PBS must be running out of Miss Marple novels to film so they’ve turned to Miss Marple short stories. “The Blue Geranium” was published in The Tuesday Club Murders (aka, The Thirteen Problems) in 1932. A cranky hypochondriac, Mrs. Pritchard, is told by a fortune-teller that “a blue geranium means death.” And, sure enough, Mr. Pritchard then dies from a gas leak with a blue geranium nearby. Miss Marple investigates and solves the murder. Masterpiece Theater Mystery will be broadcasting “The Blue Geranium” tonight. I’ll be curious to see how a 12-page short story is puffed up to fill 90-minutes of television drama.
I hated it when they did with with Colin Dexter “ideas” in Morse. Puff it up is the right word for it.
Miss Marple is pretty passive in the short story, “The Blue Geranium,” Patti. I wonder what actions the director of the TV version will introduce to fill up 90 minutes.
Sat, did they update this series to current times? That woman on the cover looks like she’s checking her cell phone! Probably a make-up compact, I guess. I still haven’t watched all the marple episodes I have on DVD with Joan Hickson.
Last week, THE SECRET OF CHIMNEYS which is set in the 1920s, was zoomed 30 years into the future to the 1950s in the television version, Rick. I haven’t seen Miss Marple with a cell phone yet, but I’ll keep my eyes peeled as I watch tonight’s episode.
They really are reaching, aren’t they? First they take Christie novels and cram Miss Marple into them when she wasn’t in the book. Now this.
There are a couple dozen Miss Marple short stories PBS MASTERPIECE THEATER can mine, Jeff. All of the novels have been done.
You just can’t make a 12-page short story stretch to 90 minutes without some serious padding. Even though I loved the David Suchet Poirot series, there was lots of filler in those to pad things out to the right time. You always knew a car chase was imminent when the culprit jumped behind the wheel and took off while Poirot yelled, “Hastings, follow that man!” There would be the inevitable traffic jam behind a hay wagon or something similarly rural–and this could last several minutes. We even got to the point where we would yell “Padding!” as yet another car chase began.
There are over a dozen Poirot short stories that might be turned into 90-minute PBS MASTERPIECE THEATER MYSTERIES episodes, Deb. They seem desperate to supply Poirot and Miss Marples for a guaranteed audience.
George, I’d love it if you would submit this post for inclusion in the Agatha Christie Blog Carnival for next month. I’ve linked my name to this month’s carnival. The submission page is at http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_6057.html
Sure, Kerrie, I’d be happy to! Thanks for the link!