Paul Evans I can understand why many people see this as the best of Joan Hickson's adaptations. The production values are so high, the casting director did a fantastic job and got every characterisation spot on. ITV's remake I did enjoy and compares well with this one, partly because it moves at a pace. This version is far more intricate, more detailed and of course more true to the novel. Joan Hickson was of course born to play Miss Marple, to this day I don't think anyone catch match her, she was incredible. It's funny, I was 5 when this was transmitted, and I have a vivid memory of the scene where Miss Murgatryod is strangled with her washing, think that's why I was so keen to watch them again (and again.) As with all Agatha Christie's it's the endings I enjoy, and this is one of the best, if you've not seen it, you are missing out. Ursula Howells, Renee Asherson and Paola Dionisotti are particularly brilliant. a definite no questions asked 10/10

BaronBl00d There really is not anything wrong with this adaptation. Good acting. More than competent direction. Clever scripting. Nice settings. Joan Hickson. I love Margaret Rutherford and love her Miss Marple movies. I say that unequivocally and unabashedly, BUT Joan Hickson is the embodiment of what Agatha Christie wrote in her Miss Marple novels. Hickson is that good. She is barely in the first hour and a half, here and there - but comes on strong for the final act. Lucky for us most of the detecting is being done by Inspector Craddock played very capably - and nicely - by John Castle. The suspects are all played with unusual skill. Ursala Howells plays a woman who has her house overrun when the local newspaper announces a murder will take place at her home at 7:00. Things go as the newspaper plans - two more people additionally die in the course of the investigation - and red herrings litter the sidewalks where the characters walk in this film. Howells is very good in her role, as is Renee Asheron as her live-in companion. The young leads are all good and easy on the eyes(especially Nicola King). What I really was impressed with was that though this was made for TV, it in no way seems to compromise anything that would stand in its way of putting a cheaper product out there. Much of that credit should go to director David Giles - he has a very professional background preceding this vehicle. At the heart of all this is a quaint village, a cast of victims and suspects, a ripping mystery, and one Joan Hickson as Miss Jane Marple. I love her line to the inspector qualifying why she might be a good person to go nosing about - "An old lady asking questions is just an old lady asking questions. The music is also wonderful.

bob the moo In the small village of Chipping Cleghorne, the local paper carries a small notice that a murder will be committed that very day at Little Paddocks cottage at 7pm. The residents of the cottage know nothing about it but decide to put on some drinks in case the joker, or anyone else, pops in. Several people do just happen to be "passing by" and pop in shortly before seven. At exactly 7pm a masked man comes in the door shining a torch in everyone's face and saying words along the lines of "hands up" or "this is a robbery". The lights go out and three shots are heard; when they come back on there are bullet holes in the wall, Miss Blacklock has a cut on her ear and the man is dead. Despite it not making any sense at all, it appears to DI Craddock that for some reason the man was trying to kill Miss Blacklock and, when he failed, killed himself. It is all very confusing but when Craddock is advised to speak to a certain Miss Marple, who has some quite helpful insights into the whole affair.Although it runs very long, this entry in the BBC Miss Marple series of films is actually pretty enjoyable and wasn't anything like the long slog I worried it would be. It helps that the plot keeps moving forward well with what seems like a lightening pace in comparison to some of the other Miss Marple films from the same series. As others have commented, the plot may not be the strongest that Christie ever produced but it does provide enough forward motion to keep the film interesting. The conclusion involves loads of revelations that I wasn't overly pleased by because it seemed to just take all the patient investigation done up till then and just p1ss it all up the wall. It is a pain because up till then I had enjoyed the 140 minutes prior but the "out-of-the-blue" stuff meant that I was just being spun a yarn for a while. I still enjoyed it in the delivery but this was a problem.The cast are mostly good. Hickson is the classic Miss Marple and her performance here is as assured as always and she is a good presence. The film doesn't really bring in her until the end of the first hour and it is to the credit of the rest of the cast that I didn't miss her that much. Castle is as reliable as Craddock and it was a strange find to have Whately as his DS (Whately being better known as Morse's Lewis). Howells, Asherson, Sims and others are all very good and I personally was quite taken aback by Samantha Bond – not so much by her performance but more by the fact that she only looks slightly older twenty years later.Overall this is quite a good Miss Marple that has a strong plot and a consistently well-paced delivery. The cast are all up to the task and it feels quite brisk and engaging up till the end when all the rabbits are pulled out of hats and I struggled to keep up with it or indeed work out why I should given that the final scenes seemed to be separate from the rest of the film. Still enjoyable but 160 minutes is a long time to stick with something and then feel a bit cheated at the end.

ALS1 I'm a fan of the genre. I have the aforementioned rewind button. I loved the show.I didn't find it too implausible, considering that this did take place in the 1950s (no faxes, e-mail or digital cameras), and I thought it possible and plausible that the people in question could assume someone else's identity, especially as their performances were being given for the benefit of people who hadn't seen the "original identity holders" in many years, if at all.Hints at Hinchcliffe's and Murgatroyd's lesbian "partnership," without ever coming directly across and labeling it (although it does more broadly hint at the relationship than Agatha Christie's original novel). Issues of youthful Communism and unrequited love are almost too felicitously handled, although one wishes that real life could be this uncomplicated!Watch for a spunky performance from Samantha Bond (now universally recognized as Miss Moneypenny in the 007 series). Paola Dionisotti (The House of Elliott) is also greatly likable as Miss Hinchcliffe.