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TV Adaptation of "A Sittaford

robroy64 15 Apr 09 at 9:18 p.m. GMT

I saw the TV adaptation of "A Sittaford Mystery" starring Geraldine McEwan on Monday. I was left wondering why the makers even bothered to get the rights to make this. Miss Marple does not appear in the book, which wouldn't be so bad, if the programme even remotely resembled the book. It is almost the polar opposite of the saying "only the names have been changed"- only the names seem to have been kept, whilst the plot has been changed beyond recognition. It was a great disappointment to me.

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go_leafs_nation 17 Apr 09 at 2:36 p.m. GMT

I'm glad you mentioned the camera work, squatty. I recently took a film class in school, and as a result, I've become more and more aware of effective camera techniques in films. The Sittaford Mystery is, cinematographically speaking, a failure.

The worst shot I've had to endure in the movie was near the end: the superimpositions of McEwan's head on the screen while she explains how so-and-so is the killer. Had they removed her head, it would've worked as a really neat shot- and includes the killer's one "good-acting" moment, with that determined, murderous stare. Instead, we get a confused muddled shot with an unnecessary head talking, so that you're confused over what to focus on.

squatty 16 Apr 09 at 6:16 p.m. GMT

The camera work was so amateur - pretending to be stylish but coming across as foolish.

The name changes were quite confusing.

And once again, the changing of the murderer and motive from the book meant we were watching an original drama and not an adaptation

go_leafs_nation 15 Apr 09 at 10:52 p.m. GMT

It's one of the worst episodes ever made. The script was quite horrible and gave birth to the worst AC film scene ever (bathtub scene). The acting was horrendous. The only positive thing I have to say about it? The music.