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Miss Marple back on TV!

14 Nov 11 7:03AM

And in addition to the 5 new Poirots, we have some more fantastic news - our friends at ITV have also confirmed that they are commissioning three new Marple films with Julia McKenzie!

"Three Marple films including Caribbean Mystery have been commissioned from ITV Studios and Agatha Christie Ltd.

A Caribbean Mystery will be the first film to be shot during the summer of 2012 with two further films Endless Night and The Seven Dials Mystery produced during the autumn of 2012.

A Caribbean Mystery finds Miss Marple far from St Mary Mead, staying in a luxurious hotel in the tropics. Fellow guest Major Palgrave dies shortly in suspicious circumstances and Miss Marple must find his killer..."

As Miss Marple, Julia McKenzie's tour de force performance perfectly captures Agatha Christie's iconic detective, the apparently sweet natured spinster who secretly has a razor sharp mind of detection.

Julia says "It's a huge privilege for me to play Miss Marple. After such a successful career I was content to play guest roles, but then Marple came along. How could I not play her? I love her shrewd intelligence, and yet she has a warmth and a sweetness that is so disarming. I find it stimulating watching how her insights into human nature can unlock big complex mysteries. I'm delighted to be back."

The new Marple films have been commissioned by ITV's Drama Commissioning team Laura Mackie and Sally Haynes.

"We love re-visiting Marple because we know how much the ITV1 audience appreciate a good murder mystery," said Laura. "Its great news that Julia is to reprise a role she's very much made her own. With Julia at the helm, we know we'll attract another stellar cast to appear alongside her."

Mathew Prichard, Chairman of Agatha Christie Limited and Agatha Christie's grandson said: "We look forward to three more Marple films with Julia McKenzie playing Miss Marple. These three are classic Christie stories and will be a treat for audiences all over the world."

And we'll have more news from the production sets coming soon!

• 12 comments

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12 comments

kristaroy 24 Feb 12 at 7:10p.m.

Love Julia Mckenzie.Have both Joan Hickson and Julia Mckenzie and like Mckenzie much more. It is to each his own. Someone saying Jula has no warmth. I think just the opposite. I wish she was on for many more. Love miss marple and Hercule poirot. Just became into both of them when I was really ill. I started watching them on PBS and now bought and own almost all of their stories. Love their mysteries. I would rather watch one of their dvds i own and have seen countless times than anything I could possibly watch on television. The quality programming of Miss Marple and Poirot beats anything reality bases or not on tv these days.

christinah 02 Jan 12 at 6:24a.m.

I'm glad there will be more Marples to watch.  The fact that Miss Marple doesn't actually appear in the original stories being dramatised is not important to me.  They are fun and easy to watch.  For fidelity to the books, stick to reading the books - there's no harm in a bit of artistic licence and if the films/tv dramatisations encourage more people to become aware of Agatha Christie's work, then even better.  I much prefer Julia McKenzie to Geraldine McEwen anyway, although Joan Hickson was probably the best and more true to the written character of Miss Marple ever!

dalon 31 Dec 11 at 6:24a.m.

I must say, I do not like the new Miss Marple Julia McKenzie. Something is missing ! There is no wormth in her acting and as a great fan of Agatha Christie's T.V. Series with Joan Hickson and Geraldine McEwan, I am very disappointed.

SH4Kinder 13 Dec 11 at 12:54a.m.

Again, Miss Marple has NO BUSINESS IN ENDLESS NIGHT OR SEVEN DIALS.
She wasn't in either book!!!!! Totally agree with other comments--- make NEW MOVIES not remakes of old ones that were better anyway!..
There must be Miss Marple stories that actually have Miss Marple and haven't been done!

jjsum 12 Dec 11 at 1:46p.m.

Why is it that Miss Marple is made to appear in film productions of novels that has nothing to do with Miss Marple at all?

Ladybug1951 12 Dec 11 at 11:34a.m.

Come on...all three of these titles have already been made into movies. If you're going to make more movies, make ones we've never seen!

leonor_crb 07 Dec 11 at 1:26p.m.

 Great news! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Kerr52 04 Dec 11 at 8:47p.m.

GREAT news!
GO JULIA!!!
i feel bouyed.
cheeeers!

Hatshepsut 02 Dec 11 at 5:13p.m.

Delighted that new films are being produed with Julia McKenzie. Please include subtitles or closed captions for severly hearing impaired and deaf fans of Christie films.

coffeegirl 27 Nov 11 at 6:19p.m.

I'm so happy they're producing more Miss Marple stories. I am disappointed one of them is going to be Caribbean Mystery, though. It's already been done. Choose something new!

AriadneOliver491 19 Nov 11 at 12:38a.m.

omg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

de_misteri 14 Nov 11 at 11:42p.m.

Yay! More Miss Marple!!!
I can't WAIT!!!