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Poirot & Marple in the U.S.

GKCfan 13 Apr 09 at 3:32 a.m. GMT

For all of the American viewers, PBS has announced that it plans to air two new Poirot episodes on the 21st and 28th of June, with three episodes of Miss Marple airing from the 5th to the 26th of July.  However, this leaves two Poirot episodes and one Marple unaccounted for, and they don't say which ones are airing yet.

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Bundle_ 16 Nov 09 at 1:17 p.m. GMT

I indeed remember, GKC. :0)

And quite a while after that -- there was a rumor of them doing EN for the MM series.

GKCfan 16 Nov 09 at 8:28 a.m. GMT

Bundle, as I recall, on the old site we were discussing which non-Marple books would have her inserted into them next, and I predicted that it was likely that Endless Night would have Miss Marple added, especially since EN is an expansion of the Marple short story "The Caretaker."  I didn't say that it would be a good adaptation, I just said that it was likely.

Bundle_ 02 Sep 09 at 1:53 p.m. GMT

Tommy_A_Jones

Sorry Bundle as I appreciate your opinion but I do think this might be one of the few books which would be improved by having Miss Marple, the others being Sparkling Cyanide and Murder Is Easy but from what I have heard of MIE they took a great opportunity and didn't do too well, I can see how MM could be in MIE, but they forgot to ask me Ha Ha. 

No problem, Tommy! I suppose then her apperance would be a comfort to those who like the book. But I just don't think the fans of EN would be to keen on the idea.

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Sep 09 at 10:49 a.m. GMT

ITV and all who have a say in the series have ruined it anyway by putting MM in books she shouldn't be in and having Lesbiens and Nuns where Nuns and Lesbians shouldn't be so putting Miss Marple in EN can't do damage to the Book, which I found difficult to read and having her in it might help the Audience to understand, I know I sometimes think a recurring Character is like a friendly face and can be a help to the reader to encourage the reader to read on, some Non-Series Books could have benefited from this and some like 'WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS wouldn't have, SPARKLING CYANIDE had Race a recurring Character but still failed to be easy for me to read. Sorry Bundle as I appreciate your opinion but I do think this might be one opf the few books which woulkd be improved by having Miss Marple, the others being Sparkling Cyanide and Murder Is Easy but from what I have heard of MIE they took a great opportunity and didin't do too well, I can see how MM could be in MIE, but they forgot to ask me Ha Ha. 

Bundle_ 01 Sep 09 at 6:28 p.m. GMT

EN w/ MM = terrible. For those who like EN, she would ruin the dark feel of the story. And for those who don't like the book, she would contribute absolutely nothing to it.

Tommy_A_Jones 01 Sep 09 at 11:32 a.m. GMT

I don't remember the use of the song in Death On The Nile but I love the song, I have recently purchased a CD of Cole Porter and on it is 'Your The Tops' and love the rendition with Maggie Smith and Diana Rigg in the PU version of Evil Under The Sun,

I remember people being annoyed at the thought of Miss Marple being in  Endless Night, since that Discussion I have read it and think MM would improve the Book which I didn't like, I found it slow, I didn't care about the Characters and instead of notg being able to put it down I had to force myself to pick it up and only did so I could finish it and move on, Sadly I found out on the old site who the Murderer was so that might have had a baring on it but perhaps not as I didn't know the identity of Death Comes At The End or Death Comes At The End and didn't like them, I didn't like Sparkling Cyanide but saw the film but that was different to the book which I didn't like and I disliked Lord Edgware Dies so much I found myself peeking at the back and then finishing it, I didn't like TMORA but might read it again to see if I do like it. (I wont re-read the others, as reading those definitely were torture and perhaps reading TMORA wasn't. 

Bundle_ 01 Sep 09 at 11 a.m. GMT

I just remembered: On the old site, many of us chatted about that - there was talk between the producers that Endless Night was going to be filmed w/ Miss Marple in it. Does anyone remember that too? I recall that we were all scandalized!

go_leafs_nation 31 Aug 09 at 7:09 p.m. GMT

Personally, I found the use of the song in DS's Death on the Nile effective, but I don't care for the song itself much.

Bundle_ 28 Aug 09 at 2:24 p.m. GMT

Oh well. I bought the song Love is the Sweetest thing by Al Bowely some time ago. Do you like that one go leafs?

go_leafs_nation 28 Aug 09 at 2:12 p.m. GMT

Nope. No idea.

Bundle_ 28 Aug 09 at 1:34 p.m. GMT

Back to the topic of music. Go leafs, do you know who sings that song in Suchet's version of Death on the Nile called Mad About the Boy? I have heard several versions by different artists but they are just not the one who sings it in the adapt.

go_leafs_nation 27 Aug 09 at 6:10 p.m. GMT

The explanation of the clocks is just about irrelevant. It crops up at the beginning, is mentioned a few times in the middle, and is explained in two sentences at the end. It isn't "almost the entire plot". The plot is concerned with international spies, the strange shape of the street, Mrs. Bland's constant nagging, etc. It goes all over the place. It's one of Agatha's later and weaker novels. I think it could do with a few adjustments in this case.

This, however, is my opinion on The Clocks. I don't mean, by that, that every AC book should be modified. There are more than a few that could do with alterations, however.

