The Murder at the Vicarage (1986) (TV)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Julian Amyes

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel)
T.R. Bowen (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 1986 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery

Plot:

Faced with two false confessions and numerous suspects after a despised civil magistrate is found shot in the local vicarage, Detective Inspector Slack reluctantly accepts help from Miss Marple.

Plot Keywords:

Adultery | Dysfunctional Family | Embezzlement | Country Village | Painter

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Joan Hickson	...	Miss Jane Marple
Paul Eddington	...	Rev. Leonard Clement
Cheryl Campbell	...	Griselda Clement
Robert Lang	...	Colonel Protheroe
Polly Adams	...	Ann Protheroe
James Hazeldine	...	Lawrence Redding
David Horovitch	...	Detective Inspector Slack
Norma West	...	Mrs. Lestrange
Rosalie Crutchley	...	Mrs. Price-Ridley
Tara MacGowran	...	Lettice Protheroe
Christopher Good	...	Christopher Hawes
Michael Browning	...	Dr. Haydock
Ian Brimble	...	Detective Sergeant Lake
Jack Galloway	...	Bill Archer
Rachel Weaver	...	Mary Wright
Barbara Hicks	...	Miss Hartnell
Deddie Davies	...	Mrs. Salisbury
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kathleen Bidmead	...	Miss Wetherby (uncredited)
Tony Brandon	...	Fred Abbot (uncredited)
Kenneth Keeling	...	Ned Abbot (uncredited)

Directed by
Julian Amyes

Writing credits
Agatha Christie		(novel)
T.R. Bowen		(screenplay)

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

Original Music by
Ken Howard

Cinematography by
John Walker		(photography)

Film Editing by
Bernard Ashby

Production Design by
Ray London		(as Raymond London)

Costume Design by
Juanita Waterson

Makeup Department
Sylvia Thornton	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Viv Rosenz	....	production manager

Art Department
Paul Birkbeck	....	title illustrations
Linda Sherwood-Page	....	graphic designer
Francis Smith	....	properties buyer

Sound Department
Bill Chesneau	....	sound recordist
John Hale	....	dubbing mixer
Robin Graham Scott	....	dubbing editor (as Robin Graham-Scott)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Ward	....	Steadicam operator

Music Department
John Altman	....	musical director
Alan Blaikley	....	composer: title music
Ken Howard	....	composer: title music
Paul Kegg	....	musician: cello (uncredited)

Other crew
Maggie Lewty	....	production assistant (as Margaret Lewty)
Thea Murray	....	production associate
Christopher Sandeman	....	assistant floor manager
Chris Stanton	....	assistant floor manager
Laurence Wilson	....	location manager

Production Companies

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

Distributors

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (1986) (UK) (TV) (original airing)
• A&E Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• A&E Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• A&E Television Networks (198?) (USA) (TV)
• Just Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (UK) (series title)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Nether Wallop, Hampshire, England, UK

Company:

7 Network

Quotes:

Detective Inspector Slack: I thought it was looking too good to be true. I shoulds known better! Soon as I saw that nice looking, gray-haired cobra sliding about, I shoulda known better
Detective Sergeant Lake: Hunh?
Detective Inspector Slack: The Marple woman sticks to this sort of business like chewing gum to the cat.

Movie Connections:

Version of Mord im Pfarrhaus (1970) (TV)

Classic Christie

It is difficult to understand ITV's decision to remake the Miss Marple series, because in Joan Hickson we have the definitive interpretation of Agatha Christie's amateur sleuth. This particular story, Miss Marple's first fictional outing,dates from 1930, but the writer, T.R. Bowen has skilfully updated it to the 1950s. The script is witty and the cast is endowed with such acting stalwarts as Paul Eddington and Rosalie Crutchley. If the plot does not seem so original now it is because Christie's work was so often copied, and what must have seemed innovative in 1930 now appears to be hackneyed. All that said it is a story well told and worth a couple of hours of anyone's time.