The Body in the Library
- Episode aired Apr 17, 2005
- 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
2.5K
YOUR RATING
Dolly Bantry calls upon her old friend Miss Marple when the strangled corpse of an unknown blonde girl is found in the library of her home, Gossington Hall.Dolly Bantry calls upon her old friend Miss Marple when the strangled corpse of an unknown blonde girl is found in the library of her home, Gossington Hall.Dolly Bantry calls upon her old friend Miss Marple when the strangled corpse of an unknown blonde girl is found in the library of her home, Gossington Hall.
- Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
- 3 nominations total
Bruce Mackinnon
- Scamper
- (as Bruce MacKinnon)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAmong others, Eileen Atkins and Annette Crosbie were considered for the part of Miss Marple's friend Dolly Bantry. The part was eventually given to Joanna Lumley, who calls herself a "die-hard Christie fan".
- GoofsIn the scene showing the Pier at "Danemouth", a modern double decker bus is visible driving past.
- Quotes
Basil Blake: [introducing his wife to Colonel Melchett] Dinah Lee, minor actress, major slut!
- ConnectionsFollowed by Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (2004)
- SoundtracksZadok the Priest, Hwv 258
(uncredited)
By George Frideric Handel
[first shot of the body in the library]
Featured review
Truly horrible adaptation of The Body in the Library
With the exception of the BBC series with Joan Hickson, film-makers struggle with Miss Marple. The point of Miss Marple, Agatha Christie's brilliant concept, was to make her a member of the most disregarded and voiceless species of human being - the elderly spinster. Persistently underestimated, she proves herself wiser than more worldly characters - the police of course, but also her annoying nephew Raymond West, various carers and others. She was genteel, polite, cultivated, gossipy, nosy, unprepossessing, feminine, politically incorrect, conservative and traditional. The only thing that marked her out was her understanding of human evil.
This series disregards all this. The essential 'Miss' is dropped in favour of the modern-sounding 'Marple'. She is quirky, not ordinary. It is hinted that she has had an affair, as if sexual experience was necessary to make someone a whole person. She is sophisticated, not provincial. Christie's Miss Marple would hardly have taken revelations of lesbianism in her stride; she was never unshockable and never approved of metropolitan ways. Presumably these character changes are to make her 'relevant' for modern audiences. Of course, the effect is to negate Christie's feat of imagination, by turning a remarkably unremarkable character into an unremarkably remarkable one. It undoes Christie's aim of reminding us that even very ordinary people can do wonderful things, and shows immense disrespect for a generation of people and a vanished way of life.
Fuss has been made about changing the ending of this and other novels. This is not the real crime of the makers - admittedly it takes hubris to tinker with Christie's logic but there is no reason not to challenge or tease the audience. The real crime was to kill Miss Marple and replace her with a Generation X view of what a little old lady should be like. Geraldine McEwan's Marple would have celebrated the Relief of Mafeking by drinking 10 Bacardi Breezers and getting her tits out in Trafalgar Square. The best production values in the world would not turn this travesty into anything worth watching
This series disregards all this. The essential 'Miss' is dropped in favour of the modern-sounding 'Marple'. She is quirky, not ordinary. It is hinted that she has had an affair, as if sexual experience was necessary to make someone a whole person. She is sophisticated, not provincial. Christie's Miss Marple would hardly have taken revelations of lesbianism in her stride; she was never unshockable and never approved of metropolitan ways. Presumably these character changes are to make her 'relevant' for modern audiences. Of course, the effect is to negate Christie's feat of imagination, by turning a remarkably unremarkable character into an unremarkably remarkable one. It undoes Christie's aim of reminding us that even very ordinary people can do wonderful things, and shows immense disrespect for a generation of people and a vanished way of life.
Fuss has been made about changing the ending of this and other novels. This is not the real crime of the makers - admittedly it takes hubris to tinker with Christie's logic but there is no reason not to challenge or tease the audience. The real crime was to kill Miss Marple and replace her with a Generation X view of what a little old lady should be like. Geraldine McEwan's Marple would have celebrated the Relief of Mafeking by drinking 10 Bacardi Breezers and getting her tits out in Trafalgar Square. The best production values in the world would not turn this travesty into anything worth watching
helpful•159
- kmoh-1
- Mar 10, 2017
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