Murder Is Easy 

A village is plagued by a spate of seemingly accidental deaths, but Miss Marple is convinced a more sinister hand is involved when a villager on her way to Scotland Yard is conveniently dispatched.

Director:

Hettie Macdonald

Writers:

Stephen Churchett (screenplay), Agatha Christie (novel)

Stars:

Julia McKenzie, Steve Pemberton, Shirley Henderson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Julia McKenzie	...	Miss Marple
Steve Pemberton	...	Henry Wake
Shirley Henderson	...	Honoria Waynflete
Sylvia Syms	...	Lavinia Pinkerton
Benedict Cumberbatch	...	Luke Fitzwilliam
Lyndsey Marshal	...	Amy Gibbs
James Lance	...	Dr Geoffrey Thomas
Tim Brooke-Taylor	...	Dr Edward Humbleby
Camilla Arfwedson	...	Rose Humbleby
Hugo Speer	...	James Abbot
Anna Chancellor	...	Lydia Horton
David Haig	...	Major Hugh Horton
Margo Stilley	...	Bridget Conway
Jemma Redgrave	...	Jessie Humbleby
Russell Tovey	...	PC Terence Reed

Storyline

While traveling on a train to London, Miss Marple is told by a woman she has never met, Lavinia Pinkerton, that she is certain there have been two murders in her village of Wychwood. When Lavinia dies in what is purported to be an accident - she fell, or was pushed, down the escalator in a tube station - Miss Marple decides to visit Wychwood and see what she can find. As Miss Marple is apt to say, one English village is like another and Wychwood has its secrets like any other. The first woman to die was Florie Gibbs who, despite being experienced in such things, supposedly ate poison mushrooms she picked herself. The second was the local vicar who failed to wear his mask when using poison near his beehives. The third is a young woman who, it is said, accidentally drank hat dye instead of her cough medicine. Miss Marple finds a clue that points to a motive with origins many years before and a secret someone will do anything, including murder, to keep hidden.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1933 | 1930s | year 1955 | 1950s | rape | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both Steve Pemberton (Henry Wake) and Anna Chancellor (Lydia Horton) have both appeared in Death in Paradise.

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Goofs

When Lavinia falls down the escalator at the tube station, you can clearly see the big oblong shin pads underneath her tights.

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Connections

Version of Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie: Un Meurtre est-il facile? (2015)

User Reviews

Good acting but poor re-rendering of the original story prevails.

Agatha Christie wrote enough "Miss Marple" mysteries so that Masterpiece Theater should not have injected her character into MURDER IS EASY. (Was that really MURDER IS EASY or did the writers just borrow the title and names?) As if that was not enough of a production boondoggle, Miss Marple has been changed into an on-the-scene detective, terse, business like and not given to the meandering comments on village life that punctuates her personality in the original stories. Julia McKenzie's ability as an actress was indeed wasted in this rendition.

A "2" is given for good acting in a very poorly written script.

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 July 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agatha Christie Marple: Murder Is Easy

Filming Locations:

Southgate Underground Station, Southgate Circus, Southgate, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

ITV Studios, WGBH, Agatha Christie

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color