Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7681 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-07-17
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 8

DVD Description

Agatha Christie's Marple - The Complete Collection contains eight feature-length films from the hit TV murder mystery series of the same name. Geraldine McEwan stars as the super detective Miss Jane Marple in the period drama, which is set during the 1930s-1950s. Miss Marple's unassuming old lady exterior hides an excellent perception of human nature, and a razor sharp wit and intuition which she executes brilliantly to solve the most complicated crimes. Even murderers underestimate her... always at their own peril! Each episode stars different well-known TV faces (such as Catherine Tate), as Marple pursues various murderers and criminals across Britain.

Customer Reviews

Some of the episodes are really brilliant
First I saw an episode on TV and I have to admit that I was very lucky because it was one of the best in the series. These are full length films but some of them are fast paced enough (don't expect an action movie, though) to make you forget about time. How is it done with the old lady? With humour and marvellous acting. Where Joan Hickson is dependable and faithful to the original, Geraldine McEwan is playful and inventive. I had the feeling that theatre actors and actresses play here after extensive rehearsal. In this version, the players can express much more with their voice, gestures and facial expressions than you could ever guess after reading the script or novel. Of course, such intensive creativity tends to forget about the original story and changes the murderer, the motives and sometimes puts Miss Marple into a non-Marple story. If you are worried about such creative freedom, read the book afterwards, this way enjoying the same thing twice.

Why only four stars? As everything else you buy by the dozen (figuratively speaking) this boxed edition also contains some that are not quite the same high quality. Of course, for this 43% off that Amazon currently offers this is a very good buy. My secret hope is that by the time I finish watching this series, the Joan Hicks pack may have a similarly enticing discount.

A real Curates egg !
Well on the credit side the casting is brilliant and it is superbly filmed in a lavish style that faithfully captures the period in which the books where written . The locations are first rate as is the editing and yes in Body In The Library and A Murder Is Announced the lesbian undercurrent inherent in those two books does come to the fore in the adaptations in this DVD collection . Dame Agatha had to be very careful about dealing with what was seen at the time as the seemy side of life so she could only hint ( owing to censors & public opinion ). Had it just been implied then that would have been a great artistic success that was faithful to the original text . But to make it quite so full on as it were is a step too far for those of us who grew up with Joan Hickson in the role between 1984 and 1992 . They should have been aware that they where not filming a soap or modern sitcom but rather some great Agatha Christie novels for TV .The depiction of Mrs Prothero & Mr Reading being hanged at the end of The Murder At The Vicarage was just a childish attempt to shock as well as being in poor taste . Such events where not in the original book and should be lamented as a result . The best one of the lot was Greta Saarchi and Anthony Andrews cropping up as Tommy & Tuppence in By The Pricking Of My Thumbs and one does hope that we see those two in those roles again . All in all this was a brave effort to update the Miss Marple franchise and Geraldine McEwan does do better than Margaret Rutherford , Angela Lansbury and Helen Hayes but the definitive Miss Marple in my book is still Joan Hickson . All the celebs in these TV movies suggest a healthy budget for the ITV drama department that must make Agatha Christie fans hope that there are the funds for David Suchet to get the remaining 8 unfilmed Poirot novels adapted for television. If you are keen to see some new Agatha Christie adaptations then this is is a wise purchase but admirers of Joan Hickson may well be disappointed . But at least Amazon.co.uk are offering it at a very good price !

NOT Complete Collection
I enjoy this program very much and trusted the title "THE COMPLETE COLLECTION" but this is not the COMPLETE series because I only found out afterwards there is a THIRD series and it is not included in this set ... so how can it be COMPLETE? I wasted my money because I already had the first series, but was willing to by the box set so I would have ALL series in one set. (Which obviously, I still don't have.) I am so disappointed.