Bundle_ 27 Aug 09 at 5:32 p.m. GMT

So, if an AC book is boring, or not very good, then it should be considered a candidate to almost redo the entire plot? That was not a rhetorical question btw.

go_leafs_nation 27 Aug 09 at 5:24 p.m. GMT

I liked The Clocks, but let's be honest, it's not very good. This is a book that CAN be improved upon in the adaptation. It starts out with a plethora of interesting points, which are dismissed hastily near the end with an unconvincing solution. I want to see a better explanation than the weak one AC wrote in as if she'd just remembered she had to.

Bundle_ 27 Aug 09 at 3:42 p.m. GMT

go_leafs_nation

Personally, I hope he comes up with a better explanation for the secret of the clocks than AC did.

The Clocks was a pretty boring book however I would still like it to be pretty faithful to the book. Just seeing it brought to life is the added excitement to the book for me. But if they change the explanation the whole AC theme would be ruined!

go_leafs_nation 27 Aug 09 at 3:34 p.m. GMT

(Rant continued...)

Nick Dear (Three Act Tragedy screenwriter) wrote:

• The Hollow
• Cards on the Table
• Mrs. McGinty's Dead

All right, to be fair to Nick Dear, McGinty and The Hollow turned out great. However, I still don't trust him after writing the atrocious Cards on the Table. However, he admitted that the book was superior in the TV Tie-In version of Cards on the Table I bought, so he isn't someone who thinks he'll come up with something better than Christie. I can live with him as the screenwriter, but still can't trust him too much.

Ashley Pearce (Three Act Tragedy director) directed:

• Mrs. McGinty's Dead
• Appointment With Death

An interesting scenario, because these two are polar opposites of each other. However, both had a major flaw in the direction: there seemed to be haloes of light surrounding everything. This got really distracting. Fortunately, the actors, screenwriter, set designers, composer, etc. saved the show, and actually made McGinty a great adaptation. Unfortunately, the horrid Appointment With Death exposes the flaws even more. The haloes make another unwelcome appearance, there is really little suspense or mystery (hm... X comes into a tent with blood on their hands, Y is discovered with their head bashed in.... how is a viewer supposed to NOT make a connection between the two???). Not even THE Tim Curry could do much. Pearce is a rather bad director, and I do not look forward to seeing more of her adaptations at all.

go_leafs_nation 27 Aug 09 at 3:34 p.m. GMT

According to the wonderful world of IMDb, Stewart Harcourt wrote the script for The Clocks, and Charles Palmer directs. As for Three Act Tragedy, Nick Dear wrote the script and Ashley Pearce directs. Personally, I'm delighted at the news for The Clocks, but rather alarmed at the hands that are being entrusted with Three Act Tragedy. (Below there may be some minor spoilers, but nothing that should ruin the movie.)

Stewart Harcourt (The Clocks screenwriter) wrote:

• Ordeal by Innocence
• By the Pricking of My Thumbs
• A Murder is Announced

This is great news. All three were well-written, even Thumbs, which despite plot alterations, was faithful in mood to the novel. Ordeal by Innocence was decently faithful, and so was A Murder is Announced. Both, however, had to be somewhat simplified for the adaptations. Harcourt pulled that off well, and The Clocks will definately require a lot of simplification. It's one twisted, convoluted, plot. Personally, I hope he comes up with a better explanation for the secret of the clocks than AC did.

Charles Palmer (The Clocks director) directed:

• A Pocket Full of Rye
• The Murder at the Vicarage

Both were rather faithful adaptations, and rather entertaining (McEwan's MATV is, I'd argue, more faithful than Hickson's). I liked his direction style, which really got put to the test in the ending of A Pocket Full of Rye. I'm glad he's on board.

Santonix 24 Aug 09 at 10:45 p.m. GMT

Go_leafs -

Your ears do not fail you. It was indeed in Chocolat, for Five Little Pigs builds its score around Gnossiennes No. 1, composed by Erik Satie. What Five Little Pigs brings to it that most versions do not is a full orchestra, as it was written for, and primarily played with, the piano. It is also used as the main theme in the documentary Man on Wire.

go_leafs_nation 24 Aug 09 at 12:32 a.m. GMT

Mrs. McGinty's Dead had fine music! I particularly liked how the finale mirrored the opening theme, but skewered it and made it far darker, as if the music itself were recoiling with horror at the revelation.

Another great music-wise Poirot is Five Little Pigs. I swear that I've heard some of the score somewhere before, though, in the Johnny Depp-Julie Binoche-Alfred Molina movie Chocolat.

Bundle_ 23 Aug 09 at 9:32 p.m. GMT

go_leafs_nation

True, but hearing a slowed-down version of JH's theme as the body is discovered makes the moment reeeeeeeally boring. As a serious lover of film music (trust me, I mean serious), I enjoy Dominik Scherrer's more diverse score. For instance, listen to the music as McEwan explains the solution in The Murder at the Vicarage (one of her best, I'd say). The music is slightly sinister, and fits in perfectly, "opening up" (new tune, more/other instruments, etc.) as the solution unfolds.

While JH's theme is great, the music is practically all variations on the theme, and it adds to the TV-movie feel. It's not much fun to listen to.

I've never seen the JH versions of Miss Marple, go leafs. I mean the McEwan opening music.

btw what did you think of the music playing when Poirot revealed the culprit(s) in Mrs. McGinty's Dead? To me it was really eerie but fitting at the same time.

Also, have you heard the theme music to the Ian Carmichael adaptions of Lord Peter Wimsey? I think you'd like it; it's catchy.