For those keeping score at home, this is the current total for each iconic series and their respective re-incarnated selves. While Doctor Who is firmly in the lead, Miss Marple closes the gap this Sunday when Julia McKenzie returns for the new season of Masterpiece Mystery! Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple on PBS stations nationwide, including KERA in North Texas. McKenzie replaced the greatness of Geraldine McEwan in 2008 in the beloved spinster/sleuth title role.

According to The Globe and Mail, the British are very protective when it comes to change and their icons. The choice of Matt Smith as the new Doctor Who and Daniel Craig as the new James Bond were the subject of national debates. The good news for Miss Marple fans worldwide is that McKenzie’s portrayal, according to reviewers, “is the very embodiment of Christie’s original character – right down to her traditional tweed blazer“. Season 2 of the Julia McKenzie/Miss Marple era kicks off tonight (Sunday evening) at 9ET/8CT on PBS/KERA with “The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side”.

If you’re keeping score at home, the Miss Marple character began with British actress Gracie Fields in 1956 followed by Helen Hayes, Dame Margaret Rutherford, Angela Landsbury, Ita Ever, Joan Hickson and, finally, Geraldine McEwan.

Here’s a trailer for tonight’s episode. Cheers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PVAv2eiTC4