Hard to pin down the year of this episode from autos. Many anachronistic models spanning more than one decade-more like 2decades. Did not spoil the episode for me as they were great to see and so many super clean, no dust or rain spots. I loved them all. 2018 now so all were vintage today.

Arthur Bantry has passed away, Dolly Bantry has sold Gossington Hall to legendary film icon Marina Gregg, and moved to a small lodge on the site. Marina has moved to St Mary Mead for a quieter life, along with husband Jason Rudd and servants. Marina agrees for Gossington Hall to host its annual fête, she is introduced to the locals, one she meets in particular seems to have a profound effect on her, Heather Badcock, a woman of modest means from the new development site and St John's Ambulance volunteer. During the rather dull conversation about a meeting many years previous, Marina is frozen to the spot, a look described as being likened to The Lady of Shalott 'Doom came upon her etc.' Heather, not a drinker, takes a drink (a daiquiri) intended for Marina, not used to alcohol suddenly dies, alarm bells raised and Marina descends into a terrified state, who had intended to poison her? Miss Marple, now in advanced years has a carer/companion Miss Knight, a feisty Scots woman who attempts to encourage Miss Marple to take it easy, but the Detective in her sets out to unravel the mystery.As a novel I think it's one of the easiest Agatha Christie stories to read, the characters are beautifully created, they translate well into this adaptation. Claire Bloom is particularly delightful as Marina Gregg, I firmly believe in her being a great actress in her later years (well it's not exactly a stretch in reality is it?) such a beautiful, charismatic woman.Lots of old friends on show to bow out with, Inspector's Craddock and Slack, Dolly Bantry, Sergeant Lake, Christopher Hawes etc, it ends with such a sweet moment.Favourite scene has to be the village ladies discovering the Marble bathrooms for the first time, no doubt rare at the time, their reactions are just wonderful. Miss Marple's frustrations with Miss Knight are so fun tooSuch a shame they never adapted The Blue Geranium, I love the audio-book ready by Joan Hikson.People have commented about Miss Marple suddenly being Craddock's aunt, I think it's meant more as a term of endearment, a closeness developed over the years.9/10, a tale of tragedy as well as a murder, with subtle elements of humour woven in. I like it very very much. It's ultimately superior to the Hollywood film.

I know I'm missing something because so many reviewers have found this a flawed but admirable adaptation, whereas I found it torpid and not very interesting, outside of some of the performances.I couldn't follow the plot or the reasoning behind it until the last few moments, after the suicide, when all was revealed in a cascade of off-hand comments that was too fast for comprehension by slow and deliberate minds.Claire Bloom still looks good after a career of more than forty years, although she may no longer be the delectable Lady Anne. (Who is?) And John Castle as Miss Marple's nephew, a police inspector, seems very handsome with his silver hair. His expression is sober and intense except when he appears to smirk. At any rate he's more interesting as a character than Joan Hickson herself, as Miss Marple, who is recklessly intuitive and has little presence except as what used to be called a little old lady before we all came down with a serious case of rubella, I mean political correctness. Rubella. I believe that may have been the name of my fifth-grade English teacher. Yes, it was. Miss Rubella DeGroot. She always hated me for mispronouncing "irrevocable".Kidding aside, I was lost in the intricacies of the plot and I'm still lost. I don't know, for instance, what the portrait of the Madonna and child had to do with anything.Damn, I miss Hercule Poirot in these mysteries. He was always willing to take the time to explain things slowly and in some detail, repeating them as necessary, as if speaking to a young child. That's what some of us duller bulbs need. Less intricacy and less gossip and more Explanations For Dummies.

The poor village of Saint Mary Mead is invaded by some American actors and actresses for the shooting of a film. The main actress was actually raised in the village before moving to America. It's obvious Miss Marple does not consider cinema actors as very respectable people, though that is no reason to kill them. But apparently it is by far enough to justify their suicide. The story is sordid about the past, but that is nearly nothing when compared with the sordidness of the present they impose onto themselves and one another. Working conditions of actors and actresses are horrific and producers are the worst exploiters that can exist and they deserve our full and complete condescending contempt. Add into that picture a couple of adopted children, rejected afterwards, and then a real child reduced to an incurable fate by German measles during the pregnancy and you have the squalid reality of this case. So it is nearly nice of Jane Marple to overlook the slight detail that the death of that actress was not entirely natural though it looks suicidal, or maybe not entirely suicidal though it looks absolutely natural, or whatever other mixture with artificial added in the lot. In one word good riddance and just hope God is just as understanding as we are not.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU