Miss Marple rewatch: A Caribbean Mystery

[john_amend_all]

Jason Rafiel: Another murder? How many d'you want?

It's cold, wet and rainy... why not take a nice trip, at least in spirit, to Barbados? Sun, sea, sand and corpses turning up all over the place.

Packed off to Barbados for a holiday by her devoted nephew, Miss Marple finds the time hanging heavy on her hands, with nothing to do but pretend to listen to a Major Palgrave's interminable reminiscences. That is, until one day the Major, in the middle of telling an anecdote about a murder, seems to recognise one of their fellow-guests as the villain of the piece... and then, before he can reveal whom he meant, dies suddenly. As ever, Miss Marple is not convinced that natural causes alone can be the explanation.

Did somebody call for an anthropomorphic personification of divine retribution?

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, this story is a prequel to Nemesis. Accordingly, Jason Rafiel puts in another, and more substantial, appearance. Whether through choice or necessity, the role was recast and given to Donald Pleasence — best known as Blofeld in You Only Live Twice, and whose daughter Angela made a brief appearance in the final series of SJA. Pleasence is a delight as the sharp-tongued Cockney millionaire (who, these days, would almost certainly be one of the panel on something like Dragons' Den); I found myself wishing that they'd also reshot the appropriate scenes in Nemesis with him. Maybe if they'd had such things as DVD extras in those days...

Your head's full of knitting. I'm out.

Other familiar members of the guest cast include Frank Middlemass (the fourth Dan Archer), T P McKenna (The Greatest Show in the Galaxy), and Adrian Lukis (Wickham in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice).

The young man wanted only regimentals to make him completely charming.

As usual, the production team went to some lengths to obtain an authentic Agatha Christie atmosphere, and the episode was shot at the Coral Reef Hotel in Barbados, the inspiration for the original book. They certainly make the most of the setting.

Seaside view as standard, murders extra.

It's probably redundant by now to say that the plot closely follows that of the book, but I'll say it anyway. I got the impression, though, that nearly every line of dialogue had been rewritten. All the same information is conveyed, but using different words. Plot-wise, the major difference is that a couple of the guests are removed, and their place is taken by Aunty Johnson, a local matriarch. There are also a few shifts of emphasis in the quadrangular relationship between the Dysons and Hillingdons; and Inspector Weston is given a line which leads to the amusing thought that in this fictional universe, police training includes a course on investigative little old ladies in general and Miss Marple in particular.

At the beginning, where we're introduced to pretty much the entire cast in one go, I wondered if the composer wanted to make things easy for us by segueing from each character's theme to the next in time with the cuts. They are, I hasten to add, all very well-done themes (though Lucky Dyson's sexophone can get wearing). There's also one lovely moment where Miss Marple is walking back to the hotel through beautiful island landscape, using her brolly as a parasol, and the music promptly shifts into a jaunty Caribbean rendition of her usual theme.

It's padding, but very beautiful padding. Television could do with more of it.

It's certainly well up to the usual standard, but every time I watch it I share Miss Marple's relief at the end, when she returns to St Mary Mead and it begins to rain. It's somehow the right place for her.