shelf-bound status...
TCM always shows them in HD, too, and they look very nice.
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