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[train whistle blows]
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Downloaded from
YTS.MX
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[narrator]
Murder on the Orient Express,
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Death on the Nile,
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And Then There Were None.
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We've all read an
Agatha Christie novel
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
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or watched a TV adaptation.
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There's been a few
over the years.
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{\an8}I think she's probably one of
the most prolific novelists
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{\an8}the country's ever produced.
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{\an8}The only other books that
have sold more than hers
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{\an8}are Shakespeare's and the Bible.
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{\an8}She created a genre,
really, of crime writing
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that's still around and
people just love it.
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It is not always that simple.
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[woman screams]
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[narrator] In each
tantalizing mystery,
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Agatha's much loved characters,
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Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple,
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have astonished us with
their powers of deduction.
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Oh, yes.
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The little gray cells
have done well today.
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[narrator] But how
did a short Belgian
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and a little old lady
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become two of the most famous
detectives in the world?
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Nobody is beyond suspicion.
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It is impossible to conceal
anything from Hercule Poirot.
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[narrator] And how on
Earth did Agatha Christie
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come up with each
outrageously compelling plot?
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{\an8}She's the queen of crime
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{\an8}and her plotting is
absolutely fantastic.
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{\an8}She takes you by the hand,
she leads you into the maze,
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{\an8}somehow she brings
you out the other side
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and you're not exactly
sure where you've been,
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but you know you've
enjoyed the journey.
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[narrator] Now, 100 years
after the first Agatha Christie
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novel was published,
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and as a new Hollywood version of
Death on the Nile is released,
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we look back over a century,
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at ten of Agatha's
greatest works.
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With access to the family archive.
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I always think of
two Agatha Christies.
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There is Agatha Christie, the...
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{\an8}the kind of global figure,
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{\an8}and then there is what we in
our family referred to as Nema.
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She was a lovely,
warm, kind person.
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[narrator] We hear from
the great lady herself.
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[Christie] You see, I put
it all down to the fact
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that I never had any education.
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[narrator] And reveal the
life and secrets of an author
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who has entertained millions.
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You start believing one
set of things to be true
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and then she'll take you
on a very windy path,
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and at the very end they'll
nearly always be a reveal
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that you simply
had never expected.
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[narrator] This is a celebration
of a century of Agatha Christie.
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Agatha Christie is the world's
most influential crime writer
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from the classic drawing
room "it was him" scene,
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to the clueless
sidekick and detective.
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Red herrings and murder abound
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against a backdrop of
unassuming quaint charm.
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Was there much blood?
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{\an8}She kind of paved the way
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{\an8}for everything
that's happened since
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{\an8}with regards to
crime storytelling
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in theater and television
and film, I think.
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{\an8}And in shows, whether it's
Death in Paradise, or Vera.
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Midsomer Murders.
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Jonathan Creek.
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Line of Duty.
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We see her debt
absolutely everywhere.
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[narrator] But her extraordinary
impact on the world
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wouldn't have happened if it
hadn't been for her first book,
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The Mysterious
Affair at Styles,
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published 100 years ago,
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it's the tale of
a dastardly murder
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in an English country house.
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Exactly a century ago, a
mysterious unsolicited package
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arrived in Vigo Street
in Central London.
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Inside was a
manuscript for a novel
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that would mark the
beginning of a phenomena
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that would go on to
enthrall billions of people
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around the world.
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This was the first novel
by Agatha Christie.
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Four years earlier in
1916, the First World War
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had been raging in Europe.
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26 year old Agatha Christie
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had recently married
husband Archie,
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and he had gone to fight with
the Royal Flying Corps abroad.
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At home in Torquay, Agatha
joined the war effort,
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working with a nursing
corps at a local hospital.
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To pass the time she
would often write stories.
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In 2008, the Christie
family discovered
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unheard recordings of Agatha.
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This archive offers us
a fascinating insight.
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[Christie] People often ask me
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what made me take up writing.
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You see, I put it
all down to the fact
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that I never had any education,
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that I found myself
making up stories
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and acting the different parts
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and there's nothing like
boredom to make you write.
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[narrator] But one
evening, whilst reading
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detective stories with
her sister, Madge,
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a challenge was set.
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Agatha's sister
made a bet with her
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that she couldn't write,
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or certainly couldn't
get published a novel.
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[narrator] Agatha took
the bet seriously.
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[Christie] I'd finished
the first book of mine
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ever to be published,
The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
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[narrator] Agatha could
never have dreamt
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of how successful
she would become.
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And in particular,
in this first story
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with the creation of the
most prolific detective of all time.
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He was the enigmatic Belgian
with a fastidious dress sense
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and a head full of
little grey cells.
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The scarlet pimpernel.
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It is believed that
when this flower is open
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it is a sign of a prolonged
spell of the fine weather.
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It is seldom seen
open in this country.
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There were a lot of
Belgian refugees in Torquay
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at the time of the
First World War
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and that somewhere, somehow,
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she either saw
something or someone
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that put, as it were, the
visual clue into her head.
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[narrator] Hercule Poirot
appears in 33 novels,
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three plays, and more
than 50 short stories.
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Yet his first appearance in
The Mysterious Affair at Styles,
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is not particularly
complimentary.
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[Fraser] Poirot was
an extraordinary looking little man.
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He was hardly more than
five feet, four inches,
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but carried himself
with great dignity.
