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List Price: $59.99 | | Label: Acorn Media
Salesrank: 11175
Released: May 24, 2005 |
| Our Price: $36.46 |
| Used Price: $36.46 |
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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:
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.
westonjm 
2008-05-12 - I have been a masterpiece / mystery theater fan for years, and find the Miss Marple series with Geraldine McEwan to be top notch. Excellent actors, sumptious costumes, and beautiful settings make for extremely entertaining viewing. Geraldine McEwan is marvelous, and is much better than Joan Hicks ever was! A perfectly lovely voice accompanies the very intelligent eyes!
The Bottom Line
2008-05-08 - I'll take the other reviewers' word for it: if you're a purist, pass on this one. However, if you simply want a marvelous fun, extremely well done series that's a joy to watch, go for it. You won't be disappointed.
Hate the books but love the TV adaptations 
2008-04-13 - For years my mother has tried to get me to read Christie and finally I read one or two of her Miss Marple novels and I hated them. But 90% of the time give me a TV or movie adaptation and I am as happy as a pig in mud. However none of the American ones YUCK !! I liked the Joan Hickson ones but these new ones with Geraldine McEwan are wonderful. She plays Marple as a little bit sly and much wittier character and I really like that. She isn't less nosy than Hickson but she doesn't grate on you like Hickson's nosiness tended to do. These episodes were so good that I blocked off an evening and had a Marple night munching popcorn and enjoying life in St Mary Mead. Of course there is also a place in my heart for the Margaret Rutherford Marple - loved the way she bulldozed her way through the mysteries - wonder in 15 years who will be the next Marple ?
Joan Hickson was as dull as dishwater
2008-02-21 - After seeing most the new Miss Marple series with Geraldine Mcewen; everything about the new productions is better. I definite would find it hard to every return to the series with Joan Hickman.
