Sleeping Murder

This series continues working hard to be the 'weird' version of Miss Marple. The producers and writers do everything they can to be perversely (and I choose the word advisedly) different from previous versions. Admittedly the earlier Joan Hickson version of this story was not that great and the heroine had a very insipid husband. He's been abolished here, along with her New Zealand upbringing. Instead, a new character, Mr Hornbeam, has been brought in, who is a definite asset and well acted.

The plot has really been through the wringer and has been made confusing and hard to follow. Somebody seems to have thought they could out-Christie Christie. But Christie is always clear. Here the exact relationships in the Funnybones troupe are not easy to grasp and the cascade of complex plot information in the long 'all the cast in the library' scene at the end is very hard to understand and digest.

Also, there are lots of seemingly casual phone calls to India. This was far from easy in those days, when overseas calls had to be prebooked and waited for and the line quality was often poor. When a lot of care has been taken over period accuracy it is a shame to see this anachronism.

And why is Julian Wadham (the heroine's father) in the shadows playing her fiancé -- at least I think it's him? This is very misleading. Couldn't they afford another actor?

It's quite fun to watch, but I still wonder what the producers are thinking of.

Gwenda Halliday, a wealthy young Englishwoman recently emigrated from India, intuitively buys a seaside manor house, where she re-experiences a murder in a good Agatha Christie adaptation. Of course, it's adjusted for a modern audience, but it's quite engaging with the focus on the characters, they are fleshed out well, and the acting is fine all around. The denouement was well done, though I wasn't too surprised as I had already the splendid book.

First off, these were produced by Granada, not the BBC; therefore accusing them of making a mess is very unfair. Why can't people just accept that these stories have been adapted for a more modern audience; unfortunately the youth of today needs something a little 'dumbed-down'. Just enjoy them for the stories they are - there are some superb acting turns, and a bunch of new talent is being showcased - it's not as if this is factual and the truth is being changed to suit. Thank the lord they don't use American actors, and are taking the current cream of the British crop. Geraldine McEwan brings a rather sweeter disposition to Jane Marple than Hickson and Co., something I find easier to believe.

I set my recorder so that I could speed through the commercials but from the beginning I was so gripped I watched it as it was transmitted and loved it. The period setting was perfectly captured by the director, Ed Hall, and the acting was of a very high standard, but the star of the show was not Miss Marple, but the truly brilliant Miss Myles. Stephen Churchett's script worked well and gave the cast plenty of good dialogue. I especially liked Una Stubbs and Sarah Parish and it was a pleasure to see Dawn French and Russ Abbot in straight roles. But, in the leading role, Sophia Myles had a magical quality that lifted the film to a much higher level.

The book is without doubt the creepiest Marple book, and one of my favourite Agatha Christies. This adaptation is good, but could have been much better, had it been a lot closer to the source material. I didn't like the inclusion of the Funnybones group, and other characters were left out entirely, and those who were left in were quite badly altered. Though I must give credit to Sophia Myles, who did give Gwenda a very nervous edge, especially during the Duchess of Malfi performance, with the line "Cover her face" which creeped me out in the Joan Hickson version, but not really here. The acting was okay, but I wish they made Kennedy Scottish like they did in the Joan Hickson adaptation. As much an excellent actor Phil Davis is, he wasn't my idea of Kennedy. He was too young, compared to the Kennedy in the Joan Hickson version. This is beautifully shot, with some creepy moments in the beginning, but somehow falls rapidly downhill after The Duchess of Malfi scene. As most of the commentators had established already, the biggest letdown was the ending. In alternative to the genuinely frightening one in the book and the Joan Hickson version, it was turned into a Poirot- like charade with ghastly plot changes. Also it seemed rushed, and almost nonsensical, though I was touched that Gwenda found love at the end, despite the fact she's married in the book. In conclusion, this version could have been better. See the Joan Hickson version instead. Sorry I'm comparing this to the Joan Hickson series, but that did a much better job conveying the much-needed creepiness of the book. 6/10 Bethany Cox