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His head was exactly
the shape of an egg,
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and he always perched
it a little on one side.
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His mustache was very
stiff and military.
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The neatness of his attire
was almost incredible,
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I believe a speck of dust
would have caused him more pain
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than a bullet wound.
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[narrator] And his appearance
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wasn't the only unfortunate
thing about him.
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This very unconventional hero
had some unexpected traits.
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Effete.
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Meticulous.
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Arrogant.
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Curious.
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Sexless.
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Infuriating.
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Tricky.
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[narrator] As well as
a deeply ironic name.
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Hercule is Agatha Christie's
joke, that I remember.
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She took a little
man with a bald head
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and a strange mustache,
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an effete foreigner,
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and gave him the most
masculine of names
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based on of course, Hercules.
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He's not a fully
rounded character.
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We don't know a
lot about his past.
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We don't know a lot about his
feelings and his thoughts.
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But that is sort of the point.
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His function in the book is to
be a kind of extended brain.
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It is his brain that matters.
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[narrator] Not only
did Agatha introduce us
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to a curious and instantly
memorable detective
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but she established a genre
that has survived a century,
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that of murder and betrayal
in sleepy English villages.
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[man screams]
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It's 100 years since
the publication
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of Agatha Christie's
groundbreaking first novel
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The Mysterious
Affair at Styles.
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The book that first introduced
us to Hercule Poirot.
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It is set in 1916 during the
middle of the First World War.
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Lieutenant Hastings,
an army officer
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has been injured fighting
on the Western Front.
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He's invited to
spend his sick leave
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at the beautiful manor
house, Styles Court
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by an old friend,
John Cavendish.
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[Fraser] Hastings is staying at Styles,
a very beautiful mansion.
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Had a very nice long driveway.
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{\an8}It really does tick
a lot of the boxes
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{\an8}that we might expect
from Agatha Christie.
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{\an8}She's good enough to
supply us with a floor plan
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which means that we really have to
think about the novel as a puzzle.
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[narrator] But all is
not well at Styles.
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John's stepmother,
Emily Inglethorp,
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has recently found a new,
somewhat younger, husband.
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Mr. Hastings, my husband.
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I'm delighted to meet
you lieutenant Hastings.
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[narrator] And the
rest of the family
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are suspicious of his motives.
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Watch that devil!
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The characters we see in Styles
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are probably the type of characters
who lots of people think
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are the archetypical Christie
sort of list of suspects
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and victims, because we have
upper middle class
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or upper class people here.
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But they're also people
who are very interested
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in things like hereditary, wealth,
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and how this is
gonna work for them.
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So lots of people who
might have a good reason
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to perhaps change the family
tree in a particular way.
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[narrator] As she was
writing her novel,
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Agatha was moved from
general nursing work
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to the more specialized pharmacy
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where she began to
learn about poisons.
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This would go on to feature
as the murder weapon
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in many of her stories and
Styles was no exception.
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When Mrs. Inglethorp
is found poisoned,
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Agatha uses her
specialist knowledge
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to cleverly develop the mystery.
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[exhales raggedly]
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She has really thought
through the way
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that a particular suspect
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might be able to administer
a fatal dose of this poison.
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{\an8}Hastings, being there
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{\an8}suggest calling in
an old friend of his
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whom he knows to
be in the vicinity
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who, wow, happens to be the
greatest detective on Earth.
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That's handy.
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[narrator]
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
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was also the moment when
Poirot acquired his sidekick.
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Hastings?
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Good Lord. Monsieur Poirot.
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It is, indeed, mon ami.
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{\an8}I played the role
of Captain Hastings
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{\an8}in the television series,
Agatha Christie's Poirot.
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I got a call from my agent
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and then they asked me
to go back subsequently
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to read with David Suchet,
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and we read a couple of scenes
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which seemed to go quite well
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and they asked me
to play the part.
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You know they're completely
opposite characters.
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Hastings is much more
worldly than Poirot.
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Poirot is supremely
intelligent and analytic
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and incredibly tidy and
meticulous about everything.
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Hastings is quite the opposite.
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You say to me that
Madame Inglethorp
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-ate very little for supper?
-Yes.
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One of those curious
little facts, mon ami.
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We put it here.
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{\an8}The detective needs two things.
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{\an8}He needs somebody
he can talk to,
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{\an8}so that he can explain what
his thought processes are,
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but also the author
needs that sidekick
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to misdirect the audience.
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We are possibly half a
step ahead of Hastings
249
00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:05,160
because he'll say
something like,
250
00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:07,840
"If you cannot see in
this room what I see
251
00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:09,440
my dear friend Hastings,
252
00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:11,760
then you are even more of
an imbecile than I thought."
253
00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:14,760
And of course we are
then tantalized by that.
254
00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,680
What is it he can see
that Hastings can't see?
255
00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:20,040
We flatter ourselves we're
cleverer than Hastings,
256
00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:21,280
but we still can't quite see it.
257
00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:25,120
[narrator] Over the years the
eccentric Belgian detective
258
00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:27,240
has appeared in dozens
of feature films
259
00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,120
with many great
actors taking the role
260
00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:33,520
including Peter Ustinov, Albert
Finney, and Kenneth Branagh.
261
00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:36,480
But it took over 70 years
for Poirot to make it
262
00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:37,920
onto the small screen
263
00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,320
and getting the very first
adaptation off the ground
264
00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:41,640
was no mean feat.
