Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder (1987) (TV)

Director:

John Davies

Writer:

Ken Taylor (screenplay)
(more)

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

Directed by
John Davies

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

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

Original Music by
Ken Howard		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Peter Hall		(photography)

Film Editing by
Jerry Leon

Production Design by
Victor Meredith		(designer) (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	....	film recordist
Colin Goudie	....	dubbing editor
John Hale	....	dubbing mixer
Jason Swanscott	....	foley artist (uncredited)

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

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (as A BBC-tv production)
• A&E Television Networks (in assocation with) (as The Arts and Entertainment Network, USA)
• 7 Network (in assocation with) (as The Seven Network, Australia)

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)
• Elephant Films (2006) (France) (DVD)
• Just Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:102 min

Country:

UK | USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:PG (video rating) (1997)

Filming Locations:

Lympstone, Devon, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Agatha Christie originally entitled the manuscript for this novel "Murder in Retrospect." However, in 1942 Dodd, Mead Co. published Christie's novel "Five Little Pigs" in the U.S. with the title "Murder in Retrospect" (it retained its original title in the U.K. publication). She then renamed the story "Cover Her Face" but had to change it yet again, when P.D. James published her début novel in 1962 with that title. The novel itself was written around 1940 as her last novel featuring Miss Marple (around the same time that she was writing "Curtain" which was the last Hercule Poirot); it was published in 1976 after her death.

Goofs:

Continuity: While Miss Marple is chatting with the gardener and using the sprayer to kill the bugs, she generously sprays the top of the wall where the gardener's coffee cup is resting. A few moments later he drinks from it, but apparently suffers no ill effects.

Quotes:

Miss Jane Marple:There's always possibility of X.
Gwenda Reed:X?
Giles Reed:X?
Miss Jane Marple:The unknown factor... someone who hasn't appeared yet but whose presence behind the facts can be deduced.

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. Joan Hickson 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