I lead a very exciting life. Very, very, very exciting. It is probably too exciting for most people to bear. If you suffer at all from any sort of nervous disorder, you may want to stop reading this post right now.
Lately, the most exciting thing that has happened to me has been watching the new Agatha Christie mysteries online. Did you know that you can watch them online? I told you my life was exciting! You can watch them at this link here. It’s free, but the various episodes are only up for a few weeks at a time.
In other very exciting breaking news….
In the new PBS Mystery series, there is a new actress playing Miss Marple!
Are you still with me?
I hope you didn’t pass out from all the excitement!
Julia McKenzie was chosen to play Miss Marple after Geraldine McEwan announced her retirement.
Over the course of film history, at least seven different English speaking actresses have played the role of Miss Marple. (There have been a few Miss Marples in other countries as well.) Gracie Fields, Helen Hayes, and Angela Lansbury were three of them.
Margaret Rutherford played a memorable Miss Marple in some comic adaptations of Agatha Christie’s novels. Agatha herself, hated these goofy versions, but later became a personal friend of Rutherford.
Joan Hickson played the role of Miss Marple for the longest period of time from 1984 to 1992. All twelve Miss Marple stories were eventually filmed starring Hickson. Joan’s Marple was penetrating, observant, and almost searing. Her outfits never varied much from the gray tweed and simple hat. The interesting part of Hickson’s Marple was the deliberate delivery and the way you could almost hear her brain grinding the characters into pulpy clues as she sat quietly knitting and observing everyone who passed her way.
After Hickson, Geraldine McEwan took on the role. Her take on the character was far more feminine and friendly including more lace, more color, and more curls in her hair. McEwan’s voice is higher, her gait is more lively, she has a sort of perpetually pleased look about her. Her vast knowledge of human behavior truly seems to come out of left field as McEwan’s Miss Marple is more reminiscent of Mary Poppins than it is of Sherlock Holmes.
Julia McKenzie is the latest actress to give Marple her own unique spin. Clad in a sensible grey suit, she definitely reaches back towards Hickson’s Marple in her appearance, but her open demeanor is more like McEwan’s. I’ve only seen one of the new Agatha Christie’s at this point, and am still smarting from both the exit of Hickson and McEwan. I suppose after a while I will learn to accept this new Marple, but I do hate to start all over again! I suppose in my heart, it will always be Joan Hickson who is the ultimate Miss Marple. She is the one I watched first, and something about her seems just right to me, though I learned to love Geraldine’s Marple too and her outfits are unsurpassed in the world of elderly woman detective fashion.
Speaking of elderly woman detective fashion…
Who’s up for a Miss Marple fashion show?
Here we have Joan Hickson sporting plain brown hat and plain brown jacket…
Only her sparkling blue eyes betray any sort of superior powers underneath that prim and austere exterior.
Julia McKenzie sports a humble grey jacket, minimal jewelry, and hat with only the most simple of trimmings. It is a bit more flash than Hickson, but not much…
Comparitively, Geraldine is all about the flash.
Extraordinary flash…
Shocking flash…
We better get back to Joan Hickson in plain brown hat and plain brown jacket to calm ourselves back down.
Hey!
I told you that it was exciting around here!
Now off with you!
Go watch the new Agatha Christies for free on PBS.org.
And just try and get your heart to slow down and beat normally when you are done!
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