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List Price: $59.99 | | Label: Acorn Media
Salesrank: 11943
Released: May 24, 2005 |
| Our Price: $34.98 |
| Used Price: $26.75 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
She's back! Proper, demure, and sharp as a tack, Agatha Christie's beloved Miss Marple returns to the limelight in sparkling new adaptations of four classic Christie novels. Geraldine McEwan (The Magdalene Sisters, Mapp & Lucia) is the ladylike sleuth, a wispy senior citizen who blows the police professionals out of the water with her keen insight and shrewdly analytical nature. Fearless and uncommonly wise to the worst in human nature, Marple has lived a long time-and she's paid attention.
As seen on the PBS Mystery! series, these lavish 21st-century productions are rich in post-WWII period atmosphere and delicious Christie wit, with star-studded casts that include Joanna Lumley, Derek Jacobi, Tara Fitzgerald, Ian Richardson, Janet McTeer, Zok Wanamaker, Simon Callow, James Fox, John Hannah, and Celia Imrie.
The Mysteries:
Murder at the Vicarage
The Body in the Library
A Murder Is Announced
4:50 From Paddington
DVD special features include an hour-long behind-the-scenes featurette with cast and crew interviews, a history of Miss Marple adaptations, a photo gallery and more.
Description of Agatha Christie's Marple: Series 1:
Miss Marple is back, and what an invigorating, happy experience this quartet of British television productions is for both mystery fans and casual viewers. The luminous Geraldine McEwan (Vanity Fair), following in the footsteps of Helen Hayes, Angela Lansbury, Margaret Rutherford, and others, essays Agatha Christie's aging, amateur sleuth as a discreet observer, knowing friend, and judicious dispenser of wisdom during murder investigations. But what really makes these crisp adaptations a delight is the endless parade of familiar actors playing those numerous suspects, baffled police, and innocent observers who routinely populate Christie's glossy, whodunit landscapes. It's hard not to be dazzled by supporting casts that include Tara Fitzgerald, Robert Powell, Simon Callow, Joanna Lumley, Ian Richardson, Jane Asher, Miriam Margolyes, Tim McInnerny, Herbert Lom, and Jenny Agutter, all nestled into gorgeous, post-World War II backdrops, usually in the English countryside.
This boxed set includes "The Murder at the Vicarage," based on Christie's 1930 book about the killing of one hugely unlikable Colonel Protheroe (Derek Jacobi) in Jane Marple's pretty home village of St. Mary Mead. Typically, there is no end of likely suspects, but what makes the investigation unusual is a pair of competing confessions from two illicit lovers (Jason Flemyng, Janet McTeer). Stephen Tompkinson (Ballykissangel) is very good as a police inspector who slowly develops admiration for Miss Marple's keen mind. "The Body in the Library" finds Marple aiding the brassy Dolly Bantry (Lumley) after the latter finds the body of an unknown woman in her library. Callow is wonderful as another cop who initially underestimates the heroine's gifts. "A Murder Is Announced," in which a killing is advertised before it happens, and "4:50 from Paddington," about a murder without a body, round out the set with imaginative plots and memorable performances. Don't miss the special featurette in which McEwan and others talk about the endless appeal of Miss Marple. --Tom Keogh
Agatha Christie's Marple: Series 1 Reviews:
I LOVED this series especially Geraldine McEwan 
2009-07-22 - I must admit I had never watched any adaptation of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple Series. In fact I had never read any of her stories. I just happened to catch one on PBS and I was instantly hooked. I have watched all of them and been inspired to read the books.
I was particularly impressed with Geraldine McEwan's performance. I just adore her interpretation of Miss Marple. I love to curl up on my couch with hot cocoa and watch the different episodes. My only complaint is that I have now seen them all. Fortunately, I still have a couple of books left to read.
I tried watching the earlier series and just did not feel the same connection. I can see how it might be easy to become attached to one's own idea of who one believes Miss Marple to be. It seems that once that initial idea is formed it is hard to accept something different. Maybe that is at least in part responsible for all of the criticism. Since I had not read the books, Miss Marple is Geraldine McEwan to me. And I believe this has definitely made the books so appealing for me.
I am shocked at the number of the negative reviews. I hope the die-hard Christie fans can at least appreciate that Geraldine's performance introduced me to the sharp wit and wondrous world of Miss Jane Marple.
Geraldine McEwan is a superb Marple
2009-07-10 - I've watched several episodes featuring both Miss Marples (Joan Hickson and Geraldine McEwan). Ms. Hickson might be closer in age and deportment to the book version of Miss Marple, but she is very bland on TV and doesn't give the emotional weight to the story that McEwan does. And while the Hickson versions may be more faithful to the original story, that's not always a plus. In "At Bertram's Hotel", the McEwan version does add a subplot not in the book but it's very well handled and gives a slow story some pizzazz. Also, the production values, directing and editing are superior. The Hickson version features scene after scene of people talking over tea (not very entertainingly) and the casting is frankly second-rate. There's also no contest between the two versions of "The Moving Finger" -- McEwan's version is superior in acting, directing, and dialogue to the slow, uninspired Hickson version.
Normally I'm a stickler for adhering to the source, but there's just no comparison between these two Marples. McEwen is eminently more watchable and her production team is way ahead of Hickson's.
Excellent series!
2009-03-03 - I purchased Agatha Christie's Marple: Series 1, 2, and 3, and I couldn't be more pleased! All three were well worth the price, and I would recommend highly each one.
McEwan brings Miss Marple to life!
2009-01-24 - Geraldine McEwan plays an extremely convincing Miss Marple in this Series 1 collection of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple stories. Her characterization of Marple is a bit more compassionate rather than removed from the characters in the four movies that comprise this collection. Not a one of the films was disappointing! This is a collection that has moved me to purchase the other two sets of McEwan's Miss Marple. Bravo!
Oh, what "could have been" ! 
2008-08-03 - As a rabid Agatha Christie fan from my youth, I am eager to watch any version of the beloved Miss Marple that I can. Although the BBC version with Joan Hickson is by far the most superior interpretation in keeping the spirit of the books, nonetheless I was eager to see what the new Miss Marple series would bring. I have to say that I am greatly disappointed in these adaptations. Not only does this new Miss Marple have a past that seems inconsistent with the books, the entire storyline is a farce. I was also upset that there is a definite homosexual agenda depicted vividly in several of these movies. Part of the joy of these books and the former movie adaptations for me has been the "whodunit" aspect in the midst of small-town England. The murders themselves were almost secondary to the unfolding of the great insight of Miss Marple unraveling the depths of human iniquity through the prism of her village experience. Regardless of your politics on the matter, to change the stories so completely to reflect violence and homosexuality so vividly is NOT a Marple from Agatha Christie's repertoire. Unfortunately, in spite of some excellent performances, it is a "thumbs down" for me on this series.
