Are you a fan of crime shows on TV? I enjoy the Weekend Murders on Prime, especially the Miss Marple series, and now that winter has really set in I’m happy to huddle down on a Saturday night and make the most of them.
As with any character you know from well from a book, it is not easy to translate Miss Marple to the screen. They have tried it all sorts of ways. Joan Hickson, all fluffy and pink and unassuming always fitted my idea of her very well. I have therefore been surprised to find Julia McKenzie a great deal more credible with her straightforward and sensible version of the great detective. Margaret Rutherford’s forceful ship-in-full-sail version ( a la P J Wodehouse’s aunties) is fun too, but a long way from my imaginings. The only actress I find entirely unbelievable is Geraldine McEwan with her sharp, birdlike inquisitiveness and coy innuendo. Miss Marple is not sharp – well not in my mind anyway.
One Christie character who can be played by only one person is Poirot. Who could tolerate anyone else after David Suchet’s superb version? Even Peter Ustinov cannot hold a candle to him. He recently began filming for the last programmes in his complete series of Poirot, so if you’re an avid fan keep an eye on the catalogue.
If you’d like to vote on your favourite Christie character and find out what other people think try Hercule Poirot Central.
I notice from Weekend Murders we now have a new Inspector Barnaby in Midsomer Murders. I didn’t expect to like him as I have always had a soft spot for John Nettles. Like Morse, Midsomer Murders translated to the screen as a much classier act than the original books and John Nettles seemed integral to its sense of style. His replacement has surprised my by being just as engaging. Unfortunately the set solution involving a cunningly insane but apparently normal neighbour, seems to have been replaced with a weekly need to rescue the detective, otherwise I might become a fan.
Happily you don’t have to wait for your favourite sleuth to appear on Weekend Murders, as the library have many of these episodes on DVD.
Who are you favourite sleuths as played on the screen?
21 June 2012 at 11:01 am
My all time favourite is ‘Maigret’ as played by Michael Gambon (and available on DVD in the library). I relish his rough diamond characterisation of Maigret but the two series really nail the feel of mid-20th century France. For similar reasons I love Michael Kitchen’s Chief Superintendant Foyle of ‘Foyle’s War’. He is a man between a rock and a hard place and Kitchen does the deadpan demeanour whilst reading people better than any one.
I have a soft spot for Thomas Magnum of ‘Magnum P.I.’ played by Tom Selleck. The show had an amazing knack for blending drama, hilarity and likeable characters (and of course beautiful scenery). I love the goofiness of Thomas always butting heads with the self-righteous and pompous Higgins. ‘Bergerac’ (John Nettles again) is another of the troubled soul-but good sort that made Nettles so popular.
21 June 2012 at 2:01 pm
Oooh yes. I remember the Maigret series vividly and devoured Foyles war on dvd. We have both series in the library, they’re excellent viewing and both actors are perfectly cast. I also have a fondness for Tom Selleck – the actor playing Magnum in the new series completely lacks his idiosyncratic charm.
21 June 2012 at 3:33 pm
Hmm, I remember having a bit of a teenage crush on Mr Nettles in Bergerac.
I’m a bit undecided about the New Midsomer Murders. Not so much about the new Barnaby, who seems pretty good, but the change in tone of the programmes. They seem a lot less “Let’s have a jolly good murder, all fun and games eh what?!?” and much more CSI-like with seriously nasty psycho-killers. I hope the trend doesn’t last – I do prefer a nice light-hearted murder. 