Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple

I don’t know how many times I tried to watch Miss Marple on TV.  It airs every once in a while on PBS, and every time I either fall asleep or have something else going on.  That’s why when I found the series on DVD at the library, I decided it was time I sat down and watched it.  

Knitting/Artwork by Kate Dorsey

This series consists of twelve different Miss Marple mysteries.  Miss Marple (Joan Hickson) is a quiet, elderly woman who lives in the quaint village of St. Mary Mead.  To look at this small woman, who is usually found knitting, many would find it easy to dismiss her.  That would be a mistake.  Miss Marple has an extremely sharp mind, and she hears everything.  It is how she solves so many mysteries, much to the chagrin of the police force.

Actually, it is really only one person on the police force who has a big problem with Miss Marple.  That person is Inspector Slack (David Horovitch).  All the time, no matter where Slack is, Miss Marple shows up.  Not at all happy to see her, you can see Slack trying to control his irritation whenever she comes onto the scene.

Then, all of a sudden, Slack seems to appreciate Miss Marple.  He even tells a visiting inspector to consult with her.  It’s either Slack suddenly appreciates Miss Marple, or he wants someone else to get annoyed with her.  Little does he know the detective knows Miss Marple very well.  Inspector Craddock (John Castle) is her nephew.

A lot of people know Miss Marple, and her reputation definitely precedes her.  When she is in the Caribbean, Inspector Weston (Joseph Mydell) already knows who Miss Marple is and about her skills.  He learned about them when he took a training course in England.  That is how notorious Miss Marple is.  She is mentioned in police training.

The ones who truly don’t appreciate Miss Marple’s abilities are the killers and those who are hiding something, if not both.  They don’t like this woman, who they had cast aside, hearing their secrets and having her figure out what is really going on in their lives.  They would much rather have Miss Marple be the little old lady who knows nothing.

          

          Even if Miss Marple wasn’t as observant as she is, she would still know a lot.  That’s because anyone with the teeniest bit of gossip comes running to Miss Marple’s side.  This is especially true in "At Bertram’s Hotel", where her dining companion gossips through the entire meal.

         At home Miss Marple has a great number of people who care about her.  Nephews especially (or it may just be one; that isn’t quite clear), who repeatedly send her away for her health.  Since Miss Marple keeps encountering dead bodies, I have to wonder if the nephews end up thinking these trips aren’t so good for her health after all.

                

           I will warn you, these episodes are on the slow side, which is probably why I kept falling asleep when they were on TV.  The music also drove me a little crazy, but the mysteries are good; which in the end is the important part.  Because without a good mystery, you don’t really have anything.  With a good mystery, those other small irritations have the ability to disappear.

                

           (I must say the music in Agatha Christie’s Poirot drove me crazy, too, and I really enjoy that show, as well.)