MARPLE:

A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Because of: homosexuality

Rated:

One of the more fascinating episodes in the recent adaptations of Miss Marple, A Murder is Announced involves a classic Christie twist and a more novel approach to the smiling title character, who totes about her bag of yarn and knits when not dropping winning little clues into the inspector's lap.

The local newspaper has a fascinating bit of news in the form of an advertisement announcing a murder at seven-thirty at the home of Letitia Blacklock (Zoë Wanamaker). The poor woman knows nothing of it, presuming it is some kind of a joke put in motion by one of her numerous house guests, but her cousins claim they know nothing of it, and she prepares to have her house invaded by curious townspeople. Sure enough, it's barely five minutes after when people start trickling in... former military man of India, Colonel Easterbrook (Robert Pugh), the older woman in town who is interested in him and her son (Cherie Lunghi, Christian Coulson), and others, among them the inhabitants of the house (Sienna Guillory, Matthew Good, Catherine Tate). At seven thirty, the lights go off. A man shouts for them put their hands up. Shots are fired... and when the lights come back on, a young man is dead in the corridor.

The event sparks the interest of amateur detective Miss Jane Marple (Geraldine McEwan), who met the young man in question at her spa. He had attempted to alter her payment check for twice what he was owed, encouraging her belief that he was nothing more than a petty criminal, surely not one to threaten a room full of people, take a shot at Letitia, and then kill himself. At first, the local inspector takes no notice of her suggestions, but when Miss Marple takes up temporary residence with the daughter of a friend (Claire Skinner) in order to investigate, he is forced to take into account her view of things.

Having only seen a couple of the original series, I cannot comment on the earlier Miss Marple, but I rather like Geraldine's approach. Hers is a likable, slightly eccentric woman who you gather knows much more than she is letting on. It's rather amusing seeing her give the inspector information in little pieces, allowing him to gather his own conclusions. The cast involved in this production is also very talented, but unfortunately it suffers from the same problem that most of this season does, an overt emphasis on making Christie's novels "politically correct" through the addition of homosexual characters. Little hints early on are given (hand-holding, affectionate glances, the "male" half of the partnership expressing dislike for Jane being there) and then we are shown a lesbian kiss in the second half, as the "boyish" female heads out to feed the pigs.

Mild other content concerns intrude, along with some flirtation between a man and a woman; she is shown squeezing his backside during a social event. There is not much violence, aside from shots being exchanged and a woman shown as she is being strangled, but emotional issues are raised through a man's excessive drinking. Some of it was rather painful and humiliating for the characters. It was a creative effort, but disappointing for fans who would rather watch a true adaptation than have an alterative lifestyle that demeans the nature of the book forced upon them.