265
00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,920
{\an8}So my mum who was TV
producer, Pat Sandys,
266
00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,400
{\an8}and she had persuaded
the estate to allow her,
267
00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:49,760
my mum,
268
00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:50,880
my mum,
269
00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:52,520
to put Agatha on
the small screen,
270
00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,560
'cause Agatha in her lifetime
had said films or nothing.
271
00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,720
And mum always described
it as going to the board,
272
00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:00,880
the Christie board,
273
00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:02,840
and giving a sort of
an oral examination
274
00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:07,360
of her immense knowledge
of Agatha Christie.
275
00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,760
{\an8}[narrator] ITV's Poirot series
was first broadcast in 1989
276
00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,640
{\an8}and went on to run for a
staggering 70 episodes.
277
00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:20,560
Actor David Suchet played
Poirot in every one of them
278
00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,040
and for many he has
defined the role.
279
00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:26,840
{\an8}It's almost like something
weirdly magic is going on
280
00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,720
{\an8}because he seems to
me just to actually be
281
00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:33,600
the perfect
embodiment of Poirot.
282
00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:37,800
Whenever I read Agatha
Christie now and read a Poirot,
283
00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:38,840
I'm afraid I see David.
284
00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:41,720
[narrator] David Suchet's
approach to the role
285
00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:44,000
has become the
stuff of TV legend.
286
00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,960
He wore a fat suit and so
he had this custom-made
287
00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,840
{\an8}kind of wooden thing where he
just sort of leaned into it.
288
00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,360
So in between takes, he'd
just sort of sit there
289
00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:56,320
in this thing and lean and
have his cup of tea and stuff.
290
00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:58,760
It's well know that he
remains in character
291
00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:00,280
a lot of the time.
292
00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:02,800
[Horowitz] I don't think I ever spoke
to him on the set as himself.
293
00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:04,080
He was the character,
294
00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:06,520
when he was having lunch,
he was the character.
295
00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:08,760
{\an8}It was a kind of moment
of truth when we did
296
00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:10,320
{\an8}"Death in the Clouds,"
297
00:13:11,560 --> 00:13:13,280
some of which was
filmed in Paris,
298
00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:16,880
there was a big French crew,
as well as some English.
299
00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:18,080
David came out and said,
300
00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,240
"Ah bonjour, bonjour mes amis."
301
00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:23,360
And the first assistant
came over and said,
302
00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:24,960
"Ah, bonjour David,"
303
00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,680
and then started speaking French
304
00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,360
in a really fast Parisien way.
305
00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:33,480
[garbled imitation of French]
306
00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:34,880
And of course,
David didn't get it,
307
00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:36,840
'cause he doesn't
speak French that--
308
00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:38,240
quite as well
as you think he does.
309
00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:39,280
[chuckles]
310
00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:41,400
[narrator] The
introduction of Poirot
311
00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:43,560
and his relationship
with Hastings
312
00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:45,320
were not the only
seminal aspects
313
00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,080
of The Mysterious
Affair at Styles.
314
00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:49,880
There was one other
groundbreaking element
315
00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,000
that like the book itself
almost didn't happen.
316
00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:55,320
It was actually suggested
by the publishers.
317
00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,440
Madame et monsieur,
good evening.
318
00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,040
Originally Christie
had written the ending of
319
00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:02,120
Mysterious Affair at Styles
320
00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:03,560
to take place in a courtroom.
321
00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,880
At the suggestion
of her publisher
322
00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:09,880
she went back and rewrote
it to be a-- more of a--
323
00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:12,080
what we could think of as
a drawing room conclusion.
324
00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:15,320
Agatha Christie
invented this summing up
325
00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:18,560
where Poirot gathers
people together at the end
326
00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,200
and you know that the
criminal is in the room.
327
00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:23,640
Poirot goes round and says,
it could have been you,
328
00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:25,080
it could have been you,
it could have been you,
329
00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:26,400
it could have been you.
330
00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:29,320
And you keep on waiting
for the blow to fall.
331
00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:32,560
And yet Madame
Inglethorp ordered a fire
332
00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:33,880
to be lighted in her room.
333
00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:36,200
Why?
334
00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:37,880
Because she wanted
to burn something.
335
00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:40,520
Precisement Inspector Japp.
336
00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:42,640
It's not something that
a Scotland Yard detective
337
00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:44,640
would do, but he had
to put up with it
338
00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:47,760
because that was his
way of doing things.
339
00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:52,800
{\an8}And that became obviously
a staple of the genre
340
00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:54,040
{\an8}and obviously of her own work.
341
00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,760
[narrator] Agatha's
drawing room conclusion
342
00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:58,560
was impressively inventive.
343
00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:01,640
Not only was it adopted
by numerous crime writers
344
00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:03,280
but it's also in
the vast majority
345
00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:06,880
of murderers television dramas
like Death in Paradise.
346
00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:12,520
Following the success
of her first novel
347
00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,240
Agatha Christie wrote
four more books.
348
00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:19,200
By 1926, she was considered
a successful novelist.
349
00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:23,360
She and her husband, Archie,
moved into a brand new house
350
00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:26,200
in Sunningdale, Berkshire,
that they had called Styles,
351
00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:28,640
and they had a
daughter, Rosalind.
