Agatha Christie’s Marple

Putting the Pieces Together/Artwork by Kate Dorsey

    Years ago, I tried watching Agatha Christie’s Marple.  For some reason I didn’t like it.  Why?  I’m not sure.  There was just something about it I didn’t like.

    Then, a few months ago, I was reading a book about PBS.  Marple was mentioned in it.  Since it had been so long since I’d tried the series the first time, I decided to give it another try.  I expected to not like it again.

    Surprise!  This time around I found I enjoyed the series.  So far, I have watched the first three seasons, and am very curious to see what is going to happen in the fourth.  The actress who portrays Miss Marple changes in season four.  It will be interesting to see how the show does as well.

    For now, let’s talk about the first three season.

    Miss Jane Marple (Geraldine McEwan) has a lot more going on upstairs then many would expect.  Those who don’t know her would easily cast her aside as either a busybody (which she is, to some extent), or a doddery old woman (which she is not).  Her age alone would make people not take Miss Marple seriously.  That would be a mistake.

    While I said Miss Marple is not a doddery old woman, she does know how to play that up if she needs to.  She is very crafty, and is able to put clues and pieces of information together in ways others do not.  This drives the police crazy, as Miss Marple is always telling them what she knows.  They would much rather investigate and solve the case without Miss Marple’s help.

    Of course, casting Miss Marple to the side is always a detriment to the police.  They solve cases much faster when they listen to what she has to say and let her be involved.

    Despite many of the conclusions coming from Miss Marple, she does not always work alone.  Sometimes she uses the help of others; such as her nephew, Raymond West (Richard E Grant) in “Nemesis”; or a professor, Arthur Calgary (Julian Rhind Tutt) in “Ordeal by Innocence”.  She even has a young woman, Lucy Eyelesbarrow (Amanda Holden), go undercover in “4:50 from Paddington”.  Each time the person Miss Marple works with brings back to her what they have learned.  Then it is she who puts all the pieces together.

    Not everyone is happy about how well Miss Marple is able to put pieces together.  Some answers leave very sad people behind.  Yet, still, there are very few attempts on Miss Marple’s life.  I would think there would be more with as many people she helps get put behind bars.  But at the moment I can only think of one instance where someone tried to hurt Miss Marple.  Of course, she outwitted them.

    While most mentions of Miss Marple include the fact she is from St Mary Mead (at least those in my experience), this series has her hardly there at all.  She has friends all over the place and travels to see them.  This series also makes illusions to Miss Marple’s younger years.  To a time when she was in love with a married World War I soldier.

    Even though I am enjoying the mysteries, I find myself having even more fun with the cast.  Each episode is full of actors I have seen in other places.  It’s become kind of a game to see whether or not I can figure out where someone is from.  One episode had so many people who eventually guest starred on Lewis, I joked the Marple episode was an audition to get on the other show.  Funnily enough, Laurence Fox, who starred in Lewis, is in an early episode of Marple.

    Many of the actors I can place from memory.  Others I have to look up.  Jane Seymour, Richard Armitage, Denis Lawson, Burn Gorman, Lee Ingleby, Anne Reid, Laurence Fox, James Fox, Josie Lawrence, and Derek Jacobi are some of the actors I knew right away.  It was fun seeing them in different roles than I am used to.  It also shows how well-known of a cast this show receives. 

    It will be interesting to see if I can continue with this game as the series goes on.  Even if I can’t, I look forward to seeing what other mysteries come Miss Marple’s way, and how she solves them.