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Joan Hickson

hobbit 23 Sep 08 at 4:58 p.m. GMT

I'd like to express my personal pleasure at the new photos of JH that have been added to the site. The old site didn't even have a single shot of her, and it's nice to see two on the new one. This is the offical AC site after all - and JH is, to many, the official Miss Marple!

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36 replies

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Tommy_A_Jones 11 Nov 11 at 11:43 a.m. GMT

I think JM is better than GM but Joan Hickson is by far the best.

little_hesperides 10 Nov 11 at 4:55 p.m. GMT

Hickson always embodied Miss Marple for me growing up. She seemed impossibly, yet perfectly, soft-spoken and gentle. However, I thoroughly enjoyed McEwan's Marple. Although a little different than the book-Marple, I loved how spry she was! Not stuffy at all, but still very matronly. I think she brought a new life to the character on screen. That said, not a fan at all of the newest incarnation.

Tommy_A_Jones 10 Nov 11 at 1:49 p.m. GMT

That is an Excelllent one isn't it Miss Quin? Helen Halliday's 3 Gentlemen are Excellently portrayed aswell as Giles and Gwenda, I have a problem with Raymond's wife's portrayal when Miss Marple goes to tend to Gwen Though.

MissQuin 10 Mar 10 at 4:48 p.m. GMT

Ive just started watching Hickson version. I cant believe that people can say she's too stuffy and prim. I watched Sleeping Murder and she was kindly and gentle with the hysteric Gwenda.

Ive so far only seen Hickson, McEwan and McKenzie.

aznm 17 Aug 09 at 12:01 a.m. GMT

I agree with others.  Joan Hickson is THE Miss Marple.  The others are just imitations.

Mr_Satterthwaite 22 Feb 09 at 4:23 p.m. GMT

Yes, Joan Hickson. I remember watching her Miss Marple as a child. Loved it. I have only caught a few glimpses of 'Marple'. It is a bit too 'modern' for Miss Marple if that is not a contradiction.

Tommy_A_Jones 07 Feb 09 at 1:30 p.m. GMT

I wonder where Julia McKenzie will come in people's lists? I suppose it is a matter of taste I would put Geraldine MKewan after Joan Hickson, Margaret Rutherford and Angela Landesbury and Helen Hayes and if we are including her June Whitfield. I have never seen Barbara Mullen, Gracie Fields or Dulcie Gray in the role but I think Dulcie Gray and Barbara Mullen have just played her for the Stage

tonymetzger 04 Jan 09 at 1:30 a.m. GMT

I too prefer Miss Hickson to Miss McEwan

squatty 27 Dec 08 at 5:25 p.m. GMT

I watched both the JH and the GM versions of Sleeping Murder the other day and for me, there is absolutely no comparison. The JH version was faithful to the novel and had some genuine scary moments. The GM version with the ludicrous acting company is an insult to AC. I might stage my own private protest on New Years Day and watch my JH version of Nemesis whilst the GM version is aired. I dont think I can handle the Bradbury Scotts sisters being turned into nuns.

moreteavicar 27 Dec 08 at 3:14 p.m. GMT

I'll give Julia McKenzie a go, but have long since given up on Geraldine McEwan. I have not quite recovered from the unexpected lesbianism in The Body in the Library! (could anyone else hear Agatha spinning in her grave at that point? Or do I just need to get new speakers for my telly?) Joan Hickson is fairly unbeatable, though. Frail, timid, stern, serious, with a bit of a naughty gleam in her eye. I watched her in The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side the other day: the final sequence has Miss M and some villagers sitting in her garden, and the great lady's final line is "More tea vicar?". Perfection. Absolute bliss.

Tommy_A_Jones 09 Dec 08 at 4:30 p.m. GMT

We in Britain haven't seen Pocketful of Rye yet, but I loved Julia Mckenzie in Fresh Fields and French Fields (Althougfh I didn't enjoy the latter quite so much) and I think she is a wonderful Actress so I will probably like her as Miss Marple, Although I don't approve of Miss Marple being in Adapts that she shouldn't be in having Ms McKenzie appear in books I don't like so much might make me think differently about them so I might actually like Murder is Easy.

go_leafs_nation 07 Dec 08 at 10:22 p.m. GMT

I'm beginning to think Julia Mackenzie may give Joan Hickson a run for her money as MM. She was brilliant in "A Pocket Full of Rye".

Marc_Anton 07 Dec 08 at 2:21 p.m. GMT

I don't think the version of A Murder is Announced with Gracie Fields was ever recorded, it was just aired in 1956 but not kept for for eternity on any medium. Anyway, it lasted only one hour so I don't think it could have been a very faithful version of a very complicated book. I never even saw a photo of it, nor one of Fields in the character of Miss Marple or the rest of the cast. I am curious though since Roger Moore was in it too as Patrick Simmons and Jessica Tandy as Letitia Blacklock. Ah well....we will never know. Perhaps better this way, some of those early TV-dramas can be pretty bad and dated.

Dazzy 06 Dec 08 at 11:11 p.m. GMT

detectivepauljohn

Joan Hickson is the Miss marple forever!

I totally agree with you. You will not get another Mis Marple like her.

Joan Hickson was born to play Miss Marple.

R.I.P. (5th August 1906 - 17th October 1998)

Tommy_A_Jones 06 Dec 08 at 1:28 p.m. GMT

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of Gracie Fields Playing Miss Marple? I would love to have one, also It is a shame Angela Landesbury only plaqyed her once, and it is a pity Matthew Pritchard isn't a stickler for having trhe adasptations how they should be, He would have to have sanctioned the way they were being done for them to be donne, Although even the BBC never did the shoryt stories they didn't have the stupid idea of putting Miss Marple in Books she doesn't appear in.

