Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder (1987)

When a young bride moves into a country manor, long repressed childhood memories of witnessing a murder come to the surface.

Director:

John Davies

Writer:

Ken Taylor (screenplay)

Stars:

Joan Hickson, Geraldine Alexander, John Moulder-Brown

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

BBC TV adaption of the Agatha Christie's novel. A young recently married woman, Gwenda Reed, comes back to England after living most of her life in New Zealand. While her husband, Giles, is out of the country she buys a house for them and starts recalling memories which make her start to think that perhaps she had lived in the house before. It's only then, while dining out with friends, that a chance remark triggered off a frightening memory, as a little girl, looking down at a woman's body and the murderer with "monkey paws" hands. Gwenda is determined to find out the sources of this memory. The killer, thought that he/she was safe after eighteen years and is prepared to kill to cover up the past. But Gwenda has help as one of her dining friends is Raymond West, who has a very special Aunt who is willing to help Gwenda - Miss Jane Marple...

---

Plot Keywords:

house | murder | miss marple | death | strangulation | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

---

Details

Country:

UK Australia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 January 1987 (UK)

Also Known As:

Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder

Filming Locations:

Broughton Castle, Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), A&E Television Networks, 7 Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

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

The "posh car" owned by the tour bus company owner is a bright yellow roadster that looks suspiciously like a 1957 Ford Thunderbird, though it may have been a British make of similar design. But the headlights and taillights are unmistakably from the period of 1955-1957. If this mystery series is set in the post-WWII era of 1946-48, that car would have been about 10 years before its time.

---

Quotes

Gwenda Reed: Why didn't *we* think of that?
Miss Jane Marple: Because you believed what he told you. It's very dangerous to believe people - I haven't for years.

---

Connections

Follows Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: A Pocket Full of Rye (1985)

User Reviews

Opinion of an amateur

'Sleeping Murder' keeps rolling around on afternoon BBC television, and I have been drawn into the story twice so far. I don't like Miss Marple, so perhaps that is why I find this a decent story - I can't compare it to the books, and the world's oldest detective only crops up every now and again to explain the plot to the newlywed couple. I love the idea of Gwenda subconsciously buying a house from her past, and the details she uncovers, such as the pattern of the wallpaper in the cupboard and the steps in the garden. The history in the house, and the subsequent family tree research, had me hooked. The 'whodunnit' wasn't exactly taxing - just look for the most dubious character, battling with a bad case of pantomime villain - but the unravelling of the clues kept me interested (just about - at times this felt like an epic, instead of an installment of a detective series). The setting, period detail, and characters were all evocative of a storybook version of an era gone by. Perfect Sunday afternoon fodder.