The Murder at the Vicarage (1986) (TV)

Director:

Julian Amyes

Writer:

T.R. Bowen (dramatised by)
(more)

Release Date:

25 December 1986 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | 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:

Church | Vicarage | Daughter | False Confession | Painter

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

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

Directed by
Julian Amyes

Writing credits
T.R. Bowen		(dramatised by)
Agatha Christie		(novel) uncredited

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

Original Music by
Ken Howard		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
John Walker		(photography)

Film Editing by
Bernard Ashby

Production Design by
Ray London		(designer) (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	....	film recordist
John Hale	....	dubbing mixer
Robin Graham Scott	....	dubbing editor (as Robin Graham-Scott)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Ward	....	Steadicam operator (uncredited)

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

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (as A BBC TV production)
• A&E Television Networks (in assocation with) (as The Arts and Entertainment Network, U.S.A.)
• 7 Network (in assocation with) (as The Seven Network, Australia)

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

Also Known As:

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

UK | USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG (video rating) (1997)

Filming Locations:

Nether Wallop, Hampshire, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Quotes:

Detective Sergeant Lake:[Referring to Mrs. Price-Ridley] Oh, yes, and she thinks she heard the murderer in the shrubbery. Reckon she heard him sneeze.
Detective Inspector Slack:So all we have to do is find someone with a snotty handkerchief!

Movie Connections:

Remade as Agatha Christie Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (2004) (TV)

Engaging story with gentle laughs and a nice development around the "village grapevine" theme

Life in the vicarage is not as gentile and peaceful as it would seem as even mild-mannered Reverend Clement is driven to swearing by the stiff-necked attitude of Colonel Protheroe over the church accounts. In fact Protheroe is so unpopular that, when he is found murdered in the vicarage, several people confess to the crime to protect others who they assume must have done it. When the police manage to prove that the confessors couldn't possibly have done it, it leaves them with the question of who actually has killed him. As they conduct their investigation, Miss Marple continues her gardening and listens to the village grapevine to build a picture in her mind of what could have happened.

Although I have seen several BBC Miss Marple films where boredom could have been the cause of the murder, I still tried again several times and I was happy when this film turned out to be one of the more enjoyable and free-flowing in the series. Stepping away from the uptight and repressed standards of the period this film instead builds on the gossipy, small-world nature of life in a small English village. In doing this it show Miss Marple's quiet use of the grapevine in nice contrast to the police resources of Slack. The story itself is well structured and has plenty going on – it avoids the trap of being dull by way of trying to "English" and is quite fun. The mystery is well spun out and well solved with a nice air of humour along the way. It will still appear "boring" to those raised on the quick-fire mysteries of CSI etc but I found it to be quite sparky by the usual BBC Miss Marple standards.

Hickson is the one I always think of when I think of Miss Marple and here she is good value. She plays the "village" aspect of her character well and her personality comes through well in even simple lines. She is well supported by Horovitch's Slack who provides several laughs with his character. The support are generally up to the task – Eddington had a smaller role than I expected but was good; Lang was enjoyable before his final shot while people like Adams, Hazeldine, Good, West and others are all solid enough to stop the audience ignoring them or seeing them as dominate (and thus a possible murderer).

Overall this is an enjoyable and interesting entry in the solid BBC Miss Marple film series. The story is engaging and developed well and, far from being stiff, it actually flows quite well. The addition of humour and lively performances only helps to make it all the more enjoyable and makes this a good introduction to the BBC Marple series.