by the pricking of my thumbs miss marple

Overall this production is only slightly better than 'Sleeping Murder' (which was nothing but utter carnage). It was only a yawn or two that actually kept me awake. Plot-wise, 'By the Pricking of my Thumbs' is not a bad whodunit, but the under-played performances from the top stars on display here were sadly lack-lustre. I read this Tommy and Tuppence tale years ago, but it's storyline has faded from my memory, so I can't tell (apart from the fact that Jane Marple wasn't in the novel) how much this production has veered from the original.

Whilst Tommy is away on MI6 business, Tuppence and Jane Marple (who had also been a-visiting at the home) join forces to solve the mystery. Then she learns that Ada's friend Mrs Lancaster (June Whitfield, the BBC radio Miss Marple) had suddenly disappeared that same evening. A week or so later Tuppence is told of said Auntie's sudden death and treats the news with suspicion. The Beresfords visit Tommy's Aunt Ada at the nursing home in which she is living, where they hear of a supposed murder of a child in bygone years. If anything Tuppence was always the brighter and more forthright of the married couple, and there was never ever a suggestion by Dame Agatha that such a weakness existed.

However the transformation of Tuppence Beresford into a bored housewife with a drink problem, is somewhat at odds with the character that Agatha Christie created. I had reservations about the combining of Tommy & Tuppence with Miss Marple, and wondered how it would be achieved.

By the pricking of my thumbs miss marple