352
00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:30,480
It was the publication
of her next novel
353
00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:34,240
that established Agatha as
not only a popular author
354
00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:36,960
but also one who could
redefine the genre.
355
00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,520
It tells the tale of
another scandalous murder
356
00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:43,560
in a sleepy English village.
357
00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:47,400
But this one is a
murder with a twist.
358
00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:01,480
The Murder of Roger
Ackroyd is significant
359
00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,600
because it's Christie's
most daring crime mystery
360
00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:09,080
and its twist fundamentally
changed detective fiction forever.
361
00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:16,120
It does something really
audacious and unexpected.
362
00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:19,480
It is still one of the
most extraordinary twists
363
00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:20,560
in detective fiction.
364
00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:21,920
That was the book that
really set her up.
365
00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:23,000
That was the book
that made her name.
366
00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:24,760
I cannot say what it is
367
00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:26,160
about The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
368
00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:27,760
that makes this book unique.
369
00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:29,120
That is the problem here.
370
00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:32,800
[narrator] The story is
set in the quintessential
371
00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:35,400
English village
of King's Abbott.
372
00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:40,240
You've got the two
big country houses,
373
00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:41,960
one is Roger Ackroyd's,
374
00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:44,960
one belongs to a lady
called Mrs. Ferrars,
375
00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:47,080
and they've been having
a bit of a thing.
376
00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,760
And then it turns out that
Mrs. Ferrars has killed herself.
377
00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:53,080
And then it turns out Mrs.
Ferrars has killed herself
378
00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:54,760
because someone was
blackmailing her.
379
00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:57,920
[man] I will kill you!
380
00:16:58,000 --> 00:16:59,920
[narrator] Another
resident of King's Abbott
381
00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:01,360
turns out to be none other
382
00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:03,920
than the famous
detective Hercule Poirot,
383
00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,920
retired and without
his sidekick Hastings.
384
00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:09,920
I think Christie
realized pretty soon
385
00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,319
that actually she was quite
encumbered by Hastings.
386
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,800
So she was quite happy
to marry him off
387
00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:16,280
and send him to the Argentine.
388
00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:17,520
[phone ringing]
389
00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:18,680
[narrator] The Murder
of Roger Ackroyd
390
00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:20,560
is narrated in the first person
391
00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:22,880
by Poirot's neighbor,
Dr. Sheppard.
392
00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:24,000
Dr. Sheppard.
393
00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:28,520
Dr. Sheppard in the book,
plays the Hastings role.
394
00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:30,560
He accompanies Poirot,
395
00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,440
he knows a certain amount
of what Poirot is thinking.
396
00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:36,040
The friendship between
Poirot and Dr. Sheppard,
397
00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:38,720
who is so desperate to
help him solve the crime
398
00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:39,960
is a really interesting one
399
00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:41,720
particularly in light of what happens.
400
00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:44,600
And you've also got
Sheppard's sister, Caroline.
401
00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:46,800
I saw something quite
peculiar just now.
402
00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:47,840
[Sheppard] Really?
403
00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,000
She knows everything that's
going on in this village.
404
00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:52,360
He was talking to a girl.
405
00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:53,560
And if she doesn't know it
406
00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:55,000
she's jolly well gonna find out.
407
00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,560
[door thuds]
408
00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:01,920
No. The fewer people disturb
this room the better.
409
00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:10,400
[narrator] The incredible
twist at the end of the book
410
00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:13,880
was suggested to Agatha by
two very different people.
411
00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:15,440
Her sister, Madge's husband,
412
00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:17,720
and a member of the
Royal family, no less.
413
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:20,760
[Christie] The Murder
of Roger Ackroyd
414
00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,080
has been a very decided success,
415
00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,040
firstly of course
was having found
416
00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,400
an original twist for
a detective story slot.
417
00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:33,040
this which I must say,
I owe mostly
418
00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:35,400
to my brother-in-law's
chance remark,
419
00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:37,480
and as a matter of fact,
420
00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:40,200
the same idea though
in a different form
421
00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:43,360
was suggested to me
by no less a person
422
00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:45,680
than Lord Louis Mountbatten.
423
00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:47,880
The secret of Roger Ackroyd
424
00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:51,480
is in pretty much every
sentence of the book.
425
00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:55,440
And I read it a second
time simply to see
426
00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,240
if there was a single
sentence that was fake
427
00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:00,560
or which lied to me.
428
00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:02,120
And I can tell you, there isn't.
429
00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,400
I think it's a
brilliant book to reread
430
00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:08,280
because to see how she
has placed those clues
431
00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:09,360
is just exquisite.
432
00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:11,200
[glass shattering]
433
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:12,720
[narrator] Adapting the
book for television.
434
00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:13,920
Are you all right
Chief Inspector?
435
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,320
[narrator] Was not a challenge
for the faint-hearted.
436
00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,680
I've adapted many, many
Agatha Christie short stories and novels,
437
00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:21,680
and they each had
different challenges.
438
00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:23,520
Actually when you
deconstructed them,
439
00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:25,360
trying to reconstruct them again
440
00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:27,480
and nail them to the
screen, as it were,
441
00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:28,560
was often quite difficult.
442
00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:31,120
[narrator] With this book,
443
00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:32,880
it was impossible
to tell the story
444
00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:34,520
the way Agatha had intended.
