Marple (TV series)

Infobox Television
show_name = Marple


caption = Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple.
format = Drama
camera =
runtime = 95 minutes
creator =
starring = Geraldine McEwan (2004-2007)
Julia McKenzie (2008-present)
Various Others
country = UK
network = ITV
producer = Agatha Chritie Ltd.,
ITV Productions,
WGBH Boston
first_aired = 12 December 2004
last_aired = Present
num_episodes = 12 to date
imdb_id =

"Marple" is a British television series based on the Miss Marple murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It is also known as "Agatha Christie's Marple". The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first to third seasons, until her retirement from the role. She was replaced by Julia McKenzie, who filmed adaptations of "A Pocket Full of Rye" cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/feb/11/itv.television?gusrc=rss&feed=media|title= Julia McKenzie takes Miss Marple role|first=|last=|publisher=MediaGuardian|date=11 February 2008] , "Murder is Easy", and "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?", and is currently filming an adaptation of "They Do It with Mirrors". Each episode is known for having many well-known co-stars. "Marple" began in 2004 and a third series is yet to finish airing in the UK.

The episodes have been adapted from the original novels and the screenplays have been written by Kevin Elyot, Stephen Churchett, Stewart Harcourt, Tom MacRae, and Patrick Barlow.

Background

The show has sparked much controversy with viewers, as the first episode, "The Body in the Library", changed the identity of the killer and introduced lesbianism into the plot; the second episode explored Miss Marple's earlier life; the third episode contained a motive change and the fourth episode cut several characters and added affairs into the story and emphasized a lesbian subplot that was quite discreet in the original novel. The second series also saw some changes. "By the Pricking of My Thumbs" was originally a Tommy and Tuppence story, while "The Sittaford Mystery" was also not originally a Miss Marple book and the identity of the killer was changed. The third series has two adaptations that were not originally Miss Marple books: "Towards Zero" and "Ordeal by Innocence."

Episodes

eries One (2004-2005)

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0441885/]
-
4.50 From Paddington
26 December |

eries Two (2006)

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479955/]
-
By the Pricking of My Thumbs
19 February |

eries Three (2007-2008)

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0934905/]
-
Towards Zero
3 August cite web|last= West|first= Dave|title= Grant, Davies, Burton to appear in 'Marple'|publisher= Digital Spy|date= 2008-07-07|url= http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a108375/grant-davies-burton-to-appear-in-marple.html|accessdate= 2008-07-07]
15 July|

eries Four (2008)

[http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1251825/]
-
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? cite web|last= Kilkelly|first= Daniel|title= Briers, Mayall join 'Miss Marple'|publisher= Digital Spy|date= 2008-08-05|url= http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a119296/briers-mayall-join-miss-marple.html|accessdate= 2008-08-05]

TBA |

Novels adapted with Geraldine McEwan

*"The Body in the Library"
*"The Murder at the Vicarage"
*"4.50 from Paddington"
*"A Murder is Announced"
*"Sleeping Murder"
*"The Moving Finger"
*"By the Pricking of My Thumbs"
*"The Sittaford Mystery"
*"Towards Zero"
*"Nemesis"
*"At Bertram's Hotel"
*"Ordeal by Innocence"

Novels adapted with Julia McKenzie

*"A Pocket Full of Rye"
*"Murder is Easy"
*"Why Didn't They Ask Evans?"
*"They Do It with Mirrors"

Other countries

"Marple" has been aired in the United States on PBS on "Mystery!" as "Agatha Christie's Miss Marple" and in Canada on CBC and in french on Radio-Canada. In Australia, "Marple" airs as "Miss Marple" on ABC."Marple" is also being broadcast on ATV World in Hong Kong. "Marple" has been shown in South Korea in EBS, and currently is viewed by many audience from MegaTV.

DVD releases

The first series of "Marple" was released in 2005 in the UK, followed by the second series in 2006. The third series was released in Autumn 2007 in the US, but has not been released in the UK; due to ITV1 having not aired the final episode yet.

Series One was released as four individual DVDs and as a "bundle" in Australia (Region 4) with Series Two released on August 1, 2007. The Third series will be released individually in April 2008.

Location

Marple was mainly filmed in the picturesque village of Turville, in Buckinghamshire.

References

External links

*itv.com|id=bestofitv/crime/agathachristiesmarple|title="Agatha Christie's Marple"
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/marple/ "Agatha Christie's Miss Marple" (series 1) at pbs.org]
* [http://www.pbs.org/mystery/marple2/index.html "Agatha Christie's Miss Marple" (series 2) at pbs.org]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/marple3/index.html "Agatha Christie's Miss Marple" (series 3) at pbs.org]
* [http://geraldinemcewan.com/MissMarple.html "Marple" at geraldinemcewan.com]
* [http://www.tv.com/agatha-christies-marple/show/32122/summary.html "Agatha Christie's Marple" at TV.com]
* [http://www.marple.szm.sk "Slečna Marplová - Geraldine McEwan"]