British networks have turned adaptations of Agatha Christie's works into a cottage industry and are now resorting to remakes and sleights of hand to keep them coming. This set represents the final installment in the six-part 2004–2013 ITV versions of the Miss Marple tales, with Julia McKenzie starring as the spinster sleuth in three 90-minute episodes. Only the first—“A Caribbean Mystery,” in which Marple solves crimes while on vacation—is actually based on a Christie novel featuring Marple. The second, “Greenshaw's Folly,” combines two Marple short stories (the titular tale and “The Thumb Mark of Saint Peter”) and finds the demure but steely detective rescuing a young woman from an abusive husband by taking her to a country house where murder intrudes. The final offering, “Endless Night,” is based on Christie's excellent 1967 mystery—one in which Marple does not appear, although she's been rather clumsily added here. All three are handsomely produced, but the 1989 BBC-aired Caribbean Mystery starring Joan Hickson remains superior simply because Hickson is Marple's peerless embodiment, while the 1972 film Endless Night with Hayley Mills and Hywel Bennett is preferable to the shoehorned Marple version here. Still, taken on their own, these telefilms are mostly enjoyable and likely to be appreciated by those following the series. DVD extras include photo galleries, a “making-of” featurette on “Endless Night,” and a text profile of Homewood House (featured in “Endless Night”). Recommended. (F. Swietek)
Agatha Christie: Marple, Series 6
Acorn, 3 discs, 274 min., not rated, DVD: $49.99 Volume 30, Issue 1
Agatha Christie: Marple, Series 6
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