Agatha Christie Marple: The Sittaford Mystery (2006) (TV)

Director:

Paul Unwin

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel) and
Stephen Churchett (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 April 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

The death of the presumptive future PM is predicted during a séance in a snowbound country hotel and, not surprisingly, he is found stabbed to death the next morning.

Plot Keywords:

Miss Marple | Member Of Parliament | Prime Minister | Snowstorm | Stabbed To Death

Cast

Geraldine McEwan	...	Miss Jane Marple
Michael Brandon	...	Martin Zimmerman
Laurence Fox	...	James Pearson
Robert Hardy	...	Winston Churchill
Patricia Hodge	...	Mrs. Evadne Willett
Paul Kaye	...	Dr. Ambrose Burt
Matthew Kelly	...	Donald Garfield / Smith-Jones
Jeffery Kissoon	...	Ahmed Ghali
Carey Mulligan	...	Violet Willett
James Murray	...	Charles Burnaby
Mel Smith	...	John Enderby
Zoe Telford	...	Emily Trefusis
Rita Tushingham	...	Miss Elizabeth Percehouse
James Wilby	...	Stanley Kirkwood
Timothy Dalton	...	Clive Trevelyan

Also Known As:

Agatha Christie - Marple: The Sittaford Mystery (Australia) (DVD title)

Runtime:

Finland:93 min | USA:100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:TV-14 (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Dorney Court, Dorney, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Agatha Christie

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the scene where Miss Marple explains the murder's solution, just after 'Charles' falls into the ground, the feet of a crew member can be seen at the left bottom of the screen.

Quotes:

Emily Trefusis: If I were the nervous sort, I'd say there's evil in this house.
Miss Jane Marple: The house is bricks and mortar. If there's evil, it's in somebody's heart.

What on Earth was that all about?

The Sittaford Mystery is one of those classic mystery stories - isolated community, a hint of the paranormal, legacies, prodigal relatives, all given a strong sense of location by being tied in with the Dartmoor landscape.

Enough of the book though, what of the TV adaptation? Calling it utter crap is being needlessly unkind to the brown stuff. Changing the murderer is one thing which should never be done at all. The victim was completely rewritten, as was the motive. ITV also saw fit to fling in an extra murder (purely for effect - note how nobody bothered to comment on it later on). Presumably this was an attempt to wake up people being bored rigid by the nonsense. Two characters appeared to swap names during the course of the story, and the largest part of the mystery (how the seance ties in with the murder) was totally scuppered by the changes made to the murder itself. The cast tried their best, but they'd have been much better off just making it up as they went along.

The only positive thing that you can say about this woeful heap of nonsense is that, as it is so different, even down to the culprit, even if you have seen the film, it won't have spoilt the book for you. Go and read that instead - it's got a plot, and it even makes sense.