Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (1986)

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.

Director:

Julian Amyes

Writer:

T.R. Bowen (dramatised by)

Stars:

Joan Hickson, Paul Eddington, Cheryl Campbell

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joan Hickson	...	Miss Marple
Paul Eddington	...	Reverend Leonard Clement
Cheryl Campbell	...	Griselda Clement
Robert Lang	...	Colonel Lucius Protheroe
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

Storyline

When a despised magistrate is found shot to death in the library of the local vicarage, his wife and her lover, a portrait painter living on the church grounds, both confess to the crime. Miss Marple's keen powers of observation clear both of them of the crime, but other suspects abound. Included are the murdered man's daughter, who posed for the artist, a neurotic cleric who's embezzled church funds, the local doctor, an ex-convict who poached on the magistrate's land, and a missionary's enigmatic widow who argued with him the day before he was killed. An exasperated Inspector Slack must reluctantly accept help from the analytical Miss Marple.

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Plot Keywords:

bad cook | vicarage | church | daughter | shot to death | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Did You Know?

Trivia

French title: L'affaire Protheroe.

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Goofs

This seems to be set in the spring of 1955 or 1956. When the parishioners are coming to church late in the second part, they arrive to Albinoni's Adagio even though this wasn't published until 1958.

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Quotes

Detective Inspector Slack: I thought it was looking too good to be true. I shoulds known better! Soon as I saw that nice looking, gray-haired cobra sliding about, I shoulda known better
Detective Sergeant Lake: Hunh?
Detective Inspector Slack: The Marple woman sticks to this sort of business like chewing gum to the cat.

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Crazy Credits

Robert Lang (Colonel Lucius Protheroe) was omitted from the closing credits even though his name appeared in the opening titles and he played a significant role in the opening scenes before his character was murdered.

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Connections

Version of Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie: L'Affaire Protheroe (2016)

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Soundtracks

Greensleeves
(uncredited)
Traditional
[Lettice whistles]

User Reviews

Classic Christie

It is difficult to understand ITV's decision to remake the Miss Marple series, because in Joan Hickson we have the definitive interpretation of Agatha Christie's amateur sleuth. This particular story, Miss Marple's first fictional outing,dates from 1930, but the writer, T.R. Bowen has skilfully updated it to the 1950s. The script is witty and the cast is endowed with such acting stalwarts as Paul Eddington and Rosalie Crutchley. If the plot does not seem so original now it is because Christie's work was so often copied, and what must have seemed innovative in 1930 now appears to be hackneyed. All that said it is a story well told and worth a couple of hours of anyone's time.

Details

Country:

UK USA Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1986 (UK)

Also Known As:

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage

Filming Locations:

Nether Wallop, Hampshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1