445
00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,080
The TV adaptation
with David Suchet
446
00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:40,240
famously really didn't
use the plot twist
447
00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:42,720
and kind of actually
operated in a more
448
00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:44,360
traditional linear manner.
449
00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:47,400
[narrator] The Murder
of Roger Ackroyd
450
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,800
was published by Collins
in 1926 to great acclaim.
451
00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,360
But the book's central
twist was to be mirrored
452
00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:56,080
by an equally sensational twist
453
00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,440
in the life of Agatha Christie.
454
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:08,720
In 1926, Agatha Christie published
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd."
455
00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:11,960
The book was hailed as a triumph
456
00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:13,880
and propelled her
to superstardom.
457
00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,680
But her personal life
started to fall apart.
458
00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:20,200
{\an8}It's always seemed
odd to me that
459
00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:21,760
{\an8}The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
460
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,680
{\an8}comes out this great
triumph in 1926,
461
00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:27,440
because that was
the year her life
462
00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:29,080
went so spectacularly wrong.
463
00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,600
[narrator] Just after the
publication of Roger Ackroyd
464
00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:34,560
Agatha's mother died.
465
00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:38,040
She absolutely worshiped
her mother, Clara.
466
00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:41,040
This little woman but
with such a force.
467
00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:43,320
She was a perfect mother really.
468
00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:45,400
[narrator] While Agatha was
clearing the family house
469
00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:47,080
of her mother's belongings,
470
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,720
her husband Archie turned
up with devastating news.
471
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:52,760
He wanted a divorce.
472
00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:54,440
The sense of betrayal
was like a scene
473
00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:55,960
from one of her own novels.
474
00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:01,000
{\an8}Archie met someone else and...
475
00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:03,640
{\an8}and things just, you know,
fell to pieces.
476
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,160
{\an8}She must've been desperately low
477
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:10,400
{\an8}and so, I mean, Archie couldn't
have chosen a worse moment.
478
00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:11,640
[narrator]
This was the beginning
479
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,680
of an extraordinary series
of events in her personal life
480
00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:17,440
that would develop into
one of the most enduring
481
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,720
real-life mystery stories
of the 20th century.
482
00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,480
On the 3rd of December, 1926,
483
00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:28,440
the then 36 year-old Agatha
left her home in Sunningdale
484
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,200
said goodbye to her
sleeping daughter
485
00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,120
and then drove off
into the night.
486
00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:42,240
The next morning,
the vehicle was found abandoned
487
00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:45,640
on a hillside close to the
Silent Pool, in Shere, Surrey.
488
00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,760
Inside was a fur coat
and a driving license.
489
00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:53,840
Of Agatha Christie,
there was no sign.
490
00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:57,680
[Prichard] I mean the media
reaction to this was extraordinary.
491
00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,600
In some ways, this catapulted
her to another level of fame.
492
00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:02,240
It was a massive story.
493
00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:05,240
Thousands of people went around
the country searching for her.
494
00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:08,120
Lakes were dredged,
all those kinds of things.
495
00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:11,960
[narrator] After 11 days,
Agatha turned up
496
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:14,560
at a hotel in Harrogate.
497
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:16,320
She refused to speak
about the incident
498
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,720
and was put off doing publicity
for the rest of her life.
499
00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:23,400
Now exactly what happened
between her leaving Sunningdale
500
00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:25,440
and turning up in
Harrogate, no one knows.
501
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,720
It's actually a bigger
mystery than any of her books.
502
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:29,280
Throughout my life
I've always hoped
503
00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:30,520
that there is an envelope
504
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:32,240
that will be passed
down through the family
505
00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:34,480
and that one day I will get it.
506
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:36,440
I suspect there isn't
507
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:39,800
but I guess my father
may have it still. [laughs]
508
00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,480
And I may get it one time or
my sisters may get it. I don't know.
509
00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:45,360
[narrator] The Murder
of Roger Ackroyd
510
00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:49,280
is widely held to be the greatest crime
novel of all time.
511
00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:51,320
But Agatha was tiring of Poirot.
512
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:53,760
She began to look for a new hero
513
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:55,840
and was inspired by
one of the characters
514
00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:57,800
she had created in
Roger Ackroyd.
515
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:00,120
Why, Hercule.
516
00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:02,840
Madame Sheppard.
517
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,640
Isn't it terrible
about poor Parker?
518
00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:08,800
[narrator] The character
of Caroline Sheppard
519
00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,600
was one of the inspirations
behind Agatha's new
520
00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:12,840
literary detective,
521
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:14,960
and she first appeared
in her next novel.
522
00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,680
It's one of Agatha's
most well-known stories
523
00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:19,680
and tells a tale
of murder most foul
524
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:21,920
in another quiet
English village.
525
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:33,520
{\an8}[Hannah]
One thing I love about the novel,
526
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,280
{\an8}her enjoyment of the
story she's telling
527
00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:39,000
{\an8}leaps off every page.
528
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,880
[narrator] Agatha
Christie's new detective
529
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,760
was none other than
an elderly spinster,
530
00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:47,000
Miss Marple.
531
00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:49,960
-Nosy.
-Suspicious.
532
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:50,960
Skeptical.
533
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:52,320
Inquisitive.
534
00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:54,200
Self-effacing.
535
00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:55,800
Just granny-like.
536
00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,000
-Fluffy on the outside.
-Machiavellian.
