1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:03,680 Viewers like you make this program possible. 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:05,360 Support your local PBS station. 4 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:08,880 NARRATOR: AGATHA CHRISTIE IS 5 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 6 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:11,320 THE BEST-SELLING NOVELIST OF ALL TIME. 7 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:15,400 THE QUEEN OF CRIME WROTE 66 MURDER MYSTERIES 8 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:19,160 AND DOZENS MORE PLAYS AND SHORT STORIES. 9 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:21,960 WE ALL KNOW AGATHA, DON'T WE? 10 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,320 WOMAN: THE NICE OLD LADY HAVING TEA WITH THE VICAR, 11 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,040 ARSENIC IN THE CRUMPETS. 12 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,040 NARRATOR: BUT DO WE REALLY KNOW 13 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:31,520 WHAT WAS GOING ON INSIDE HER BRILLIANT MIND? 14 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:33,560 AGATHA ON TAPE: YOU SIT DOWN TO START A BOOK 15 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:35,320 THAT HAS LIVED IN YOUR MIND. 16 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,840 ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TO WRITE IT. 17 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,880 NARRATOR: TONIGHT, WE'LL DELVE DEEPER INTO THE GENIUS 18 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,000 OF AGATHA CHRISTIE THAN EVER BEFORE. 19 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,640 WE'LL HEAR FROM THE PEOPLE WHO KNEW HER BEST... 20 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,440 MAN: SHE LISTENED TO WHAT ANYBODY SAID, 21 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:51,280 WATCHED WHAT THEY DID, 22 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:53,680 AND THEN SHE MADE HER OWN USE OF IT. 23 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:55,880 NARRATOR: AND UNCOVER THE SECRETS 24 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:57,720 OF HER RARELY SEEN ARCHIVE... 25 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,840 MAN 2: I WENT TO A ROOM IN WHICH THE ENTIRE HISTORY 26 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,280 OF AGATHA CHRISTIE'S LITERARY CAREER WAS TO BE FOUND. 27 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:05,560 NARRATOR: TO DISCOVER THE MOMENTS 28 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,280 THAT CHANGED AGATHA'S PSYCHE FOREVER. 29 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:10,920 SHE WATCHES THE CENTURY GROW UP 30 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:12,920 AND SHE DOESN'T WATCH IT GET ANY BETTER. 31 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:15,560 NARRATOR: THIS IS THE UNTOLD STORY 32 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:19,480 OF WHAT MADE AGATHA CHRISTIE TICK. 33 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:21,840 WOMAN: SHE SAW BLOOD, SHE SAW GORE, 34 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,680 SHE SAW DEATH, AND SHE WASN'T AFRAID TO USE IT. 35 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:28,400 MAN 3: I THINK SHE HAD THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY MIND. 36 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:32,560 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGS] 37 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,560 [FILM PROJECTOR WHIRRING] 38 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,680 NARRATOR: AGATHA WAS BORN IN TORQUAY IN DEVON 39 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,760 ON THE 15TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1890. 40 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,560 MAN: AGATHA CHRISTIE WAS MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER. 41 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:53,560 WE ALL REFERRED TO HER AS "NIMA," WHICH WAS 42 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:55,920 MY FATHER'S ATTEMPT AT "GRANDMA." 43 00:01:57,680 --> 00:01:59,760 MAN: NIMA AND I WERE CLOSER THAN SHE WAS 44 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:01,760 EVEN WITH MY MOTHER. 45 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:05,760 SHE WAS THE CEMENT IN THE FAMILY. 46 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,160 I'VE ALWAYS TOLD EVERYBODY, INCLUDING MY GRANDCHILDREN, 47 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:13,720 THAT NIMA WAS THE BEST LISTENER I EVER MET IN MY LIFE. 48 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:16,440 SHE LISTENED TO WHAT ANYBODY SAID, 49 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:18,720 SHE WATCHED WHAT THEY DID, 50 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:21,440 AND THEN SHE MADE HER OWN USE OF IT. 51 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:23,800 NARRATOR: AGATHA WATCHED, 52 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,080 SHE LISTENED, AND SHE ALSO DID SOMETHING REMARKABLE-- 53 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,120 SHE RECORDED EVERYTHING. 54 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,520 NARRATOR: AGATHA'S FAMILY HAVE GRANTED US ACCESS 55 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:38,840 TO THIS RARELY SEEN TREASURE TROVE 56 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,800 OF MANUSCRIPTS, LETTERS, AND DIARIES. 57 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:44,840 THEY ARE THE KEY 58 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,840 TO UNDERSTANDING EXACTLY HOW HER MIND WORKED. 59 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:55,120 HIDDEN WITHIN ARE 73 OF AGATHA'S RARELY SEEN NOTEBOOKS. 60 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,280 FOR DECADES, THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NOTEBOOKS 61 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:01,960 REMAINED AN ENIGMA. 62 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,120 DR. JOHN CURRAN: I WENT TO A ROOM IN WHICH THE ENTIRE HISTORY 63 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,440 OF AGATHA CHRISTIE'S LITERARY CAREER WAS TO BE FOUND. 64 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,400 NARRATOR: BUT NOW, THEY'VE BEEN DECODED 65 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,600 BY DR. JOHN CURRAN. 66 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,440 CURRAN: THE HAPHAZARDNESS IS THE CLUE 67 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,800 TO AGATHA CHRISTIE'S PHENOMENAL SUCCESS. 68 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:27,000 NARRATOR: THESE SCRIBBLINGS MAY LOOK INDECIPHERABLE, 69 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,560 BUT TO JOHN, THE PRIVILEGE OF GETTING HANDS-ON 70 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,720 WITH THE NOTEBOOKS HAS GIVEN HIM A TANTALIZING WINDOW 71 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:35,840 INTO AGATHA'S MIND. 72 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:37,840 HER BRAIN TEEMED WITH IDEAS. 73 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:42,440 ESSENTIALLY, HER NOTEBOOKS WERE HER SOUNDING BOARD. 74 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,680 THAT'S WHERE SHE BRAINSTORMED ON PAPER. 75 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,000 NARRATOR: NEXT TO SHOPPING LISTS AND TRAIN TIMES 76 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,080 IS A FASCINATING DISCOVERY-- 77 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:55,600 THE SECRET WAY AGATHA CONSTRUCTED HER PLOTS. 78 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:59,280 CURRAN: WELL, ONE METHOD THAT SHE DID USE FREQUENTLY 79 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:01,680 WAS THIS IDEA OF ALLOCATING LETTERS 80 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:06,560 TO SHORT SCENES AND THEN RE-ORDERING THOSE LETTERS. 81 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,560 GOOD EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE BOOK "TOWARDS ZERO." 82 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,120 SHE'S ALLOCATED A-B-C-D-E-F-G 83 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:17,160 UP AS FAR AS "H" 84 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:20,400 TO A SERIES OF LITTLE SCENES. 85 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,680 THEN SHE GOES BACK AND DOES A-D-C-B, 86 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,240 AND THEN, AFTER "B," SHE HAD WRITTEN G-H, 87 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,680 AND SHE SCRATCHED THEM OUT AND WROTE G-H 88 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:31,600 AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF ALL THIS, SO SHE'S 89 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:33,840 COMPLETELY JUMBLED UP THE ALPHABETICAL SEQUENCE 90 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,360 TILL SHE GOT TO THE PLOT THAT SHE EVENTUALLY WAS HAPPY WITH. 91 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:39,720 NARRATOR: OVER THE YEARS, AGATHA STORED 92 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:44,360 THE WORKINGS OF HER MIND WITH ENCYCLOPEDIC PRECISION. 93 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,360 BUT TO TRULY UNDERSTAND HOW THIS INSPIRED HER WRITING, 94 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:52,480 WE NEED TO RETURN TO HER EARLY YEARS. 95 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,360 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGS] 96 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,360 AGATHA ON TAPE: PEOPLE OFTEN ASK ME WHAT MADE ME TAKE UP WRITING. 97 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:12,920 YOU SEE, I PUT IT ALL DOWN TO THE FACT 98 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,600 THAT I NEVER HAD ANY EDUCATION. 99 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,360 MATHEW: SHE COULD ONLY EDUCATE HERSELF, 100 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:23,040 AND THAT LEFT FAR MORE ROOM FOR THE IMAGINATION. 101 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:26,480 JAMES: SHE HAD A LOT OF TIME ON HER OWN, 102 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,160 INVENTING STORIES, INVENTING GAMES. 103 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:31,680 CURRAN: SHE WASN'T TAUGHT HOW TO THINK, 104 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,400 SO SHE THOUGHT DIFFERENTLY, SHE THOUGHT IN A VERY LATERAL WAY. 105 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,000 AGATHA ON TAPE: I FOUND MYSELF MAKING UP STORIES 106 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:40,280 AND ACTING THE DIFFERENT PARTS, 107 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,800 AND THERE'S NOTHING LIKE BOREDOM TO MAKE YOU WRITE. 