Jemma 14 Nov 08 at 10 a.m. GMT

You're right.  Though technically Gracie Fields was the first Miss Marple on screen.  She was in a TV adaptation of A Murder is Announced back in 1956.

go_leafs_nation 14 Nov 08 at 12:45 a.m. GMT

Wasn't she MM on television? I was certain Ruhterford was the first to portray her on the big screen.

Jemma 13 Nov 08 at 5:21 p.m. GMT

Actually it was Gracie Fields!

go_leafs_nation 13 Nov 08 at 11:14 a.m. GMT

Sorry if I seem somewhat of a stickler, but JH was NOT the first Miss Marple on screen. Margaret Rutherford played her in 4 movies.

AndThenThereWasTim 12 Nov 08 at 7:14 p.m. GMT

She is the first and the most famous of all the Miss Marples

go_leafs_nation 03 Nov 08 at 1:35 a.m. GMT

I was thinking of it for a long time, and yes, that's the conclusion I came up with. Look at the last "faithful" season of Poirot (Death on the Nile and the lot): it changed the tone by removing Hastings, Japp, and Lemon (and thus got on par with the books), but took only comparatively minor liberties. Then, in the next season, we got "Cards on the Table" and the lot. It's too massive a change.

squatty 02 Nov 08 at 5:55 p.m. GMT

Thats really interesting goleafs - I hadn't thought of that. I thought her grandson had most control over her estate but it certainly seems more than a coincidence

go_leafs_nation 02 Nov 08 at 1 p.m. GMT

Does anyone notice a trend? The stories started getting VEEERY unfaifthful (i.e. complete rewrites) only after AC's daughter died in 2004. Curious...

squatty 02 Nov 08 at 11:52 a.m. GMT

The Hickson series were obvously produced by people who liked and respected AC's work; the attention to detail is astonishing at times. There have been several times whilst watching the GM versions that I have suspected the producers are more interested in their own ego than respecting the original source material.

belgian_in_ireland 28 Oct 08 at 8:45 p.m. GMT

I just love Joan Hickson as Marple. For me as well she is the ultimate Miss Marple. I only saw a bit of the new version of Body in the Library and turned it off after half an hour. No offense meant to Geraldine McEwan, I think she did a great job in The Magdalen Sisters e.g.

Marplefan9 14 Oct 08 at 8:46 p.m. GMT

I love Joan Hickson in the BBC series. She "was" Miss Marple. I much prefer her to the moderised Geraldine McEwan

go_leafs_nation 06 Oct 08 at 9:33 p.m. GMT

Well, MURDER AT THE VICARAGE contains the changes squatty has described. In addition,

SPOILERS!

The subplot involving the young prisoner with a grudge against Protheroe (his name eludes me at the moment) is largely expanded, as he unwittingly stumbles on a vital clue while trying to get to the Vicarage to visist Mary. The clue was that he tripped over a wire, which was the wire attached to a loudspeaker. Lawrence Redding, in this version, used a loudspeaker to fake the shot. No "Japanese rock garden" excuseo rock being dropped on a certain crystal to make a loud POP. In NEMESIS, many things were changed, including the 2nd murder method (the schoolteacher, whose name I can't remember, is now killed when the bust of a poet is pushed onto her). A new character, Lionel, is introduced. He is basically there to give MM someone to talk to. However, the changes made in NEMSIS are microscopic compared to the GM version. THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE, however, is more faithful with McEwan than with Hickosn.

dumbledore 06 Oct 08 at 7:40 p.m. GMT

Thankfully with DVDs we can enjoy Joan Hickson forever as Miss Marple. There are many who play Miss Marple,but only one will ever BE Miss Marple!!

squatty 03 Oct 08 at 6:24 p.m. GMT

If I remember rightly, the whole sub plot in Muder at the Vicarage involving the archilogical dig is dropped from the Joan Hickson version. Dennis is also dropped from the TV version. In terms of affecting the actual murder and the solving of it, I think the Tv version sticks very closely to the book

hobbit 03 Oct 08 at 6:52 a.m. GMT

Go leafs, what are the changes in those books, if you don't mind me asking? It's been a long time since I've read or seen either of them!

go_leafs_nation 02 Oct 08 at 8:13 p.m. GMT

Certain JH episodes change quite a few things (MURDER AT THE VICARAGE and NEMESIS are perfect examples), but they've never gone to the ridiculous extent the McEwan ones have.

Sammy_Sixpence 30 Sep 08 at 7:24 p.m. GMT

Everything about the BBC Marple's were superb. The music used to scare me and the close up of the evil looking women with the arched eyebrow in the opening credits - very menacing!!!

Rea_Potter 28 Sep 08 at 6:06 p.m. GMT

Joan Hickson is thes best Miss Marple in the world. :D She was very great!

detectivepauljohn 24 Sep 08 at 10:25 a.m. GMT

Joan Hickson is the Miss marple forever!

go_leafs_nation 23 Sep 08 at 7:45 p.m. GMT

JH is the definitive Miss Marple, there is no disputing it. Although I kind of liked Geraldine McEwan a little bit more.

ariadnepoirotmarple 23 Sep 08 at 6:15 p.m. GMT

I agree with you hobbit!! Joan Hickson is the official Miss Marple!