Granada Television's Marple series continues to stand out for its stylishness and verve, contradicting any notion that Agatha Christie's spinster sleuth—solving murders in handsome parlors in the quaint old English countryside—is too kitschy to be taken seriously. Geraldine McEwan returns as Christie's Miss Jane Marple, a keenly observant amateur detective who can level anyone with the most blunt remarks wrapped in the sweetest smile. As with Marple—Series 1, this new quartet of mysteries, set shortly after World War II, are ensemble dramas featuring such familiar faces as Charles Dance, Greta Scacchi, Anthony Andrews, Patricia Hodge, and Imogen Stubbs. Sleeping Murder stars Sophia Myles as a young woman haunted by flashbacks of a killing she couldn't possibly have witnessed. By the Pricking of My Thumbs concerns the disappearance of a doddering old woman who leaves behind a strange, spooky painting of a cottage in the woods—featuring an unnerving figure lurking in the window. The ambitious The Moving Finger finds the tranquility of a picture-postcard village undone by a series of hate letters mailed to individuals in the community. Finally, The Sittaford Mystery features former Bond actor Timothy Dalton playing a likely prospect to become prime minister, until he's stabbed to death following a séance. DVD extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes. Recommended. [Note: the 2004 TV docudrama Agatha Christie: A Life on Pictures is also newly available for $19.99.] (T. Keogh)
Agatha Christie: Marple—Series 2
Acorn, 4 discs, 372 min., not rated, DVD: $59.99 Volume 21, Issue 5
Agatha Christie: Marple—Series 2
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