108 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,040 NARRATOR: AGATHA'S IMAGINATION WAS SHAPED 109 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,040 BY HER UNCONVENTIONAL FAMILY. 110 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,400 SHE KIND OF GREW UP IN A MATRIARCHY, I WOULD SAY. 111 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,480 HER FATHER, HE JUST WENT AROUND BEING LOVELY, 112 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:01,840 AND HER BROTHER, HE ENDED UP SORT OF TAKING DRUGS 113 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:04,600 AND HE ACTUALLY DIED QUITE YOUNG, 114 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:07,160 SO THE FORCE OF THE FAMILY WAS IN THE WOMEN: 115 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:09,240 THE MOTHER, 116 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,840 THE CLEVER SISTER, AND THE GRANDMOTHERS, 117 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,160 BOTH OF WHOM KIND OF APPEAR IN "MISS MARPLE," I WOULD SAY. 118 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:21,000 THAT INNATE WISDOM REALLY PERMEATES THE DETECTIVE FICTION. 119 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:23,800 NARRATOR: AGATHA CHANNELED WHAT SHE LEARNT ABOUT FEMALE 120 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:27,360 INTUITION INTO ONE OF HER MOST ICONIC CHARACTERS, 121 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:28,600 MISS MARPLE. 122 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:30,400 IT WAS THEIR TREATMENT OF THE NOTE 123 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:32,480 BY THE BODY THAT SURPRISED ME. 124 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,040 THE HANDWRITING EXPERT SEEMED TO KNOW HIS ONIONS. 125 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:37,600 OH, YES, IT WAS OBVIOUSLY A FORGERY, 126 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,360 BUT WE DIDN'T NEED AN EXPERT TO TELL US THAT. 127 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:44,600 [TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS] 128 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,240 NARRATOR: AGATHA'S CHILDHOOD MAY HAVE BEEN LONELY, 129 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,120 BUT SHE GREW UP IN A CHOCOLATE-BOX WORLD 130 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,240 THAT WOULD LATER BECOME THE BACKDROP TO MANY OF HER NOVELS. 131 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:58,120 THIS SETTING MAY EXPLAIN WHY PEOPLE SOMETIMES DISMISS 132 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,600 AGATHA'S WRITING AS SO-CALLED "COZY CRIME." 133 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:04,920 THE TRUTH IS THEY HAVE MISUNDERSTOOD 134 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,920 WHAT REALLY MADE HER TICK. 135 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,360 WOMAN: I THINK THERE IS A HUGE AMOUNT OF INTELLECTUAL SNOBBERY 136 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,240 ABOUT POPULIST LITERATURE. 137 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,480 IT'S THE KIND OF BELIEF THAT THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY 138 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,160 ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH THAT THERE COULD BE ANYTHING CONTAINED 139 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,680 WITHIN IT OTHER THAN SILLY FROTH. 140 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:24,680 IT WAS THE POKER IN THE LIBRARY 141 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:26,920 AND THERE'S A BODY ON THE FLOOR, AND SOMEBODY DISCOVERS IT 142 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:28,840 AFTER THEY'VE BEEN PLAYING LAWN TENNIS, 143 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:30,840 BUT IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER; SOMEBODY COMES IN 144 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:32,920 AND SORTS IT OUT AND EVERYONE HAS A SANDWICH, 145 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,720 AND IT'S ENDLESSLY, WILDLY POPULAR. 146 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,280 NARRATOR: BUT THERE IS A DARKER AND MORE 147 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,240 INTRICATE SIDE TO AGATHA'S WRITING. 148 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:45,800 JAMES: I DON'T THINK THERE IS ANYTHING "COZY" ABOUT HER WORKS. 149 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,480 PHELPS: SHE'S INFINITELY MORE COMPLEX THAN THAT. 150 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,160 SHE'S INFINITELY MORE SUBTLE, AND SHE IS INFINITELY 151 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:53,240 MORE OF A TRICKSY BITCH. 152 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,840 IT'S JUST "ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION TO HER?" 153 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,400 IF YOU'RE NOT, THAT'S FINE. READ IT AND HAVE FUN, 154 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:02,680 AND THEN SEND IT BACK TO THE LENDING LIBRARY. 155 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,600 IF YOU'RE PAYING ATTENTION, YOU GET A WHOLE LOT MORE. 156 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:07,800 LITTLE DETAILS. WHAT'S THAT LITTLE DETAIL OVER THERE? 157 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:09,800 PAY ATTENTION TO THAT AND THINK ABOUT IT, 158 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:13,840 AND THE WHOLE BOOK SKEWS ON DETAILS AND CLUES. 159 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:18,480 NARRATOR: SARAH PHELPS HAS ADAPTED 5 OF AGATHA'S WORKS. 160 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,040 PORTER: NEED TICKETS, PLEASE. NEED TICKETS. 161 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:23,120 NARRATOR: IN "THE ABC MURDERS," 162 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,240 LITTLE DETAILS AND CLUES DRIVE 163 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:27,800 AGATHA'S SOPHISTICATED PLOT. 164 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,200 JAMES: "THE ABC MURDERS" IS ACTUALLY AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY. 165 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:35,440 IT'S ONE OF THE FEW BOOKS, ACTUALLY, WHERE TO SOME EXTENT, 166 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:38,360 THE POTENTIAL MURDERER IS LIMITLESS. 167 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:41,960 NARRATOR: A SERIAL KILLER IS ON THE LOOSE. 168 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,120 THE MOOD IS DISTURBING 169 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,720 AND THE MURDERS BRUTAL. 170 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:51,000 IT'S NOT THE TRADITIONAL KIND OF LOCKED-ROOM MYSTERY 171 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:54,000 OR COUNTRY-HOUSE MURDER, WHERE, YOU KNOW, 172 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:56,200 THERE IS A LIMITED GROUP OF SUSPECTS. 173 00:08:57,720 --> 00:08:59,840 [DOG WHINES] 174 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:01,880 [CLANG] 175 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,640 VERY DEFINITELY NOT COZY. 176 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:07,120 NARRATOR: NEXT, 177 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,720 AGATHA'S IMAGINATION GETS DARKER. 178 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,120 WOMAN: SHE SAW BLOOD, SHE SAW GORE, 179 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:16,720 SHE SAW DEATH, AND SHE WASN'T AFRAID TO USE IT. 180 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,440 NARRATOR: AND HER LIFE HAS ITS OWN PLOT TWIST. 181 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,760 THOMPSON: WITHOUT THE DISAPPEARANCE, WOULD SHE 182 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:26,440 HAVE BECOME THE AGATHA CHRISTIE THAT WE NOW HAVE? 183 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,000 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGS] 184 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,640 NARRATOR: IN 1914, 185 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:39,520 AS BRITAIN'S TROOPS MARCHED INTO BATTLE... 186 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,840 AGATHA CHRISTIE TOOK HER FIRST STEPS INTO ADULT LIFE. 187 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:49,840 MATHEW: IT'S A VERY POIGNANT PICTURE FOR ME 188 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:52,200 BECAUSE, OF COURSE, I NEVER KNEW NIMA 189 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:54,840 IN THOSE YOUNGER DAYS, 190 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:57,360 AND I THINK IT DISPLAYS A PERSON 191 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:01,440 WHO PERHAPS HAD A DEGREE MORE INNOCENCE 192 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:06,120 AND JOIE DE VIVRE AT A VERY IMPORTANT STAGE OF HER LIFE. 193 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:10,760 PHELPS: WHAT IS FASCINATING TO ME IS 194 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:15,000 HOW HER VIEW OF THE WORLD IS SHAPED BY THE FIRST WORLD WAR. 195 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:19,360 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGS] 196 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,600 NARRATOR: THE FIRST WORLD WAR WAS AN OPPORTUNITY 197 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:27,480 FOR AGATHA TO EXPLORE THE POWER OF MEDICINE. 198 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:32,360 IN OCTOBER 1914, 199 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,480 SHE VOLUNTEERED TO BE A NURSE AT HER LOCAL HOSPITAL 200 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:38,120 IN TORQUAY. 201 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,360 PHELPS: SHE IS WATCHING MEDICINE CHANGE 202 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:44,480 SO RADICALLY AND SO FAST. 203 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:46,520 WE START THE FIRST WORLD WAR 204 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,320 AND WITH HAVING NO REAL IDEA AT ALL 205 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:51,600 ABOUT WHAT HEAVY ARTILLERY IS GOING TO DO TO 206 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:55,000 THE HUMAN BODY AND ALSO TO THE HUMAN MIND. 207 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,640 NARRATOR: BY EXPOSING HERSELF TO THE DARK REALITY OF WARFARE, 208 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:02,480 AGATHA BUILT A MIND BANK OF CHILLING EXPERIENCES. 209 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:07,520 IN 1917, 210 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,440 SHE QUALIFIED AS A DISPENSER, 211 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:12,600 AND HER MIND TURNED TO 212 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:15,480 THE POSSIBILITIES OF POISON. 