537
00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:04,240
This brilliant, brilliant
concept of the little old lady
538
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:08,880
who's got a better brain than
the head of Scotland Yard.
539
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:12,800
[Christie] I just had the idea.
540
00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,080
An old spinster lady,
living in a village.
541
00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:19,160
The sort of old lady
who would have been
542
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,800
rather like some of my
grandmother's cronies.
543
00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:26,640
After her life had gone
so spectacularly wrong
544
00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:29,640
I think possibly
it was a comfort
545
00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:33,000
to recreate the women
of her childhood.
546
00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:36,640
[Christie] That she had this in
common with my grandmother,
547
00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:38,840
that although a completely
careful person,
548
00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:43,440
and she always expected the
worst of anyone and everything,
549
00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:46,960
and was, with almost
frightening accuracy,
550
00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:48,760
usually proved right.
551
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:51,560
Nothing goes past you
Miss Marple, does it?
552
00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:53,200
Hardly ever.
553
00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:58,000
[Prichard] She obviously was slightly
nosy, perhaps a little Agatha,
554
00:24:58,160 --> 00:24:59,920
you know, she noticed
what went on around her,
555
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,000
she's constantly popping
up from pruning her roses
556
00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:04,880
to notice whoever
it is walking past.
557
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,960
She has no life experience,
558
00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:09,280
she's never been married,
559
00:25:09,360 --> 00:25:10,280
she's never had children,
560
00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:13,560
she's never experienced
intense emotions
561
00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:16,360
of the kind that lead
one to commit murder
562
00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:17,880
but she can recognize them.
563
00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:21,360
[narrator] The book is set in
the quaint English village,
564
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:23,480
of St. Mary Mead.
565
00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:25,320
She never lived in
a village, Agatha,
566
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:26,480
not like St. Mary Mead,
567
00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:28,360
but she knew that life.
568
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,280
The details are very, very good.
569
00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:33,720
[narrator] There is one
resident the villagers despise,
570
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:35,880
Colonel Protheroe.
571
00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,720
I expect to see a full
set of parish accounts
572
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:40,920
or I'm gonna take
this matter further.
573
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:42,360
Yes? Is that quite clear?
574
00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:43,680
Everybody loathes him.
575
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:45,320
He's making enemies
left, right, and center.
576
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,480
So he's kinda got an
arrow saying "victim"
577
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:48,920
pointing to his head.
578
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,960
And then, "oh, hello,"
in the village
579
00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:56,400
there's this kind of glamorous
young man painting everybody.
580
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:58,440
I forgot you were coming.
581
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:00,880
The usual stuff going on there.
582
00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:04,680
Is he doing Mrs. Protheroe too?
583
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,440
You've also got this
beautiful kind of chorus
584
00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:12,320
transposed to the English home
counties, of the old ladies.
585
00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:15,240
Ms. Hartnell, Mrs. Price-Ridley,
Miss Weatherby, whatever,
586
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:17,000
they were completely in charge.
587
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:18,440
The vicar's terrified of them.
588
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:22,840
[narrator] The Colonel is
discovered in his study
589
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:24,200
shot in the head.
590
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,360
{\an8}There were some really
obvious suspects.
591
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,960
{\an8}In fact a couple of people who step
forward and said, actually I did this.
592
00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:34,080
A very bold piece of
misdirection as to the culprit,
593
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,000
but it comes down to a
beautiful simplicity in the end.
594
00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:40,000
[narrator] Miss Marple
first appeared on screen
595
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:44,360
32 years after Murder at the
Vicarage was first published.
596
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:46,480
She was played by
Margaret Rutherford
597
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:48,680
and Angela Lansbury
on the big screen.
598
00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:51,600
Then in 1984,
599
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,560
the BBC adapted all the
original Miss Marple stories,
600
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:56,640
starring Joan Hickson.
601
00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:00,840
[Bond] Joan Hickson who I
thought was wonderful.
602
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,400
{\an8}Joan wasn't a big enough
name to be in the films,
603
00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,040
but she did have a letter
from Agatha Christie saying,
604
00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:11,400
"you are my perfect
idea of Marple."
605
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,520
Oh. You look very shocked vicar.
Come and sit down.
606
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,200
{\an8}I remember watching Joan Hickson
thinking, she is so good.
607
00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:23,600
In the 21st century, ITV
brought back Miss Marple,
608
00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:26,640
first of all, with Geraldine McEwan,
and then with Julia McKenzie.
609
00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:30,040
Geraldine McEwan's
is much more broad.
610
00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:34,280
Julia McKenzie goes back to
that sort of original idea
611
00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:36,800
that actually she sits
around in the background
612
00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,240
and really observes and doesn't
draw attention to herself.
613
00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:44,560
[narrator] Miss Marple was an
instant hit with the public
614
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:48,080
both in the adaptations
and in the original novel.
615
00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:51,680
The post World War I
public were comforted
616
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,360
by this unconventional
matriarchal detective.
617
00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,880
By 1928 Agatha and Archie's
divorce was finalized.
618
00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:01,840
She was allowed to
keep his surname
619
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:03,920
but after the scandal
of her disappearance
620
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,200
she was constantly
hounded by the press.
621
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:09,960
Agatha left England and
headed east, to Baghdad.
622
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:13,640
She heard about that
part of the world
623
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:15,720
and decided that she'd
like to go there.
624
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:18,000
I think this sums up her
kind of adventurous spirit.
625
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:20,840
It's hard to imagine now,
but I think, you know,
626
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:25,520
I think you should-- is that how
brave she must've been
627
00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:29,000
at a time when a woman traveling
that far, you know, on her own
628
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:30,040
would have been very rare.
629
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:32,800
[narrator] In Iraq,
630
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:34,720
Agatha discovered a
love of archeology.
631
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,200
She returned to Iraq
for a second time
632
00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:41,520
and that's when she met a
dashing young archaeologist
633
00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:42,600
called Max Mallowan.
634
00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:46,600
They fell in love and as soon
as they got back to England
635
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:48,200
they were married.
636
00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:51,440
Throughout her travels
Agatha continued to write.
637
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:53,120
One book in particular
638
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:55,400
was influenced by
her trips to Baghdad.
639
00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:59,240
It was full of
glamor and intrigue
640
00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,880
and it would go on to inspire
two blockbuster Hollywood movies.
641
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,520
Because instead of
traveling by steamship,
642
00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:08,840
Agatha decided to
take the train.
643
00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:24,040
[train whistle trumpets]
644
00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:26,320
Agatha Christie's
most celebrated work
645
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:28,160
was published in 1934.
646
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:32,000
It's set on the
exotic Orient Express
647
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,720
the train that Agatha took
that connects East to West.
648
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:40,520
{\an8}It is the summit of her genius,
in many respects the...
649
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:44,760
{\an8}again, so hard to discuss it
without mentioning the solution.
650
00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,760
It has a claim to being
Christie's masterpiece.
651
00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:52,600
The solution is one
of the cleverest,
652
00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:55,680
if not the cleverest in the
whole of mystery fiction.
653
00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,920
[Horowitz] Hercule Poirot is called
back from Istanbul to England
654
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:01,120
and has to take a train.
655
00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,000
He manages to get a second
class ticket on board
656
00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:05,360
the famous Orient Express.
657
00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:07,640
[narrator] The Calais
coach on the train
658
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:09,760
is full of an eclectic
bunch of characters
659
00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:12,800
from princesses to
traveling salesmen.
660
00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:15,480
Where he meets an American
called Mr. Ratchett,
661
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:17,240
who asks him for his protection.
662
00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:21,080
He's been getting death threats
and Poirot turns him down.
663
00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:22,720
He says,
"I don't like your face."
664
00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,120
And then Ratchett's murdered.
665
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:27,200
Stabbed.
666
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,040
Multiple, multiple stab wounds.
667
00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:32,920
[narrator] The plot is
based on a true story.
668
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:36,880
In 1932, famous aviator
Charles Lindbergh's son
669
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:39,240
was kidnapped and then murdered.
670
00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:41,640
A tragic story that
Agatha Christie
671
00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:43,120
had most certainly read.
672
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:44,400
And there was also the case
673
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:45,880
that she found
herself on a train,
674
00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:47,800
that due to rain not snow,
675
00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:49,960
was caused to stop for
a great deal of time.
676
00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,800
So she put those two together
to create this masterpiece.
677
00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:57,320
The weather has stopped the
train, no one can escape.
678
00:30:57,400 --> 00:30:59,240
There's very much a
sense of, like, claustrophobia.
679
00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:02,080
[narrator] In the book,
Agatha cleverly traps
680
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:05,560
her cast of characters in
the enclosed environment
681
00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:07,280
of a train carriage.
682
00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:09,840
The detective Hercule
Poirot believes
683
00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:13,560
that the murderer is still
on the train with us.
684
00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:18,280
It becomes apparent that no
single one of the passengers
685
00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:19,760
can possibly have done it
686
00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:24,480
because everyone is alibied
by at least one other person.
687
00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:29,280
[narrator] Throughout the story the
reader is teased by the terrible kidnap
688
00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:31,560
and murder that happened
a couple of years before.
689
00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:34,920
This is a complex case that actually is
not as straightforward
690
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,760
as somebody killing just
for perhaps financial gain.
691
00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:42,360
And then Poirot unveils
this amazing solution
692
00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:44,440
that is the only one that
makes it all possible
693
00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:46,480
and yet we just did not see it
694
00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:48,440
and never would have seen
it in a million years.
695
00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,160
[narrator] The solution sees Poirot
facing an interesting dilemma
696
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:55,640
as the recently
murdered, Mr. Ratchett,
697
00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:57,000
was a very unpleasant man.
698
00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:58,640
He deserved to be executed...
699
00:31:58,720 --> 00:31:59,920
-...for what he did...
-No, no.
700
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:01,000
-...and the world knows...
-No.
701
00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:02,440
-...it was a travesty that he was not!
-No!
702
00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:04,960
How far do human beings
have the right to
703
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:10,200
bring about justice if legal
justice has let them down?
704
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:12,280
Which is a really,
really big question
705
00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:14,800
and the whole book
turns on that idea.
706
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:18,760
He puts forward two possible
solutions to the crime.
707
00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,880
One is an anonymous killer who
comes and goes in the night,
708
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,120
and the other is
the real killer.
709
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,400
And he allows the
police officer to decide
710
00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:29,160
which version he is going to use
711
00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:31,720
so the real killer
actually goes free.
712
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:35,200
[narrator] Murder on the Orient
Express has been made into
713
00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:37,280
two big budget feature films.
