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BBC Miss Marple DVD

discoteca 13 Jan 09 at 7:47 p.m. GMT

Having heard that the UK box set of the Hickson episodes was cut, I purchased the Dutch set. It does seem that the episodes are intact, but there are other bugbears; the film prints used are of highly variable quality - none are particularly clean or sharp, with only one or two stories of an even slightly acceptable picture quality. "A Carribean Mystery" suffers from a poor soundtrack which results in echo on all the music cues. As is well known, three of the stories have fixed Dutch subtitles which are a bit of a pain. Finally, one or two stories have remade title credits, presumably from the edited-together omnibus editions - this seems very odd, given that other stories in this package have been included in their original episodic form!

So my point is this - can anyone tell me if the UK box set has these same issues? And does anyone know if the episodes really were cut, or is this a myth? (Reviewers of the UK box set on Amazon seem highly confused about this; some say there are cuts, some say there are none). I can say for sure that the UK set gives a total running time of 1360 minutes, while the Dutch is 1380, which would seem to indicate some editing is afoot.

I'd be most grateful for some definitive answers to these questions!

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10 replies

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Hercules_Parrot 20 Mar 09 at 11:35 p.m. GMT

Just to point out that my comments above refer only to the BBC UK box set, and not the Dutch one, which I have not seen.

Hercules_Parrot 20 Mar 09 at 11:14 p.m. GMT

We purchased the Miss Marple Collection, 12 dvds, 12 stories.  In general for waht we have seen so far we have the quality to vary significantly between dvds, but overall it is definitley never too poor that you would notice much, or care.   Indeed it can even add to the atmosphere of the time the stories were set. The characters, the old world charm and styles and fashions, the houses,  the storyline, the dialogue, and most of all the performance of Joan Hickson, are outstanding and make this box set well worth getting.  

But one sore point: We have watched 4 stories so far, and have only in one of these noticed that two scenes were cuts, as information that was previously supposedly made available to the viewer and Miss Marple, was NOT in fact on the DVD.   This was certainly a little annoying, and one felt that the BBC just did not give a toss whether the purchaser/ viewer of these DVDS might object. We now worry that we can expect other cuts on the remaining DVDS, and this is not acceptable...although we are still happy that we have what we have.  So, I guess "you pays your money and you don't get what you are led to expect".  Very bad show from the BBC though. You would think there might be something in the Trades Description Act or whatever that could lead to the BBC being sued over this.  For as Miss Marple would say: "This will not do. Oh No, this will not do at all".

artmcclin 11 Feb 09 at 10:48 p.m. GMT

I haven't checked for cuts or edits yet, but I can say that the video quality of the Dutch/German versions is poorer - very grainy......compared to the so-so BBC versions

wolfbridge 04 Feb 09 at 9:07 p.m. GMT

no as for the UK, there is only the red BBC Set.

I wont mind if there would be slight cuts as i never seen the version of moving finger you might have seen.

anyway, theres a LOT of time for each Book and especially The Moving Finger can be a bit of a bore sometimes ;)

and that is for all Miss Marple Episodes. They might be a bit too long sometimes ;)

major_pallgrave 04 Feb 09 at 1:22 a.m. GMT

I watched The Moving finger a couple of days ago as well! I must say i have no issues with the picture or sound quality of the box set. The one i bought is the red one featuring a montage of charachters that appear in the various episodes on the front cover and the whole thing is designed like a large hardback book. Perhaps there was  more than one boxset produced?

squatty 21 Jan 09 at 9:08 p.m. GMT

I watched The Moving Finger the other day from the JH boxed set and I definately got the feeling that some scenes may have been cut. However, it didnt spoil my enjoyment of this super series

wolfbridge 19 Jan 09 at 2:56 p.m. GMT

i only have this from a german board.

these are the German Release and Netherlands Release in Comparison:

AW: Miss Marple (GB, 1984) Hier noch ein Laufzeitvergleich zwischen deutscher, englischer und niederländischer Fassung (teilweise wurden die Folgen von der BBFC mehrfach gelistet, von vier Filmen wurde kein niederländischer DVD-Test mit Laufzeitangabe gemacht):

• Bertrams Hotel (At Bertrams Hotel) 53.45 + 55.07 (108.55) NL: 106.32
• Das Geheimnis der Goldmine (A Pocketful Of Rye) 50.45 + 52.07 (100.26 oder 103.00) NL: 100.30
• Das Schicksal in Person (Nemesis) 54.39 + 56.25 (108.00)
• Ein Mord wird angekündigt (A Murder Is Announced) 51:30 + 51:14 + 50:55 (76.39 + 80.07) NL: 154.40
• Karibische Affäre (A Caribbean Mystery) 57.55 + 57.52 (107.52) NL: 107.52
• Mord im Pfarrhaus (Murder In The Vicarage) 50.32 + 48.06 (95.18) NL: 95.27
• Ruhe unsanft (Sleeping Murder) 52.48 + 54.25 (107.12)
• 16 Uhr 50 ab Paddington (4.50 From Paddington) 113.21 (109.20 + 3.00 DVD additional material) NL: 104.28
• Die Schattenhand (The Moving Finger) 97.54 (96.09)
• Die Tote in der Bibliothek (The Body In The Library) 152.35 (150.13 oder 75.45 + 74.48)
• Mord im Spiegel (The Mirror Cracked From Side To Side) 115.37 (115.36) NL: 115.36
• They Do It With Mirrors 111.35 (111.33) NL: 101.32

discoteca 14 Jan 09 at 11:57 p.m. GMT

Thanks for that, McGinty

The editing out of title sequences isn't necessarily a problem for me, but it does seem odd that this was only done with certain stories when others were presented episodically. As for the quality of the film prints - I think anyone forking out money for this box set deserves properly cleaned up prints, instead of the hotch potch of low to mid quality copies used. It is not the age of the production - the original transmitted prints were sharp and clear; these washed out, grainy versions make the series look like it was produced 40 years ago, not 25.

McGinty 14 Jan 09 at 9 a.m. GMT

There have been a lot of hysterical comments regarding 'cuts'on the box set, especially on Amazon, but truth is there are hardly any - they amount to about 30 seconds to a minute and only on episodes such as 4.50, which is shown as one long episode. The cuts occur where the title sequences have been cut out , losing some picture, not dialogue, where credits are still rolling as the film begins. Otherwise they are complete. As for picture quality, well to be fair some are not that great, but then again they were made for TV 25 years ago and maybe this is the best we can expect. If anyone does want to purchase from Amazon, watch the price. RRP is £99, sometimes they are sold fot £74, sometimes for as little as £49.

wolfbridge 13 Jan 09 at 11:20 p.m. GMT

yes i would like to know that, too.

highly speculative thing that is.