213 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:17,840 PHELPS: I ALWAYS IMAGINE THAT EVERYTHING 214 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:19,880 FOR HER IS A GRAIN. 215 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:21,840 IN A GRAIN OF MORPHINE, WHICH IS THE DIFFERENCE 216 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:25,240 BETWEEN PAIN RELIEF AND DEATH, AND BALANCING EVERYTHING 217 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,640 ON THOSE TINY, TINY SCALES, 218 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:29,720 ONE GRAIN THIS WAY 219 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,480 IS PAIN RELIEF AND POSSIBLE LIFE; 220 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,000 ONE GRAIN TOO FAR IS DEATH. 221 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:39,640 NARRATOR: CARLA VALENTINE IS INVESTIGATING 222 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:43,600 HOW AGATHA CONCOCTED HER DARK METHODS OF MURDER. 223 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:48,600 SHE SAW BLOOD, SHE SAW GORE, 224 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:51,640 SHE SAW DEATH, AND SHE WASN'T AFRAID TO USE IT. 225 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:57,960 SHE IS VERY ACCURATE IN HER FORENSIC DESCRIPTIONS. 226 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:01,080 SHE TALKS ABOUT GUNS AND SILENCERS. 227 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,840 SHE KNOWS ABOUT BLOOD SPATTER ANALYSIS, 228 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:06,320 SHE KNEW ABOUT TRAJECTORIES, 229 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,000 SHE KNEW ABOUT ENTRY WOUNDS AND EXIT WOUNDS, 230 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,760 AND SO SHE USES THAT IN A LOT OF HER BOOKS. 231 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,240 NARRATOR: AGATHA'S FORENSIC ATTENTION TO DETAIL 232 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:18,000 PLAYS OUT MOST CLEARLY IN "DEATH ON THE NILE." 233 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:23,600 POIROT IS CRUISING THROUGH EGYPT 234 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,200 AND GETS EMBROILED IN A MURDEROUS LOVE TRIANGLE. 235 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:29,520 [KNOCK ON DOOR] POIROT: ENTRER. 236 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,200 AH, MY DEAR COLONEL. 237 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:34,600 WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING, N'EST-CE PAS? 238 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:37,360 I'M AFRAID SOMEONE'S BEEN SHOT. 239 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:40,600 WHO? 240 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:42,880 LINNET DOYLE, LAST NIGHT. 241 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,600 SHOT THROUGH THE HEAD. 242 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:47,640 IN "DEATH ON THE NILE," FOR EXAMPLE, 243 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:50,440 THE VICTIM HAS A SPECIFIC GUNSHOT WOUND. 244 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:52,760 MAN: THE PISTOL WAS HELD CLOSE AGAINST HER HEAD. 245 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:54,720 SEE, WHERE THE SKIN IS SQUASHED? 246 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:56,240 POIROT: OUI. 247 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:59,720 THERE WAS NO STRUGGLE. SHE WAS SHOT IN HER SLEEP. 248 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,840 THESE ARE SOME REALLY FANTASTIC EXAMPLES OF GUNSHOT WOUNDS, 249 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:09,880 AND YOU CAN SEE THERE'S A HUGE DIFFERENCE. 250 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:11,840 AN ENTRY WOUND TENDS TO BE QUITE SMALL, 251 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:14,120 AND THEN THE EXIT WILL BE A LOT BIGGER. 252 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,720 THERE'S ALSO A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE GUN BEING AWAY 253 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:19,720 FROM THE SKIN AND THE GUN BEING PLACED ON THE SKIN. 254 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:22,720 POIROT: BUT THE BULLET WOUND SHOWED SIGNS OF SCORCHING, AND 255 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:26,960 THAT IS TO SAY THE REVOLVER HAD BEEN PLACED AGAINST HER HEAD. 256 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,360 VALENTINE: AND AGATHA'S KNOWLEDGE OF THIS IS 257 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:32,960 THE THING THAT REALLY PUSHES THE PLOT FORWARD. 258 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:36,320 NARRATOR: AGATHA FOUND INSPIRATION FOR HER MURDERS 259 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:38,840 IN THE WORK OF A HOME OFFICE PATHOLOGIST 260 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:42,760 KNOWN AS THE FATHER OF FORENSICS. 261 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:44,760 IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, 262 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:48,600 SIR BERNARD SPILSBURY WAS A MEDIA CELEBRITY 263 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:51,000 WHOSE DISCOVERIES WERE SPLASHED 264 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:53,000 ACROSS THE NEWSPAPERS. 265 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,240 THIS IS A REALLY FANTASTIC FORENSIC SPECIMEN. 266 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:01,600 WHAT WE'VE GOT HERE IS A STOMACH, 267 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,520 AND THE LINING HERE, YOU CAN SEE HEMORRHAGES, 268 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,240 AND THAT'S BECAUSE THIS PERSON HAS BEEN POISONED. 269 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,120 BUT THE SPECIMEN ITSELF HAS BEEN PREPARED 270 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:12,480 BY SIR BERNARD SPILSBURY. 271 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:17,000 HE WAS A REALLY FAMOUS GOLDEN-ERA PATHOLOGIST. 272 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:19,840 SHE WOULD HAVE LOVED THE FACT 273 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,880 THAT HE WAS A REAL-LIFE SHERLOCK HOLMES. 274 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,480 HE WAS INVOLVED IN ALL THE FAMOUS CASES OF THE TIME: 275 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,720 THE BRIDES IN THE BATH, DR. CRIPPEN, 276 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:32,840 THE BRIGHTON TRUNK MURDERS, SO IT'S A NICE MARRIAGE 277 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:35,120 OF FACT AND FICTION. 278 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:39,080 NARRATOR: AGATHA STARTED WRITING IN 1916. 279 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:42,200 AFTER "THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES," 280 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:44,600 AN AGATHA CHRISTIE MURDER MYSTERY 281 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,600 WAS PUBLISHED EVERY YEAR. 282 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,600 OUR ACCESS TO AGATHA'S ARCHIVE 283 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,240 IS A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR 284 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:56,600 HER INSIGHTS IN HER WORDS. 285 00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:59,440 AGATHA ON TAPE: HOW AWFUL THE FIRST DAY IS ALWAYS, 286 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:04,000 WHEN YOU REALLY SIT DOWN TO START WRITING THE BOOK 287 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,080 THAT HAS LIVED IN YOUR MIND, 288 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,600 THAT'S HAD NOTES MADE FOR IT AND A SKELETON... 289 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:14,720 AND THE WHOLE THING IS THERE, LAID OUT, READY. 290 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:20,720 NARRATOR: BUT, ON DECEMBER THE 4TH, 1926, 291 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:24,640 AGATHA'S LIFE TOOK AN UNEXPECTED TWIST. 292 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,640 HER CAR WAS ABANDONED IN THE SURREY COUNTRYSIDE. 293 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:34,960 THE BEST-SELLING NOVELIST OF ALL TIME 294 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,600 HAD DISAPPEARED. 295 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:43,200 THOMPSON: IT STARTED QUITE SMALL IN THE PAPERS, 296 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,360 AND THEN IT SUDDENLY WENT MAMMOTH. 297 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,640 THE PAPERS WERE JUST COVERED IN IT. 298 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,760 IS SHE DISGUISED AS A MAN? IS SHE THIS? IS SHE DEAD? 299 00:15:55,360 --> 00:16:00,000 IT WAS...A MASSIVE, MASSIVE SENSATION. 300 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:05,640 NARRATOR: FOR 11 DAYS, 301 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,480 NOBODY KNEW WHERE AGATHA CHRISTIE HAD GONE. 302 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:11,480 WHAT WAS REALLY GOING ON IN AGATHA'S MIND? 303 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:15,880 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGS] 304 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,440 [BELLS PEALING] 305 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:23,000 NARRATOR: ON CHRISTMAS EVE, 1914, 306 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,000 AGATHA MILLER 307 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:28,320 BECAME AGATHA CHRISTIE. 308 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:31,760 MATHEW: SHE MET ARCHIE RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING 309 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,440 OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR. 310 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,360 SHE DECIDED SHE LOVED ARCHIE, SO, DESPITE THE FACT 311 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:40,080 THAT A WAR WAS STARTING, THEY GOT MARRIED, 312 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,720 AND HE WENT AWAY AND DID HIS BIT IN THE WAR. 313 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:47,440 THEN HE RETURNED, 314 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:50,200 AND THEY HADN'T GOT A LOT OF MONEY, 315 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:52,720 BUT THEY DID THE BEST THEY COULD. 316 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,480 UNTIL THAT STAGE, I THINK THEY WERE QUITE HAPPY. 317 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:00,320 AGATHA ON TAPE: I DON'T THINK THAT I REALLY 318 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:04,000 CONSIDERED MYSELF AS A BONA FIDE AUTHOR. 319 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:06,960 MARRIED WOMAN WAS A PROFESSION IN ITSELF, 320 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,520 AND IT WAS MY PROFESSION. 321 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:13,040 THAT WAS MY STATUS. THAT WAS MY OCCUPATION. 322 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,040 AS A SIDE LINE, I WROTE BOOKS. 323 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:20,320 NARRATOR: IN 1926, 324 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:22,880 AGATHA PUBLISHED A BOOK THAT WOULD TURN HER 325 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,240 INTO A HOUSEHOLD NAME. 326 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,640 MATHEW: THE LITERARY WORLD WAS READY TO RECEIVE HER. 327 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:35,240 SHE HAD WRITTEN THIS WONDERFUL BOOK 328 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:38,160 CALLED "THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD." 329 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:41,720 THE WORLD WAS HER OYSTER THEN, 330 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:43,720 AS FAR AS A CRIME WRITER 331 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,720 WAS CONCERNED, AND THIS WAS 332 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:48,760 THE PRECURSOR TO THE YEARS 333 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,720 WHICH WERE UNQUESTIONABLY THE UNHAPPIEST OF NIMA'S LIFE. 334 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:56,320 SO, IN APRIL 1926, HER MOTHER DIED. 335 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:00,240 WHAT SHE WAS CLINGING TO WAS THE THOUGHT THAT ARCHIE WOULD 336 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:04,880 COME TO THE HOUSE, AND THEY WERE GOING TO GO ON HOLIDAY TOGETHER. 337 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:07,440 AND WHAT HAPPENED WAS THAT ARCHIE CAME TO THE HOUSE 338 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,640 IN AUGUST 1926 AND SAID, "I'VE FALLEN IN LOVE 339 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:12,560 WITH ANOTHER WOMAN AND I'D LIKE A DIVORCE." 340 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:16,480 NARRATOR: ARCHIE HAD FALLEN IN LOVE 341 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,200 WITH A LADY CALLED NANCY NEELE. 342 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:23,000 SHE'S AGATHA CHRISTIE, SO WHAT DOES SHE DO? 343 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:25,000 SHE MAKES UP A PLOT. 344 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:30,680 IN HER PLOT, THERE'S A KIND OF DEVIOUS INNOCENCE 345 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,560 TO THIS DISAPPEARANCE THAT I THINK IS VERY TYPICAL OF HER. 346 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,800 SHE ARRIVED AT WHAT WAS THEN CALLED A HYDRO. 347 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,320 IT WAS LIKE A SPA 348 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,080 AND IS NOW THE OLD SWAN HOTEL. 349 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:46,720 SHE TURNED UP AT ABOUT 7:00 ON THE EVENING 350 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:49,280 OF SATURDAY, THE 4TH OF DECEMBER 351 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,800 AND THAT SHE SIGNED THE REGISTER, 352 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:54,240 CALLING HERSELF "TERESA NEELE," 353 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:56,760 I.E. THE SURNAME OF HER HUSBAND'S GIRLFRIEND, 354 00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:59,760 NANCY NEELE, AND THAT SHE TOOK A ROOM 355 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:02,400 FOR 5 GUINEAS A WEEK. 356 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,560 HARROGATE'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S A VERY LOVELY PLACE. 357 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:08,680 IT'S THE SORT OF PLACE 358 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,040 THAT AGATHA CHRISTIE WOULD DISAPPEAR TO-- 359 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:15,880 YOU KNOW, CLOISTERED, PROTECTED. 360 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,880 IT'S LIKE THE TORQUAY OF THE NORTH. 361 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,480 SHE WOULD HAVE FELT COMFORTABLE THERE. 362 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:26,560 NARRATOR: AS THE POLICE CONTINUED 363 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:30,000 THEIR NATIONWIDE SEARCH, NOBODY KNEW AGATHA 364 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:32,680 HAD FLED TO A SPA IN HARROGATE. 365 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:34,720 THOMPSON: I THINK, 366 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,440 WITHOUT THE DISAPPEARANCE, WOULD SHE 367 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,440 HAVE BECOME THE AGATHA CHRISTIE THAT WE NOW HAVE? 368 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:42,760 THIS IS THE GREAT IMPONDERABLE. 369 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,400 WOULD SHE HAVE WRITTEN THE BOOKS THAT SHE WROTE? 370 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:50,480 NARRATOR: NEARLY A CENTURY LATER, 371 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,440 THE MYSTERY BEHIND AGATHA'S DISAPPEARANCE 372 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,720 IS STILL HOTLY DEBATED. 373 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:00,000 MATHEW: SOMETHING DID HAPPEN IN HER MIND. 374 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:02,000 SHE WASN'T TRYING TO PUBLICIZE THE BOOK 375 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:04,000 "THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD," WHICH WAS 376 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:06,320 WHAT WAS GOING ON AT THE TIME. 377 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,680 IT WAS JUST THAT SHE WAS DESPERATE. 378 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:11,080 I THINK SHE WANTED TO SEE WHAT PEOPLE WOULD DO 379 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,920 AND WHAT PEOPLE WOULD SAY IN THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE; 380 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,000 HER ABSENCE, MOST SPECIFICALLY. 381 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:20,760 ALL OF HER BOOKS ARE ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE DO 382 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,720 WHEN CONFRONTED WITH AN ABSENCE OF LIFE. 383 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,440 THEY'RE MURDER MYSTERIES. 384 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:28,960 THOMPSON: IT WAS ALL ABOUT ARCHIE. 385 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,520 SHE WANTED TO GET HER HUSBAND BACK, 386 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:35,000 AND SHE TRIED EVERYTHING, PLEADING. 387 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:38,000 NOTHING HAD WORKED. HE WAS COMPLETELY OBDURATE. 388 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:40,640 NARRATOR: AFTER 11 DAYS, 389 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,680 AGATHA WAS FINALLY DISCOVERED. 390 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:47,320 SHE HAD MASTERED THE ART OF DECEPTION, 391 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:50,160 AND THE DISAPPEARANCE WOULD INFLUENCE THE WAY 392 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:53,680 SHE WORKED UP HER PLOTS FOR YEARS TO COME. 393 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,040 AGATHA ON TAPE: YES, I DO FIND THAT ONE'S FRIENDS 394 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,480 ARE CURIOUS ABOUT THE WAY ONE WORKS. 395 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,480 "WHAT IS YOUR METHOD?" THEY WANT TO KNOW. 396 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,720 I THINK THE REAL WORK IS DONE IN THINKING OUT THE DEVELOPMENT 397 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:10,080 OF YOUR STORY AND WORRYING ABOUT IT UNTIL IT COMES RIGHT. 398 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,160 THAT MAY TAKE QUITE A WHILE. 399 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,480 NARRATOR: AS SHE WEAVED TWISTS AND TURNS THROUGH HER PLOTS, 400 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:20,800 AGATHA ADDED THE MYSTERY TO HER MURDERS. 401 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,720 WOMAN: SHE ENJOYS THE TWISTS, 402 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:26,040 TWISTED PEOPLE, 403 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,720 TWISTED STORIES, 404 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,520 THEN FINALLY GIVES YOU A SERIES OF TWISTS 405 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:33,520 THAT YOU CAN'T BELIEVE, BUT YOU DO BELIEVE. 406 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:35,640 [FOOTSTEPS] 407 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:37,800 NARRATOR: "WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION" 408 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:40,640 IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THE WAY AGATHA 409 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:44,480 USES LIES TO KEEP AN AUDIENCE GUESSING. 410 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,320 MAN: LEONARD VOLE, YOU ARE CHARGED 411 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:53,000 ON INDICTMENT THAT YOU, ON THE 14TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 412 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:55,680 KILLED EMILY JANE FRENCH. 413 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:58,680 ARE YOU GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY? 414 00:21:58,720 --> 00:21:59,760 NOT GUILTY. 415 00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:01,720 THERE'S A SURFACE LEVEL 416 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,200 OF BRILLIANT PLOT-MAKING, 417 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:06,320 BUT FOR THE MOST PART, SHE'S TALKING ABOUT, 418 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:08,280 YOU KNOW, LAYERS AND LAYERS OF MENDACITY 419 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:10,720 AND BRILLIANT, BRILLIANT LYING. 420 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:12,160 BARRISTER: YOU SAID THERE WAS BLOOD ON BOTH CUFFS? 421 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:13,760 WOMAN: YES. BOTH CUFFS? 422 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:15,240 I TOLD YOU, AS THAT IS WHAT LEONARD SAID. 423 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:16,960 NO, MRS. HARVEY, YOU SAID, "HE TOLD ME 424 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,800 TO WASH THE CUFFS. THEY HAD BLOOD ON THEM." 425 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:20,880 DID YOU WASH BOTH CUFFS? I REMEMBER NOW. 426 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:22,760 IT WAS ONLY ONE CUFF I WASHED. 427 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:24,160 ANOTHER LIE, THEN? 428 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:26,240 SHE LOVES THE DISTURBING, 429 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,040 SHE LOVES TO PLAY SOMETHING THAT, UH, YOU THINK IS 430 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:31,400 ONE THING AND THEN IS REVEALED TO BE NOT. 431 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,200 PERHAPS YOUR MEMORY AS TO OTHER PARTS 432 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,000 OF YOUR STORY IS EQUALLY UNTRUSTWORTHY. 433 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:36,680 YOU ORIGINALLY TOLD THE POLICE THAT THE BLOOD 434 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:38,520 ON THE JACKET CAME FROM A CUT CAUSED 435 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:40,240 BY A SLIP WHEN CARVING HAM! 436 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:42,040 I SAID SO, YES, BUT IT WAS NOT TRUE. 437 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:44,240 MORE LIES. 438 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:46,560 BAILEY: IT'S THE ART OF MAKING US FALL IN LOVE WITH THE LIAR 439 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,200 AND NOT REALIZING THEY'RE LYING AND FEEL COMPLETELY BETRAYED 440 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,160 WHEN YOU DO DISCOVER THAT THEY ARE LYING, 441 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,400 THEY'RE SORT OF DAMAGED. 442 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,000 THE QUESTION THE JURY MUST ASK THEMSELVES 443 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,760 IS WERE YOU LYING THEN, OR ARE YOU LYING NOW?! 444 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,760 BAILEY: AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT KEEPS US, 445 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:07,400 FOR THE MOST PART, SORT OF SO INTRIGUED 446 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:09,480 BY HER NOVELS, 'CAUSE WE LOVE A GOOD LIAR. 447 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,240 NARRATOR: COMING UP... 448 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,480 THOMPSON: I THINK HER MIND SHIFTED FUNDAMENTALLY 449 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,200 INTO THAT OF, IF YOU LIKE, THE ONLOOKER. 450 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:22,720 NARRATOR: AGATHA'S CURIOSITY TAKES HER TO THE MIDDLE EAST. 451 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:27,280 THOMPSON: SHE SAID, "THAT'S WHEN I BECAME A WRITER." 452 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,000 NARRATOR: AND SHE DISCOVERS THE DARKEST CORNERS 453 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:32,520 OF THE HUMAN PSYCHE. 454 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,040 PHELPS: YOU ARE GOING TO TWIST ON THE PIN 455 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,640 THAT YOU'RE IMPALED UPON, BUT THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO 456 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:39,720 BECAUSE HERE IT COMES. 457 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:44,240 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGS] 458 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,400 NARRATOR: IN 1928, 459 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:51,560 AGATHA CHRISTIE'S INQUIRING MIND 460 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:53,720 BEGAN TO EXPLORE A PLACE 461 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,560 THAT WOULD INSPIRE SOME OF HER BEST WRITING, 462 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:58,720 THE MIDDLE EAST. 463 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,000 MATHEW: WHAT LIT THE BLUE TOUCH PAPER, SO TO SPEAK, 464 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,000 WAS HER ABILITY 465 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:07,720 TO FIND A NEW LIFE, 466 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:10,440 WHICH STARTED WITH A TRIP TO IRAQ. 467 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:15,000 AGATHA ON TAPE: I FELT, WELL, IT IS MY RISK, 468 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,920 BUT I BELIEVE IT IS WORTH TAKING A RISK. 469 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:23,520 I HAD HAD SO MUCH PUBLICITY 470 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:28,000 AND HAVE BEEN CAUSED SO MUCH MISERY BY IT 471 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:32,640 THAT I WANTED THINGS KEPT AS QUIETLY AS POSSIBLE. 472 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,320 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGS] 473 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,720 NARRATOR: AFTER THE DISAPPEARANCE, 474 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,720 AGATHA'S CRIME FICTION DRIED UP. 475 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,920 TO DISTRACT HERSELF FROM THE DEATH OF HER MOTHER 476 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,440 AND A DEVASTATING DIVORCE, 477 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,000 AGATHA TRAVELED THE WORLD. 478 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:01,080 MATHEW: SHE NOW FOUND HERSELF INVOLVED 479 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,480 IN AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORLD FAR AWAY FROM ENGLAND. 480 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,480 I THINK THEN, FOR THE FIRST TIME, 481 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:12,000 SHE FOUND PEOPLE WHO WERE KIND TO HER 482 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,240 AND INTERESTED IN HER AS A PERSON. 483 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:19,240 NARRATOR: AGATHA LOST HER HEART TO THE ANCIENT SITES 484 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:23,200 AND ARCHAEOLOGIST MAX MALLOWAN. 485 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,400 AGATHA ON TAPE: I WAS VERY HAPPY. 486 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:31,480 WE HAD BECOME INSTANT AND CLOSER FRIENDS THAN, 487 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:35,160 IT SEEMED TO ME, ANY FRIEND I HAD EVER HAD BEFORE. 488 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:40,400 I REALIZED HOW CLOSE OUR COMPANIONSHIP HAD BEEN, 489 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,320 HOW WE SEEMED TO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER 490 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,000 ALMOST BEFORE WE SPOKE. 491 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:50,400 MATHEW: HE WASN'T THE LIKELIEST CANDIDATE FOR MARRIAGE, 492 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,000 AS FAR AS NIMA WAS CONCERNED, BUT I THINK 493 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:56,760 IT WAS BORN OF PROBABLY BOTH THEIR NEEDS 494 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:00,160 TO HAVE SOMEONE WHO THEY COULD TRUST AROUND THEM 495 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,160 WHILST THEY PURSUED CAREERS 496 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:05,480 THAT WERE IN NEITHER CASE ORTHODOX, 497 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,720 AND SHE BEGAN TO REGAIN HER CONFIDENCE. 498 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:10,920 AGATHA ON TAPE: IT HAD NEVER OCCURRED TO ME 499 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:15,240 THAT MAX AND I WOULD BE OR EVER COULD BE ON THOSE TERMS. 500 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:18,080 WE WERE FRIENDS. 501 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:20,200 QUITE SUDDENLY, 502 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:22,240 I FELT THAT NOTHING IN THE WORLD 503 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,000 WOULD BE AS HAPPY 504 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,480 AND DELIGHTFUL AS BEING MARRIED TO HIM. 505 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:30,720 I FELT IT WAS APPROPRIATE THAT HER SECOND HUSBAND WAS 506 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,920 AN ARCHAEOLOGIST BECAUSE IT WAS LIKE AN EXCAVATION, 507 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,040 GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THIS LADY AND HER EXTRAORDINARY MIND. 508 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:43,400 NARRATOR: SURROUNDED BY ARABIAN WONDERS, 509 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:47,720 AGATHA CHANGED THE WAY SHE OBSERVED THE WORLD AROUND HER. 510 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,480 MATHEW: SHE BECAME AN EXPERT PHOTOGRAPHER 511 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:55,000 AND HELPED WITH THE PHOTOGRAPHING OF THE FINDS. 512 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,240 NARRATOR: FILMED BY AGATHA, 513 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:00,760 THIS FOOTAGE IS A RARE OPPORTUNITY 514 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:05,520 TO SEE THE WORLD THROUGH HER EYES. 515 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:09,480 THOMPSON: I THINK HER MIND SHIFTED FUNDAMENTALLY 516 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:12,040 INTO THAT OF, IF YOU LIKE, THE ONLOOKER. 517 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,800 JAMES: SHE WAS OBVIOUSLY INSPIRED BY ALL 518 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:19,920 OF HER SURROUNDINGS; I MEAN, YOU KNOW, A LOT 519 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:21,880 OF THE BOOKS ARE BASED AROUND HER TRAVELS. 520 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:24,240 THOMPSON: HER HUNGER FOR TRAVEL, 521 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:26,920 WHICH WASN'T JUST "LET ME GO FIRST-CLASS 522 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:29,080 AND SIT IN A HOTEL AND HAVE A COCKTAIL." 523 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,680 IT WAS GETTING STUCK IN THERE AND BEING 524 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,680 REALLY, REALLY INTERESTED IN THE COUNTRY SHE WENT TO, 525 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,880 AND I THINK THAT WAS VERY MUCH 526 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:40,480 KEY TO THE WAY HER MIND WORKED 527 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,200 AND HER SUBSEQUENT SUCCESS. 528 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:47,480 NARRATOR: AS AGATHA BROADENED HER HORIZONS, 529 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:50,720 HER SPIRIT WAS RENEWED 530 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,720 AND HER MIND AWOKEN. 531 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:57,400 THOMPSON: SHE SAID, "THAT'S WHEN I BECAME A WRITER." 532 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,160 NARRATOR: AGATHA'S IMAGINATION WAS NOW UNSTOPPABLE, 533 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:06,720 SO MUCH SO THAT HER EXPERIENCE 534 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:10,440 OF A TRIVIAL TRAIN DELAY WOULD BECOME IMMORTALIZED 535 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:13,520 IN ONE OF HER MOST POPULAR BOOKS. 536 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:17,880 AGATHA ON TAPE: I SUMMONED THE HOTEL CLERK 537 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:22,240 AND MADE HIM BOOK ME 538 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,200 A SEAT ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS 539 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:27,480 FOR 3 DAYS' TIME. 540 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,480 NARRATOR: IN 1931, 541 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:35,240 AGATHA TRAVELED FROM ISTANBUL 542 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:39,480 ON WHAT SHE DESCRIBED AS "THE TRAIN OF MY DREAMS"... 543 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:43,720 THE ORIENT EXPRESS. 544 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:50,480 AGATHA RECALLED THE JOURNEY IN A LETTER SHE SENT TO MAX: 545 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,520 "MY DARLING, WHAT A JOURNEY! 546 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:57,720 "STARTED OUT FROM ISTANBUL IN A VIOLENT THUNDERSTORM. 547 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:00,720 "WE WENT VERY SLOWLY DURING THE NIGHT, 548 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:04,680 AND ABOUT 3 A.M. STOPPED ALTOGETHER." 549 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:08,880 AFTER THE RAIN TURNED TO SNOW, 550 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:11,880 SHE WAS STRANDED FOR TWO DAYS. 551 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:18,720 IN 2017, AGATHA'S MOST FAMOUS BOOK 552 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:22,000 WAS FURTHER CELEBRATED ON THE SILVER SCREEN. 553 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,680 "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" 554 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:27,000 IS REMARKABLY SIMILAR TO AGATHA'S 555 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:29,000 OWN TROUBLED JOURNEY. 556 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:31,720 JAMES: THERE IS A TRAIN STUCK IN A SNOWDRIFT WITH THESE 557 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:34,000 13 CHARACTERS ON IT. 558 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:38,000 NARRATOR: BUT AGATHA GIVES THE STORY A PLOT TWIST. 559 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:41,640 JAMES: ONE OF THESE CHARACTERS ENDS UP DEAD, 560 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:44,760 AND POIROT IS OBVIOUSLY ON HAND TO DETECT IT. 561 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:47,400 POIROT: AS WE ARE SNOWBOUND, I HAVE ELECTED TO TAKE THE CASE 562 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:50,040 AND FIND FOR MY FRIEND, MONSIEUR BOUC, THE CRIMINAL. 563 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,320 AND WHY YOU? 564 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:54,800 MY NAME IS HERCULE POIROT, 565 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:57,560 AND I AM PROBABLY THE GREATEST DETECTIVE IN THE WORLD. 566 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,520 AGATHA CHRISTIE DEFINITELY HAD A VIEW OF RIGHT AND WRONG. 567 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,480 JAMES: INTERESTINGLY, I THINK SHE FELT THAT HUMAN NATURE 568 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:07,520 WAS SUCH THAT NEARLY ALL OF US 569 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,520 ACTUALLY COULD TURN OUR HANDS TO MURDER. 570 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,160 I THINK YOU SEE THAT IN THE BOOKS. 571 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:15,240 "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS," YOU KNOW, IS 572 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,800 THE PERFECT EXAMPLE, WHERE, TO SOME EXTENT, 573 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:22,000 ALL THE PARTICIPANTS ARE EQUALS, SO THE LIKELIHOOD IS THAT IT IS 574 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:26,480 ONE OF THESE 12 OR 13 CHARACTERS WHO'VE COMMITTED THE CRIME. 575 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,480 POIROT: IF THERE WAS A MURDER, 576 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,480 THEN THERE WAS A MURDERER. 577 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:35,000 THE MURDERER IS WITH US 578 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:38,720 ON THE TRAIN, NOW. 579 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,680 JAMES: IT IS EXTRAORDINARY HOW WELL SHE TRAVELS 580 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,720 AND HOW WELL SHE TRANSLATES THAT ALL BACK TO THESE STORIES. 581 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:48,200 SHE JUST HAD THE MOST WONDERFUL IMAGINATION. 582 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:55,720 NARRATOR: AGATHA'S WANDERLUST HELPED HER TO BUILD A NEW LIFE, 583 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:58,400 AND BY THE LATE 1930S, 584 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,680 ONCE AGAIN, HER DARK MIND WAS THRIVING. 585 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,320 DESPITE TRAVELING THE WORLD, 586 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:09,400 AGATHA'S MOST CHILLING MASTERPIECE 587 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,960 WAS INSPIRED BY BURGH ISLAND IN DEVON. 588 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:17,240 PHELPS: "AND THEN THERE WERE NONE" IS PUBLISHED 589 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:20,720 IN THE SUMMER OF 1939, A FEW SHORT WEEKS AWAY 590 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,320 FROM THE SECOND WORLD WAR BEING DECLARED, WHERE WE WERE GOING 591 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:27,080 TO BE PITCHED CATACLYSMICALLY INTO ANOTHER BLOODBATH. 592 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,720 NARRATOR: IN THE BOOK, 8 STRANGERS 593 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:33,720 HAVE BEEN INVITED TO STAY 594 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:36,960 ON AN ISOLATED ISLAND. 595 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,480 ACTION BEGETS ACTION BEGETS ACTION. 596 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:43,320 THERE'S A TERRIBLE FATE, AND IT'S COMING FOR YOU, 597 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:46,160 AND THERE IS NO MITIGATION. 598 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:49,640 YOU'RE GOING TO TWIST ON THE PIN THAT YOU'RE IMPALED UPON, 599 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:53,240 BUT THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO BECAUSE HERE IT COMES. 600 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,240 GET UP! 601 00:31:57,280 --> 00:31:59,240 GET UP! 602 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:03,960 PHELPS: IT'S LIKE BEING HELD IN THE WHITE EYE OF GOD. 603 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,960 IT IS CRUEL, IT IS UNFLINCHING, 604 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,520 IT IS BRUTAL, AND I LOVED IT. 605 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:11,720 LET'S JUST QUICKLY BREAK IT DOWN AS A PLOT. 606 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:14,000 IT LOOKS LIKE A PARLOR GAME: 607 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:16,400 THE MERCENARY, THE GENERAL, 608 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,800 THE JUDGE, THE SPINSTER, SCHOOLTEACHER, BUTLER. 609 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:21,920 BIT BY BIT, THE VENEERS ARE 610 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:23,720 STRIPPED AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE, AND THEY'RE 611 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:25,720 CONFRONTED WITH THE TERRIBLE THING THAT THEY'VE DONE. 612 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:27,240 MAN ON GRAMOPHONE: YOU ARE CHARGED WITH 613 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:29,240 THE FOLLOWING INDICTMENTS: 614 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,880 EDWARD GEORGE ARMSTRONG, 615 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:34,880 THAT YOU MURDERED LOUISA... 616 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:37,960 WHO IS THIS? I DON'T KNOW, SIR. 617 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,040 MAN ON GRAMOPHONE: EMILY CAROLINE BRENT, 618 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:43,200 THAT YOU MURDERED BEATRICE TAYLOR. 619 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:45,440 WHO IS THIS? WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS? 620 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:48,320 MAN ON GRAMOPHONE: WILLIAM HENRY BLORE, 621 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:52,280 THAT YOU DID MURDER JAMES STEVEN LANDOR... 622 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:54,480 NARRATOR: EACH OF THE STRANGERS 623 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:56,680 HAVE COMMITTED A MURDER 624 00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:58,960 AND ESCAPED JUSTICE. 625 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:00,960 PHELPS: YOU'D THINK TO YOURSELF THAT IF YOU KILLED SOMEBODY, 626 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:03,160 YOU'D EXPECT, YOU KNOW, THAT YOU'RE HAUNTED BY THIS. 627 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:05,720 MAN ON GRAMOPHONE: ...THAT YOU DID MURDER 21 MEN. 628 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,280 PHELPS: BUT NO, ALL THESE PEOPLE HAVE CARRIED ON FUNCTIONING 629 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:11,960 IN SOCIETY; THEY'VE GONE ON WITH LIVING, THEY'RE NOT BOTHERED. 630 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,720 NARRATOR: AGATHA WROTE PART OF THE NOVEL 631 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:17,000 WHEN SHE STAYED ON BURGH ISLAND. 632 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:19,000 [GATE CREAKING] 633 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:21,280 PHELPS: ON A WIND-SCOURED ROCK, 634 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,200 WHERE NOBODY CAN SEE THEM AND NO--AND THEY CAN'T SEE ANYBODY, 635 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:26,480 WHERE THEY'RE ENTIRELY ISOLATED, 636 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:29,480 AND THEY'RE DYING ONE BY ONE AND THEY KNOW THAT THEY 637 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:33,560 ARE GOING TO BE PICKED OFF, AND THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO. 638 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:35,640 "AND THEN THERE WERE NONE," IN LOTS OF WAYS, 639 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:37,760 IS THE DARKEST OF ALL HER NOVELS, 640 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,960 AND THE MORE YOU GET INTO IT, THE DARKER IT BECOMES. 641 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:44,880 IT IS A STORY OF WHAT LIES BEHIND GUILT, WHAT AMOUNTS 642 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:47,520 TO A CRIME, AND, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS JUSTICE. 643 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:49,720 I THINK THAT THERE IS JUSTICE AND THAT THERE IS 644 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:51,800 OBLITERATION FOR THE SHEER HELL OF IT. 645 00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:00,560 NARRATOR: AS AGATHA REACHED THE PEAK OF HER DARK POWERS, 646 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:04,440 THE OUTBREAK OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR THREATENED HER OUTPUT. 647 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:06,960 [AIR RAID SIREN] 648 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:15,400 [CLICK] 649 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,960 AGATHA ON TAPE: THE WAR YEARS DID NOT SEEM LIKE YEARS. 650 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,120 THEY WERE A NIGHTMARE, 651 00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:23,080 A BAD DREAM 652 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:25,160 IN WHICH REALITY STOPPED 653 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:27,920 AND THE NIGHTMARE TOOK OVER. 654 00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:35,560 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGS] 655 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,000 NARRATOR: AS BOMBS BATTERED LONDON, 656 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:43,160 AGATHA RETREATED TO A SAFE HAVEN 657 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,000 IN THE NORTH OF THE CITY. 658 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:48,840 THOMPSON: IN 1941, SHE ENDED UP 659 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:51,800 AT REALLY QUITE AN UNLIKELY PLACE-- 660 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:55,320 THIS MODERNIST BLOCK, THE ISOKON. 661 00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,360 SHE REALLY LOVED IT. 662 00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:02,400 SHE SAID TO MAX, "IT'S NOT BEAUTIFUL, 663 00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:05,400 "BUT WHENEVER I PASS THAT FUNNY OLD BLOCK 664 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,920 LIKE A WHITE SHIP, I THINK, OH, I WAS SO HAPPY THERE." 665 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,400 ON THE FACE OF IT, IT'S A SURPRISING BUILDING 666 00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:20,920 FOR AGATHA CHRISTIE TO HAVE LIVED IN. 667 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:23,600 YOU KNOW, COZY, CHINTZY AGATHA, YOU'D THINK, OH, 668 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:27,000 SHE'D HAVE A BIG ROOM WITH BIG, PLUSH CHAIRS 669 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:29,840 AND ALL THAT KIND OF THING, BUT, OF COURSE, 670 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,760 AGATHA WAS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT. 671 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:36,120 NARRATOR: AGATHA'S WARTIME LETTERS 672 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:38,120 ARE A UNIQUE INSIGHT 673 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:40,880 INTO THE WORKINGS OF HER MIND. 674 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:45,600 THOMPSON: SO THESE ARE A FEW LETTERS FROM HER TIME HERE. 675 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:49,360 THIS ONE THAT IS UNDATED WHEN SHE SAYS, 676 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:51,960 "I SHOULD HAVE THE GREATEST OBJECTION TO SIGNING 677 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:54,360 "THE ENCLOSED AGREEMENT, AS IT SEEMS TO BE FOR THE RENT OF AN 678 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:57,960 UNFURNISHED FLAT, THEREFORE NOT APPLICABLE TO ME AT ALL." 679 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:01,320 SO THE FACT THAT SHE'S GETTING THE RIGHT FLAT 680 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:03,440 AND GETTING IT FURNISHED THE WAY SHE WANTS IT, 681 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:05,520 AND THERE'S SOMETHING HERE ABOUT CARPET CLEANING 682 00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:07,600 AND THAT KIND OF THING. 683 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:11,840 SHE'S GOT THIS ABILITY TO COMPARTMENTALIZE. 684 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:15,440 IT SHOWS HOW SHE COULD DIVIDE HER ATTENTION 685 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,440 WITHOUT ANY TROUBLE WHATSOEVER. 686 00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:22,200 SHE COULD BE ON TOP OF SOMETHING DOMESTIC 687 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:26,120 AND THEN WRITE THESE RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF BOOKS. 688 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:31,760 JAMES: YOU KNOW, AT TIMES, SHE WAS WRITING 3 OR 4 BOOKS A YEAR. 689 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:35,840 I MEAN, THAT IS A PRETTY EXTRAORDINARY OUTPUT. 690 00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:38,160 YOU TALK TO ANY WRITER ABOUT TRYING TO COME UP 691 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:40,440 WITH THAT MUCH MATERIAL AND TO KEEP IT ORIGINAL, 692 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:42,440 KEEP IT FRESH, AND, YOU KNOW, THEY WOULD-- 693 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,440 THEY WOULD TAKE THEIR HAT OFF TO HER. 694 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:49,440 THOMPSON: IT'S ALMOST AS THOUGH THE WAR, 695 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:53,000 THE PRESSURE, THE FEAR OF DEATH IN THE AIR-- 696 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:57,880 WHICH IT ABSOLUTELY WAS-- FOCUSED HER. 697 00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:00,160 IT'S INSANE. 698 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:03,800 AGATHA ON TAPE: I DO REALIZE NOW, LOOKING BACK 699 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:07,800 OVER MY WAR OUTPUT, THAT I REALLY PRODUCED 700 00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:11,000 AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF STUFF DURING THOSE YEARS OF WAR. 701 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:13,680 THIS WAS IN ANTICIPATION 702 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:16,680 OF MY BEING KILLED IN THE RAIDS, 703 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:19,800 WHICH SEEMED TO ME, IN THE HIGHEST DEGREE, 704 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:22,160 LIKELY. 705 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:24,760 NARRATOR: DURING WORLD WAR II, 706 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,800 AGATHA'S POPULARITY SOARED. 707 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:32,520 PHELPS: SHE GOT A LARGER READING PUBLIC WHO WANTED SOMETHING; 708 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:35,120 SOMETHING FROM HER, WANTED SOMETHING FROM HER THAT WAS 709 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:38,040 GOING TO GIVE THEM A FEELING OF SECURITY, 710 00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:41,080 STABILITY, CLOSURE. 711 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:44,280 NARRATOR: AGATHA'S TALES OF CRIME AND PUNISHMENT 712 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:47,400 ALLOWED BLITZ-WEARY BRITONS TO LOSE THEMSELVES 713 00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:50,680 IN THE TWISTS AND TURNS OF HER PLOTS. 714 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:54,320 PHELPS: SHE WAS VERY AWARE OF AUDIENCES 715 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:57,480 WANTING SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN THIS NEW LANDSCAPE. 716 00:37:57,560 --> 00:38:00,160 NARRATOR: COMING UP... 717 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:02,560 JAMES: SHE HERSELF WAS INCREDIBLY SHY. 718 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,320 NARRATOR: AGATHA'S RETREAT FROM THE LIMELIGHT... 719 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:08,880 SHE DIDN'T LOVE THE PUBLIC ATTENTION AT ALL. 720 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:12,440 NARRATOR: REVEALS THE WOMAN BEHIND THE POPULAR MYTH. 721 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,640 SHE SHIELDED HERSELF WITH THAT IMAGE, 722 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:18,600 YOU KNOW, THE NICE OLD LADY 723 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:20,640 HAVING TEA WITH THE VICAR 724 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:23,960 AND ARSENIC IN THE CRUMPETS. 725 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:26,520 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGS] 726 00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:32,320 NARRATOR: AGATHA CHRISTIE IS 727 00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:34,800 THE BEST-SELLING NOVELIST OF ALL TIME. 728 00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:40,880 HER 66 CLASSIC MURDER MYSTERIES 729 00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:44,600 STILL LIVE ON TODAY. 730 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:48,000 SHE IS FAMOUSLY ONLY OUTSOLD BY SHAKESPEARE AND THE BIBLE. 731 00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:50,320 I MEAN, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THAT, 732 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:52,880 IT'S AN EXTRAORDINARY THING. 733 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:55,480 NARRATOR: BY THE 1950S, 734 00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:57,520 AS "THE MOUSETRAP" EMBARKED 735 00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:00,040 ON ITS RECORD-BREAKING WEST END RUN, 736 00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:02,040 AGATHA HAD ALREADY SOLD 737 00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:05,280 MILLIONS OF BOOKS. 738 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:09,280 SHE IS A LITERARY SENSATION. 739 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:11,960 BUT ON RARE PUBLIC APPEARANCES, 740 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:14,600 AGATHA REVEALED SHE WAS UNCOMFORTABLE 741 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:16,640 IN THE LIMELIGHT. 742 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,280 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGS] 743 00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:25,960 JAMES: SHE HERSELF WAS INCREDIBLY SHY. 744 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:29,520 SHE DIDN'T LOVE THE PUBLIC ATTENTION AT ALL. 745 00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:31,520 MRS. CHRISTIE, MAY I CONGRATULATE YOU 746 00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:33,640 ON THE RECORD PERFORMANCE PUT ON BY "THE MOUSETRAP"? 747 00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:36,640 DO YOU THINK IT THE BEST PLAY YOU'VE WRITTEN? 748 00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:39,120 I DON'T KNOW. OTHER PEOPLE SEEM TO, AT ANY RATE. 749 00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:41,760 I WAS WONDERING WHY "THE MOUSETRAP," RATHER 750 00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:44,640 THAN YOUR OTHER PLAYS, ACHIEVED THIS RECORD. 751 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:47,680 I DON'T KNOW. [ECHOES] 752 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:50,960 MATHEW: I THINK THE SHYNESS PROBABLY EMANATED 753 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,280 FROM THE UNHAPPY PERIOD OF HER LIFE 754 00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:55,960 WHEN SHE FELT SHE WAS 755 00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:59,600 HOUNDED BY THE MEDIA. 756 00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:02,840 JAMES: I ALWAYS THINK THERE ARE TWO AGATHA CHRISTIES. 757 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:08,880 THERE IS THE WORLD-FAMOUS ICON, THE NOVELIST, THE PLAYWRIGHT, 758 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:11,840 THEN THERE IS AGATHA CHRISTIE THE WOMAN. 759 00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:14,040 THOMPSON: SHE DID START TO BECOME 760 00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:17,400 THIS FAR MORE GUARDED PERSON IN MANY, MANY WAYS, 761 00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:21,000 AND SHE ALLOWED THE PERSONA 762 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:25,520 OF AGATHA CHRISTIE TO SORT OF DEVELOP. 763 00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:29,520 SHE USED IT TO PROTECT HER OWN PRIVATE LIFE, 764 00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:32,520 AS IT WERE, BUT I THINK SHE ALSO RECOGNIZED ITS VALUE 765 00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:36,080 AS A SELLING POINT; YOU KNOW, THE NICE OLD LADY 766 00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:39,920 HAVING TEA WITH THE VICAR AND ARSENIC IN THE CRUMPETS. 767 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:43,880 I THINK SHE SHIELDED HERSELF WITH THAT IMAGE. 768 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:48,440 NARRATOR: IN HER LATER YEARS, 769 00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:52,040 AGATHA PLOTTED HER OWN ESCAPE AND RETREATED TO GREENWAY, 770 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:55,640 HER PRIVATE HOLIDAY HOME IN DEVON. 771 00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:58,040 [BIRDS CHIRP] 772 00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:01,000 AGATHA ON TAPE: HOW BEAUTIFUL GREENWAY LOOKED 773 00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:03,080 IN ITS TANGLED BEAUTY. 774 00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:05,680 WE WERE THANKFUL TO BE TOGETHER 775 00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:08,640 AND, AS IT WERE, GENTLY TRYING OUT LIFE, 776 00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:11,000 TO START AGAIN. 777 00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:13,080 JAMES: SHE WAS PROBABLY HAPPIEST 778 00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:15,200 DOWN HERE AT GREENWAY IN, 779 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:17,120 AMONGST HER FRIENDS AND FAMILY. 780 00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:19,200 SHE WAS A VERY PRIVATE PERSON, 781 00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:22,360 AND THIS WAS THE PLACE SHE CAME TO RELAX. 782 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:24,480 MATHEW: I THINK GREENWAY WAS SO IMPORTANT TO HER 783 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:27,520 BECAUSE IT WAS FUN TIMES, 784 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:31,000 TIME TO ENJOY YOURSELF WITH YOUR FAMILY 785 00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:34,400 AND CLOSE FRIENDS AT A PLACE WHICH SHE DESCRIBED 786 00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:37,160 AS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN THE WORLD. 787 00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:40,160 NARRATOR: AS HER PACE OF LIFE SLOWED, 788 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:44,680 AGATHA'S THOUGHTS BEGAN TO TURN TO HER OWN MORTALITY. 789 00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:50,200 AGATHA ON TAPE: SUN OR WIND 790 00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:53,840 OR EVEN A NICE, HOT BREAKFAST AND THE SMELL OF COFFEE. 791 00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:57,440 YOU CAN'T WANT TO DIE WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE THAT. 792 00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:01,200 BUT I KNOW, OR BELIEVE, 793 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:04,760 THAT IT IS A GOOD AGE AT WHICH TO PASS FROM LIFE 794 00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:07,160 TO WHATEVER COMES NEXT. 795 00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:11,600 NARRATOR: WHILST AGATHA'S NOVELS FOCUSED 796 00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:14,320 ON THE COMPLEXITY OF DEATH, TO HER, 797 00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:17,440 THE ENDING OF LIFE WAS SIMPLER. 798 00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:20,840 AGATHA ON TAPE: PEOPLE ALWAYS SEEM VERY EMBARRASSED 799 00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:24,480 BY HAVING TO DISCUSS ANYTHING TO DO WITH DEATH. 800 00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:29,000 THE QUESTION OF DEATH NOWADAYS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT. 801 00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:34,960 NARRATOR: AGATHA DIED PEACEFULLY 802 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:37,960 ON THE 12TH OF JANUARY, 1976, 803 00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:40,560 AGED 85. 804 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:48,520 BUT, THROUGH HER NOVELS, 805 00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:50,760 SHORT STORIES, PLAYS, 806 00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:53,680 AND THE EXTRAORDINARY TREASURES OF HER ARCHIVE, 807 00:42:53,800 --> 00:42:57,400 HER LEGACY IS ENDLESS. 808 00:42:57,480 --> 00:43:00,960 THOMPSON: YOU CAN'T IMAGINE THE WORLD WITHOUT HER BOOKS. 809 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:03,360 NARRATOR: HER UNORTHODOX CHILDHOOD 810 00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:05,880 UNLEASHED HER IMAGINATION. 811 00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:09,120 THOMPSON: THE SIMPLICITY MEANS THAT A CHILD CAN READ THEM, 812 00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:11,800 BUT THE SIMPLICITY IS DECEPTIVE. 813 00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:14,920 THERE'S AN AWFUL LOT MORE BENEATH THE SURFACE. 814 00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:16,680 NARRATOR: SHE JOURNEYED 815 00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:19,000 INTO THE DARKEST CORNERS 816 00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:21,320 OF THE HUMAN PSYCHE. 817 00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:23,480 JAMES: SHE STARTED WRITING DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR. 818 00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:25,680 SHE FINISHED WRITING IN THE EARLY 1970S. 819 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:28,680 AND MOST OF THOSE BOOKS ARE SET 820 00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:31,040 IN THE TIME THAT THEY WERE WRITTEN. 821 00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:35,480 NARRATOR: THE BLOODY 20TH CENTURY, 822 00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:38,000 FILTERED THROUGH AGATHA'S POISON PEN 823 00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:40,440 ONTO THE PAGE. 824 00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:44,080 PHELPS: SHE WATCHES THE CENTURY GROW UP 825 00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:46,400 AND TOLD STORIES 826 00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:49,760 ABOUT THE TUMULTUOUS 20TH CENTURY 827 00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:53,000 AND ABOUT BRITAIN AND ABOUT WHO 828 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:55,800 WE WERE THEN AND WHO WE ARE NOW. 829 00:43:55,880 --> 00:43:57,800 NARRATOR: EVEN TODAY, 830 00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:00,880 AGATHA'S DARK MIND LIVES ON. 831 00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:04,120 JAMES: I FEAR IT MIGHT RUN IN THE CHRISTIE BLOOD 832 00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:07,880 TO THINK ABOUT DEATH, TO THINK ABOUT MURDER. 833 00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:10,480 I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY OTHER PEOPLE THINK THIS. 834 00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:12,640 MAYBE IT'S A UNIQUE TRAIT TO MY FAMILY. 835 00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:14,760 HOW WOULD YOU, 836 00:44:14,840 --> 00:44:18,000 IF YOU WERE SO MINDED, COMMIT THE PERFECT MURDER? 837 00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:22,160 ♪ ♪ 838 00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:23,400 [TYPEWRITER KEYS TAPPING] 839 00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:25,000 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGS] 840 00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:27,760 [TYPEWRITER KEYS TAPPING] 841 00:44:27,840 --> 00:44:29,360 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGING] 842 00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:34,360 [TYPEWRITER KEYS TAPPING] 843 00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:35,360 TYPEWRITER BELL DINGING] 844 00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:36,960 [TYPEWRITER KEYS TAPPING] 845 00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:38,000 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGING] 846 00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:40,520 ♪ ♪ 847 00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:42,760 [TYPEWRITER KEYS TAPPING] 848 00:44:42,840 --> 00:44:44,960 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGING] 849 00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:46,760 TYPEWRITER KEYS TAPPING] 850 00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:48,120 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGING] 851 00:44:49,200 --> 00:44:50,120 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGING]