I’ve just heard on the radio that Disney have bought the rights to Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple. I suppose that if I were on Twitter this is the sort of thing that people tweet about, but I’m not on Twitter so I’m moaning about it here.
What on earth were the people at Disney thinking about when they decided to cast a 38 year old woman in the part of Miss Marple? Have any of them ever seen a Miss Marple film or TV production?
The whole reason for Agatha Christie writing a character like Marple is that she is an elderly lady, a spinster of the parish of St Mary Mead and people are supposed to think that she’s in her dotage and so they don’t take her seriously.
Marple is meant to surprise everyone and triumph over them all with her superior wits and a long experience gained from observing the inhabitants of her very small village.
They are going to lose the whole essence of the Miss Marple books if they do it any other way. Poor Agatha Christie will be birling in her grave, but I suppose her family felt that they could be doing with the money.
That’s just jaw-dropping!!! It’s bad enough that they cast thirtysomethings to play Jane Austen ingenues, but this is awful. It’s worse than Beezus (from the Beverly Cleary books) being played by a 20 year old. Unbelievable.
Karen K,
I don’t think I’ll be watching somehow, there have been some really terrible casting choices for things in the past but this must take the biscuit!
Sounds like a headline from the Onion. Next up: Dude Poirot, played by that vampire boy from Twilight?
It’s so depressing. No doubt some suited executive found a focus group that likes Miss Marple, except she’s not sexy enough.
Niranjana,
It is depressing and I’m sure you’re right about the focus group. I must be too old for the Onion though – or not Canadian enough, it made me laugh, whatever!
All I can think of is the Agatha Christie state must be desperate for the money.
I dread to think what they are going to do with the stories. Why do people (and big companies) have to interfere when really there is nothing to change about them.
I will get off my soap box now!
Jo,
Yes, desperate or just greedy. I thought it was bad enough when they had those strange endings. Were they in the Julia MacKenzie Marples?
Well said!
I’m horribly disappointed if the Christie estate knew things were going to go this way, because I thought that the publication of the Christie Notebooks was very well handled, and James Pritchard’s new publishing venture looks very interesting.
I assume Disney sees this as a safe bet, but there are so many interesting mystery series that haven’t been adapted. Why not one of them?!
FleurFisher,
Thanks for the comment. It occurred to me after I’d written the post that possibly the Christie estate didn’t realise what Disney intended to do. Had I been them I wouldn’t have thought for a minute that anybody would be daft enough to have a young Miss Marple. I won’t be watching anyway!
I’m unaware of the James Pritchard venture, perhaps you could explain it to me.
As you say there are so many things which could be adapted and never have been. In vintage crime they could try Josephine Tey, Michael Innes… too many to list! It’s the same with the TV companies who keep re-doing Dickens, Austen and Brontes and the like. I must admit I’ve loved them in the past but we’re missing out on so many other writers. It’s always Andrew Davies adaptations too!!
Regards,
Katrina