Miss Marple: Two Mysteries, One Night, One Place – PBS
By the end of this week, I’m guessing that most of America will be Roosevelt-ed out having just been riveted to the small screen for 14 hours of brilliant telly from the mind palace of filmmaker, Ken Burns. Not to worry, PBS stations around the U.S. will have three new Miss Marple mysteries headed their way beginning Sunday, September 21. Yes, I’m fully aware that this is Downton Day in the UK but there is plenty of quality drama headed your way to fill the time until January 4, 2015 starting with a bit of Agatha Christie and consulting detective, Miss Jane Marple.
Julia McKenzie returns in her iconic role as spinster sleuth Miss Marple for three new mysteries. Beginning next Sunday, PBS fans of Masterpiece will get a double dose of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple beginning at 8:00p ET/7:00p CT with “A Caribbean Mystery”. Then, at 9:30p ET/8:30p CT, PBS’ Masterpiece series presents “Greenshaw’s Folly”. On Sunday, September 28, McKenzie continues her mystery solving ways in “Endless Night” at 9:00p ET/8:00p CT.
McKenzie is the third British actress to play the Agatha Christie creation following in the footsteps of Joan Hickson, who first played the Agatha Christie creation for PBS’ Masterpiece series from 1984-1992 and then Geraldine McEwan from 2004-2008.
A Caribbean Mystery, September 21, 8:00p ET/7:00p CT
Adapted by comedian, author and actor Charlie Higson, who has a cameo as the unassuming American ornithologist James Bond, “A Caribbean Mystery” has Miss Marple on holiday at a lavish tropical island hotel. In true Christie fashion, Miss Marple finds herself investigating the sudden death of a fellow guest and then unravels a web of deceit, murder and “dark magic” with the help of a curmudgeonly business tycoon played by Sir Antony Sher (God on Trial), leaving her to consider every one of the hotel’s guests as a suspect. Also starring are MyAnna Buring (Downton Abbey), Pippa Bennett Warner (Case Histories), and Charity Wakefield (Any Human Heart).
Greenshaw’s Folly, September 21, 9:30p ET/8:30p CT
Adapted from two of Christie’s short stories, Greenshaw’s Folly and The Thumb Mark of St. Peter, the second mystery reunites Julia McKenzie with two of her Cranford costars, Kimberly Nixon (Louisa) and Julia Sawalha (Mrs. Cresswell). When an old family friend and her young son turn to Miss Marple for assistance, she places them at nearby Greenshaw’s Folly, the family home of an eccentric botanist. But it becomes clear that the labyrinthine Folly isn’t quite the safe house that Miss Marple had hoped, when death casts its dark and sinister shadow on the residents.
Sunday, September 21 – Two Mysteries – One Night – One Place – PBS! Be there. Don’t forget to stay away from Twitter and Facebook to avoid Downton Day spoilers from the UK. You’ll thank me later.
