television
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Stylish Television: Ordeal By Innocence
Ordeal by Innocence* is a 2018, BBC adaptation* of one of the best standalone novels by Agatha Christie. It had previously been adapted as a part of the Marple series, with Miss Marple added into the mix to solve the crime, but although the new version was truer in that there was no detective, it completely changed the ending and the identity of the killer, garnering mixed reviews for this reason. Now you can watch it again as it has been re-released on BBC IPlayer, so, on a rainy Tuesday afternoon, I dived in. Ordeal by Innocence is one of the darkest of all Agatha Christie novels, and tells…
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Stylish Television: Murder is Easy (2023)
Christmas has always been a great time for Agatha Christie fans. In the past it was the time of the annual ‘Christie for Christmas’ when a new book would be released to coincide with the festive season. Now, it is often the time for a new dramatisation, or the always welcomed showings of the adaptations of the past. Already, this Christmas has seen showings of Peter Ustinov’s ‘Death on the Nile‘ and ‘Evil under the Sun‘, along with Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple in ‘The Mirror Crackd‘ and the sublime ‘Witness for the Prosecution‘. There has also been the repeat of Lucy Worsley’s superb 3 part documentary about the author.…
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Stylish Television: Only Murders In The Building
First of all, I am happy enough to admit I am a bit late to the ‘Only Murders in the Building‘ party, as I think we are now into series 3 of the Disney+ show. But I always believe in the mantra ‘better late than ever’ and have spent this week binge watching on series 1 and have to say I am totally hooked. This may just be my favourite series, a cross between an Agatha Christie novel and Murder She Wrote, funny, clever and twisty in equal parts. Add in the incredible cast of leads, the brilliant supporting roles, and an hilarious cameo from Sting and you have…
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Stylish Television: Funny Woman
Funny Woman, which is currently available on demand on Sky Showcase, is one of the best and most enjoyable programmes I have watched this year. Based on the book Funny Girl by Nick Hornby, and telling the story of a working class girl from Blackpool who becomes a big comedy actress during the heady days of the Swingin’ sixties, Funny Woman is bright and witty, but also has the edge of showing the sorts of double standards that existed then when it comes to the treatment of women in the media, and, if we’re honest, still exist now. The Funny Woman in question is Barbara Parker, aka Sohie Straw. After…
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Stylish Television: Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?
I had rather an up and down Easter, with glorious sunshine to start my weekend, and rain upon rain to end it. But despite all this, it was rather wonderful, as with Magpie Murders on Saturday night on BBC1, and Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? starting for three nights on ITV I had some classic modern television to keep me warm and occupied. Why Didn’t You Ask Evans? is one of Agatha Christie’s stand alone novels, not featuring Marple, Poirot or any of her other, lesser known detectives. It has been dramatised as part of the Marple series in 2009, with Miss Marple shoehorned into the episode (rather successfully I…
