Sleeping Murder (1987) (TV)

Director:

John Davies

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel)
Ken Taylor (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 January 1987 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

When a young bride moves into a country manor, long repressed childhood memories of witnessing a murder come to the surface.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | House | Miss Marple | Country Doctor | Insane Asylum

Cast

Joan Hickson	...	Miss Jane Marple
Geraldine Alexander	...	Gwenda Reed
John Moulder-Brown	...	Giles Reed
Jack Watson	...	Mr. Foster
Joan Scott	...	Mrs. Cocker
Frederick Treves	...	Dr James Kennedy
Eryl Maynard	...	Lily Kimble
Ken Kitson	...	Jim Kimble
Jean Heywood	...	Edith Paget
Jean Anderson	...	Mrs. Fane
Terrence Hardiman	...	Walter Fane
John Bennett	...	Richard Erskine
Geraldine Newman	...	Janet Erskine
Georgine Anderson	...	Mrs. Hengrave
Edward Jewesbury	...	Mr. Sims
Esmond Knight	...	Mr. Galbraith
John Ringham	...	Dr. Penrose
David McAllister	...	Raymond West (as David McAlister)
Amanda Boxer	...	Joan West
Donald Burton	...	Bosola
Struan Rodger	...	Ferdinand (voice)
Gary Watson	...	Major Kelvin Halliday
Kenneth Cope	...	Jackie Afflick
Peter Spraggon	...	Detective Inspector Last
Sheila Raynor	...	Shop Assistant

Directed by
John Davies

Writing credits
Agatha Christie		(novel)
Ken Taylor		(screenplay)

Produced by
George Gallaccio	....	producer
Guy Slater	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Ken Howard

Cinematography by
Peter Hall		(photography)

Film Editing by
Jerry Leon

Production Design by
Victor Meredith		(as Vic Meredith)

Costume Design by
Judy Pepperdine

Makeup Department
Sheelagh Wells	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Michael Cameron	....	production manager

Art Department
Paul Birkbeck	....	title illustrations
Linda Sherwood-Page	....	graphic designer
Barbara Spiller	....	properties buyer

Sound Department
Malcolm Campbell	....	sound recordist
Colin Goudie	....	dubbing editor
John Hale	....	dubbing mixer
Jason Swanscott	....	foley artist

Music Department
John Altman	....	musical director
Alan Blaikley	....	composer: title music
Ken Howard	....	composer: title music

Other crew
Patricia Greenland	....	production assistant
George Griffiths	....	location manager
Thea Murray	....	production associate
Christopher Sandeman	....	assistant floor manager
Mandy West	....	assistant floor manager

Production Companies

• 7 Network
• A&E Television Networks
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Distributors

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (1987) (UK) (TV) (original airing)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1987) (USA) (TV)
• Mystery! (1987) (USA) (TV)
• A&E Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• A&E Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Arts & Entertainment Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Just Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder (UK) (series title)

Runtime:

USA:102 min

Country:

Australia | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Lympstone, Devon, England, UK

Company:

7 Network

Trivia:

A line in the film's ending, 'Cover her face, Mine eyes dazzle, Gwennie', spoken by Dr. Kennedy to Gwennie, are references to almost identical lines in Scene 2, Act 4 of the 17th century Jacobean play 'The Duchess of Malfi' published by the English playwright John Webster in 1623. In the 'Duchess of Malfi' the referenced line is 'Cover her face. Mine eyes dazzle. She died young.', spoken by the character Ferdinand to Bosola.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Although the character of Gwenda Reed is purportedly a New Zealander the accent is clearly Australian.

Quotes:

Miss Jane Marple: It's very dangerous to believe people. I haven't for years.

Movie Connections:

Follows The Moving Finger (1985) (TV)

Faithful, and beautifully shot, with a captivating performance from Geraldine Alexander

Sleeping Murder is one of my favourite Agatha Christie books, I will warn you though I find it very creepy. As an adaptation, this version is surprisingly faithful, much more faithful than the Geraldine McEwan adaptation; that started off well but was ruined by some unnecessary plot changes. This 1987 adaptation looks wonderful, with some beautiful photography and lovely scenery and costumes without being too fancy. A number of scenes gave me nightmares when I first saw it, especially the ending. The book had real nervous edge and left some really haunting imagery inside your head, and the adaptation did very well in that aspect. The script is good, the pace isn't that slow, the music was haunting and beautiful and the acting was solid. Geraldine McEwan as usual is terrific in the title role, and Geraldine Alexander, like Sophia Myles in the recent version, was entirely captivating as Gwenda. Frederick Treves despite the shaky Scottish accent is quite effective as Kennedy, but John Moulder-Brown is rather wooden as Giles. All in all, a very effective adaptation of an excellent book. 9/10 Bethany Cox