First broadcast: 2004
Stars: Geraldine McEwan and an all-star guest cast
Adapted by: Kevin Elyot, Stephen Churchett, Stewart Harcourt and Tom MacRae from Agatha Christie’s novels and short stories.
The lowdown: Geraldine McEwan takes on the lead role of super-sleuth Miss Jane Marple in this charming period drama series set during 1930s-1950s. Each episode is packed with different well-known TV faces, as Marple unwittingly finds herself on the trail of various murderers and crooks in the small towns and quaint villages of Britain. The unassuming pensioner, with a penchant for knitting, combines her super sharp wits and disarming persona to unravel even the most complex of crimes.
Memorable moments: Catherine Tate’s performance as Mitzi Kosinski, a Jewish refugee from Poland, in A Murder Is Announced (season one). Her character is a stubborn and fiery trainee lawyer, who ends up in domestic service working for Mrs Blacklock (played by Zoe Wanamaker). Tate had a voice coach to help her perfect the Polish accent.
Also look out for star turns from the likes of Richard E. Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Kelly Brook and David Walliams in other episodes.
Trivia: Eileen Atkins and Annette Crosbie were originally in the running for the role of Dolly Bantry, Miss Marple’s best friend. Joanna Lumley eventually landed the part, appearing in the very first Agatha Christie’s Marple episode, The Body In The Library. Eileen Atkins does appear later in Towards Zero (season three) as Lady Tressilian, who hosts a house party on her Devon estate.
