So, I'm not sure what the original Christie version of this is, I'm going to check that out in my local library, however...this was depressing, sad, and just awful. Yes, I think the acting was good (especially Toby Jones), but golly the ending...no justice, vindication, just depression. I've read a lot of Christie, and I never come away with that feeling. I wasted 2 hours of my life on this...and am bummed out!!!

I don't need police brutality lecture when I am watching an Agatha Christie mystery. For one thing, my sympathy is firmly with police of American and all European countries, who are good enough to keep on protecting us, even as rampant immigration makes our cities more dangerous. So I didn't appreciate the thinly veiled dig at the police. The BBC really needs to be aware that not all viewers are liberals, a fact that has escaped them. Perhaps they should leave entertainment as entertainment. I also didn't particularly appreciate the swearing. It seemed forced and out of place. Don't get me wrong, I don't object to foul language on principle. I only disliked it here because it was so obviously an attempt to set themselves apart from ITV Chritie by being more "modern" except that it wasn't. It was just more childish. Aside from that, i actually fell asleep during the first episode. It was all talk, talk, talk. the camera didn't even move. The characters were not that dynamic, and they were not that deep. it wasn't terrible, but I can't say i enjoyed the show. And can people PLEASE STOP SAYING THAT THIS IS "REALISTIC"! Just because they are coughing in bed doesn't add realism. Considering how completely stupid the answer to the mystery turned out, based on an absurd, and impossible coincidence, I would say this is a hundred times less realistic then the original Agatha Chritie story. I have never seen the other movie of this show, so i am not comparing it to anything, but I think this was completely rotten. The writer needs to get the political correctness bug out, and stop trying so hard to make the shows dreary. The ITV version of Agatha Christie was often dark, and some episodes left me crying ( Five Little Pigs) because the end was so bittersweet. It was still excellent. I am not expecting a "delicious fun murder". I don't even like that. But this is terrible. And it is the furthest thing from realistic.

I suppose it's a question of taste, and some people may find the BBC adaptations more realistic than the ITV Poirot & Marple adaptations, but I'm afraid both this and last year's "And Then There Were None" just leave me thoroughly depressed.While both have been well-acted and well-directed, there seems to be an insistence on making things as bleak, miserable and depressing as follows, from the coughing-fit sex scene to the muted colours with no really likable characters at all.Perhaps it is wrong to expect stories of murder to be fun. And maybe shows like "Midsomer Murders" cater for the likes of me. I just find it irritating that in order to gain critical respectability, the BBC feels a need to pour a thick layer of dismal over their Christie adaptations. As excellent an actor as Toby Jones is, I found myself longing for Charles Laughton's bombast and energy.And yes, I must admit, I miss the flashy, cartoony ITV Marple series. What a shame the BBC now has the rights to those stories too.

Although difficult, I approached this BBC version of the story by trying to put the Billy Wilder one as far from my mind as possible. Of course that is not easy, and it is obvious from the get-go that this version is much different from the 1950's film of the same name. The way it comes through is very much in the grittiness and darkness of this version; there is no comedy lawyer, no light tone to draw you in – from the start it is a sordid relationship, a dirty piece of rough, stinking jail cells, and a lawyer servicing deadbeats for minimum wage. To be fair, maybe this is what it took to shake off the Wilder memory, because it is very dark throughout.In some ways this is a bad thing, but not many. The strength of this approach becomes clearer as the second part plays out (and this does play better with them back-to-back). The dark tone of everything is paid off with a tremendously impacting ending which not only hits the main mystery, but gives revelation and resolution to the main character too (okay based on an absurd coincidence, but I forgave it that). This had the added advantage of giving something for the viewer who already thought they knew it all, as well as justifying how dark everything had been up until that point. And it had been dark. Indeed, the first episode was almost tiresomely so – I found it to be a real drag as everything seemed aimed at showing how awful everything was. Like I said, this is justified in the end, but I still think it was laid on a bit heavy.In all areas this is the case, but the cinematography is the main one; it looks so murky to the point where it feels like the DOP slapped on an Instagram filter. It felt so heavy handed in this way that it did turn me off a little – and it seemed to highlight how hard everything else was trying to be down and dirty too. Jones' performance is the same in some ways; it works in the entirety, but for a while he feels like he is just playing to the lowest point in a deliberate way. He is still very good though, and the rest of the cast match him, with good turns from Riseborough, Howle, Cattrall, and Dolan (who has the darkest moments with her "not today thank you" denials). As a fan of Utopia, Ready was a surprise find in a small role.Overall this version initially seems to be overcompensating with its darkness at first, but in the end it is more than justified and works really well, even if it makes that first hour a bit harder to get through than it needed to be.