Marple: The Body in the Library (2004) (TV)

Director:

Andy Wilson

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel)
Kevin Elyot (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 December 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Murder Mystery | Murder | Miss Marple | Lesbian Interest | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Geraldine McEwan	...	Miss Jane Marple
Ian Richardson	...	Conway Jefferson
Tara Fitzgerald	...	Adelaide Jefferson
Jamie Theakston	...	Mark Gaskell
Giles Oldershaw	...	Edwards
Florence Hoath	...	Pamela Reeves
Joanna Lumley	...	Dolly Bantry
James Fox	...	Colonel Arthur Bantry
Simon Callow	...	Colonel Terence Melchett
Ben Miller	...	Basil Blake
Emma Cooke	...	Dinah Lee
Robin Soans	...	Dr. Haydock
Bruce Mackinnon	...	Scamper (as Bruce MacKinnon)
Jack Davenport	...	Superintendent Harper
Mary Stockley	...	Josie Turner

Also Known As:

Agatha Christie's Marple (UK)
Agatha Christie's Marple: The Body in the Library (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Dorney Court, Dorney, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Chorion

Trivia:

The producers of this series of Miss Marple TV dramas have set her home village of St Mary Mead in Oxfordshire. From clues given in the Agatha Christie books, if a real county was guessed at, Hampshire would be the likely location for St Mary Mead.

Quotes:

Basil Blake: [introducing his wife to Colonel Melchett] Dinah Lee, minor actress, major slut!

Movie Connections:

Version of The Body in the Library (1984) (TV)

Character development

seems totally unimportant to the makers of the latest Marple series (Geraldine McEwan). There are all kinds of camera angles and other modernizations but, frankly, I miss the slightly dowdy, underplayed subtlety of the Joan Hickson series. I miss recurring characters like Inspector Slack -- and the somewhat grungy, down-at-heel look of postwar 1950's England that characterized the earlier series and that I know for a fact is more authentic. I think McEwan is a fine actress but she seems almost too young and sprightly at times...puckish even.

I've watched several of these episodes. At first, I was only going to watch episodes of stories I had not seen (Toward Zero, Ordeal By Innocence, etc) because they were not part of the Hickson series -- but I just watched At Bertram's Hotel and am totally and completely confused by the re-write. I think I'll skip Nemesis -- it's one of my very favorite Hickson episodes -- and Sleeping Murder, ditto.