Marple: A Murder Is Announced (2005) (TV)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

John Strickland

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel)
Stewart Harcourt (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 January 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

The residents of Chipping Cleghorn are astonished to read an advert in the local newspaper that a murder...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Miss Marple | Reference To Goebbels | Amateur Detective | Mother Son Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Geraldine McEwan	...	Miss Jane Marple
Christian Coulson	...	Edmund Swettenham
Cherie Lunghi	...	Mrs. Swettenham
Robert Pugh	...	Colonel Easterbrook
Keeley Hawes	...	Philippa Haymes
Zoë Wanamaker	...	Letitia Blacklock
Claire Skinner	...	Amy Murgatroyd
Frances Barber	...	Lizzie Hinchcliffe
Elaine Paige	...	Dora Bunner
Matthew Goode	...	Patrick Simmons
Sienna Guillory	...	Julia Simmons
Catherine Tate	...	Mitzi Kosinski
Christian Rubeck	...	Rudi Schertz (as Christian Pedersen)
Alexander Armstrong	...	DI Craddock
Richard Dixon	...	Mr. Rowlandson

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Chilworth Manor, Chilworth, Guildford, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Granada Drama

Quotes:

Amy Murgatroyd: What do you think it means?
Lizzie Hinchcliffe: It means going round to Letitia Blacklock's and having bad sherry - that's what it means - and then having to pretend to murder one of the neighbours.
Amy Murgatroyd: And will the lights suddenly go out?
Lizzie Hinchcliffe: Well, that's usually the form.
Amy Murgatroyd: And will there be screaming?
Lizzie Hinchcliffe: Well, if you've got anything to do with it, yes, I expect so.

Movie Connections:

Featured in There's Something About Christie... Murder Made Simple (2007) (TV)

Geraldine McEwan is not Miss Marple according to Christie...

There are so many departures from the original story in A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED, but unfortunately the biggest departure of all is GERALDINE McEWAN as Agatha Christie's Miss Jane Marple.

McEwan never suggests a clever old lady able to assimilate information while never dropping her knitting, deceptively fooling others into thinking that she's incapable of solving murders. Instead, McEwan comes cross as a sly old lady, sticking her nose into the affairs of others in a manner that borders on cunning deceit instead of a simple desire to get at the truth. She never looks as though she's pensive and thoughtful enough to solve anything, the way JOAN HICKSON did in her brilliant interpretation of Miss Marple.

Furthermore, the complicated plot has been tampered with to the extent that it doesn't even follow Christie's tale with any accuracy.

If you want to see the definitive version of this clever Christie story, you owe it to yourself to watch the 1985 version which remains one of the best TV adaptations of a Christie novel by sticking fairly closely to the original plot.