Actors: Joan Hickson
Agatha
Christie’s iconic character of Miss Marple has been played by many actresses,
from Margaret Rutherford to Angela Landsbury with more adaptations inevitably
on their way, but none are likely to surpass the success of the original
interpretations by Joan Hickson in the 1980s and early 90s. Hickson was 78 when
she was cast as Miss Marple in 1984, making her one of the oldest actresses to
ever take a lead role in a television series. This collaboration resulted in
twelve television film adaptations of Christie’s classic works starring
Hickson, before her retirement eight years later.
As this set
including four of the twelve TV films and is listed as Volume 1, we can assume
that the remaining eight films will eventually be released in two more volumes.
The strangest thing about the construction of this first release is the choice
to release the films of the set in non-chronological order. I suppose it
doesn’t matter much, however, as each narrative is a self-contained mystery
taken from one of Christie’s novels. Fans of the writing will also find that
these adaptations are by far the most faithful to the source material, even
when this means lengthier running-times.
The highlight of
this new release comes in the choice of formatting. Despite being made decades
ago, these films profit from the restoration and remastering of the episodes
for the high definition Blu-ray discs. Episodes include “The Murder at the
Vicarage” (1986), “The Moving Finger” (1985), “The Body in the Library” (1984),
and “A Murder is Announced” (1985). The Blu-ray release also comes with new
special features, including the first of a three-part documentary chronicling
the success of the murder mystery narrative in Great Britain
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7.5/10
Historical
Significance: 8/10
Special Features: 6/10
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