john_amend_all

And so we come to The One With Peter Davison.

When I got the DVD box-set, I wasn't as familiar with this piece of television as the preceding three. But it's the DVD I've watched most times; my most recent rewatch was as research for this fanfic. I've also read the book, and seen the 2009 ITV adaptation.

The plot, briefly: Rex Fortescue, his wife, and his housemaid are murdered, in such a manner as to evoke the nursery rhyme 'Sing a Song of Sixpence'. The maid was trained for domestic service by Miss Marple, who promptly shows up at the scene of the crime to offer her assistance. It quickly becomes clear that among the dead man's dysfunctional family, nearly everyone had a motive to kill him...

Joan Hickson puts in her usual excellent performance as Miss Marple. In the guest cast, we have Doctor Who actors Annette Badland (Margaret Slitheen in the new series) and Clive Merrison, who was in two classic series serials. Oh, and Peter Davison, of course.

"We all like Mr. Lance."

When I watched the ITV adaptation, I remember commenting that their Adele reminded me of Rose Tyler — a bleach-blonde ex-shopgirl with a Cockney accent. The Adele in this production (Stacy Dorning) has much the same look, but her accent is pure BBC Received Pronunciation. It takes a bit of getting used to. I think this may be one of the few occasions where the BBC portrayal isn't, in my view, the definitive one.

Not a bad wolf.

The pacing I found odd. The first episode took things very slowly and gently, covering events up to Adele Fortescue's death. Since Miss Marple doesn't start her investigations until after this, she has nothing to do in the first episode except wander about St Mary Mead carrying on with her normal life. Consequently, the second episode had to accommodate Miss Marple's arrival, her investigations, the revelation of the killer's identity, and the explanation of the crime. This was achieved by making Miss Marple lop off various branches of the plot, and by having the murderer make a run for it, thus giving himself away. I'm certainly no expert in these matters, but I'd have thought that if the discovery of Gladys's body had been moved into the first episode and formed the cliffhanger, that would have freed up more space in the second. Then we could perhaps have explored the question of Jennifer Fortescue's past a little more thoroughly.

In order to cut the mystery down to fit in the space available, Rex Fortescue's daughter Elaine is removed, with Jennifer filling the small gaps this leaves. One other element that's been removed is the real background of the housekeeper, Mary Dove, meaning that she doesn't get quite the same degree of Foe Yay with Inspector Neele.

Though they still get on well enough.

One first here: It's the first time I've noticed a blooper. In the chase sequence at the end, it's possible to see speed limit signs, of a design which wouldn't have existed in the 1950s.