Spoilers herein.
Watching all these BBC Marples is a real treat visually because you get a different director each time, and usually a different writer. That way, there is as much discovery in how the translation is made as there is in the mystery itself.
But T R Bowen adapted seven of these and they are the worst of the bunch. That's because he truly believes in the TeeVee model: the viewer doesn't want to think about what is going on. There is no game between writer and reader. The TeeVee viewer just wants to pleasantly take up time and be surprised by the clever solution.
Christie never intended such a thing, and railed against it in her lifetime. Her own plays show that intelligent engagement with the audience is possible,
This Bowenization is a case in point. The novel idea here is that the detective herself provides the mistaken alibi. A pretty clever idea in 1930, already copied many times by the time this production is set. The book has it as a matter of self-confrontation; that's why we have the mad curator, and the introspection of the dying woman, and the painter.
All that is washed away in this TeeVee script. Shame on Bowen and curses to viewers who don't complain.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
Watching all these BBC Marples is a real treat visually because you get a different director each time, and usually a different writer. That way, there is as much discovery in how the translation is made as there is in the mystery itself.
But T R Bowen adapted seven of these and they are the worst of the bunch. That's because he truly believes in the TeeVee model: the viewer doesn't want to think about what is going on. There is no game between writer and reader. The TeeVee viewer just wants to pleasantly take up time and be surprised by the clever solution.
Christie never intended such a thing, and railed against it in her lifetime. Her own plays show that intelligent engagement with the audience is possible,
This Bowenization is a case in point. The novel idea here is that the detective herself provides the mistaken alibi. A pretty clever idea in 1930, already copied many times by the time this production is set. The book has it as a matter of self-confrontation; that's why we have the mad curator, and the introspection of the dying woman, and the painter.
All that is washed away in this TeeVee script. Shame on Bowen and curses to viewers who don't complain.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.