714
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,480
The most recent of these was
directed by Kenneth Branagh
715
00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:42,160
in 2015.
716
00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,520
He also starred as none
other than Hercule Poirot.
717
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:49,680
From the minute I saw
Kenneth Branagh being Poirot,
718
00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,120
I believed in him as Poirot.
719
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:54,920
[Dr. Aldridge]
Physically, a lot of people
720
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:56,600
were surprised by the mustache
721
00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:58,480
but also I think that people think
722
00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:01,360
of Poirot as being a bit sort of
perhaps shorter and stouter
723
00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:03,240
than Kenneth Branagh actually is.
724
00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,760
But he showed that you can
really rethink and reinvent
725
00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:07,200
the character in different ways.
726
00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:11,240
[narrator] But back in 1974,
director Sidney Lumet
727
00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:14,280
was the first to persuade
the greatest actors of the day
728
00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:16,320
to jump aboard his
epic production.
729
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:18,760
{\an8}I think Sidney Lumet
did us a huge favor
730
00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:20,640
{\an8}with
Murder on the Orient Express.
731
00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:23,360
{\an8}He kind of set up that genre
732
00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,240
{\an8}of the all star murder mystery.
733
00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:29,880
[narrator] Sydney Lumet's first
major signing was Sean Connery.
734
00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:32,080
[Akpabio] And as soon
as he got Sean Connery,
735
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:34,960
then everybody else kind
of said yes, and came.
736
00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:38,080
[narrator] Albert Finney's
one and only portrayal of Poirot,
737
00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:40,480
was thought to be closest
to Agatha's version,
738
00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:42,760
clever, egotistical, and vain.
739
00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:46,840
My first ever experience of
watching a Poirot in anything
740
00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:50,280
was Albert Finney in
Murder on the Orient Express
741
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:54,240
and I remember loving that
movie, absolutely loving it.
742
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:59,640
I think Albert Finney's Poirot
was more sort of robust,
743
00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:01,520
he was bigger, he was louder.
744
00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:05,640
[narrator] This was the only big screen
adaptation Agatha Christie saw
745
00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:08,120
when she made one of her
last public appearances
746
00:34:08,199 --> 00:34:10,679
at the premier in 1974.
747
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:14,120
She did indicate that she was
generally happy with Albert Finney.
748
00:34:14,199 --> 00:34:16,440
[narrator] But Agatha
was far from finished
749
00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:19,520
with either her hero
or exotic locations.
750
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:23,280
And her next novel, as celebrated as
The Orient Express,
751
00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:25,639
also took Hollywood by storm.
752
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:30,000
Despite her huge success
as a crime novelist
753
00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:33,320
Agatha Christie continued
to travel the world.
754
00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:36,679
It was even claimed she
became the first Western woman
755
00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:38,280
to stand up on a surfboard.
756
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:42,639
Back on dry land, Agatha
was a regular feature
757
00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:46,360
on her second husband, Max
Mallowan's archaeological digs.
758
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:49,280
{\an8}Archaeology is something that
pops up time and time again.
759
00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:52,120
{\an8}She felt particularly happy
on archaeological digs.
760
00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:54,440
[narrator]
It was on a trip to Egypt
761
00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:57,200
that she was inspired to
write another Poirot story.
762
00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:01,200
It was a tale of obsession
and crimes of passion
763
00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:03,280
set against the
stunning backdrop
764
00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:05,600
of the land of the pharaohs.
765
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:22,160
Death on the Nile is one
of Agatha's shortest books
766
00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:25,120
but the exotic setting
and well-drawn characters
767
00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:27,040
make it one of her most famous.
768
00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:31,400
{\an8}Death on the Nile was probably
the first Agatha Christie I ever read.
769
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:34,160
{\an8}I love Death on the Nile because I
grew up with Death on the Nile.
770
00:35:34,240 --> 00:35:37,440
{\an8}This is as good as it gets in
terms of detective fiction.
771
00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:39,880
[narrator] Death on the Nile
tells the story
772
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,400
of wealthy American
socialite, Linnet Doyle,
773
00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:44,720
who steals and marries
her best friend's lover.
774
00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:46,600
They then go on
honeymoon to Egypt.
775
00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:47,880
Right over here.
776
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:54,640
{\an8}First they're joined by the young man's
ex who is obsessed with him.
777
00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:55,640
Linnet.
778
00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:00,040
What a simply divine surprise.
779
00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:03,360
We just can't stop bumping
into each other, can we?
780
00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:05,880
Hello, Simon.
781
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:09,240
But there's something really--
the beating heart of that story,
782
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:10,640
the love triangle,
783
00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:15,000
that story of betrayal and
what you'll do for love
784
00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:16,640
is really powerful.
785
00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:22,600
[narrator] This is another
of Agatha's closed mysteries.
786
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,040
This time she traps
her characters
787
00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:27,960
on a seemingly tranquil
cruise down the Nile.
788
00:36:28,240 --> 00:36:31,960
In the course of this cruise,
there is an altercation.
789
00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:33,960
-Ms. De Bellefort!
-I'll shoot you like a dog!
790
00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:35,360
-Like the dirty dog you are!
-[gunshot]
791
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:36,920
-Ah!
-[screams]
792
00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:40,600
She shoots him in the leg.
793
00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:42,440
And while everybody
is crowding round
794
00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:45,480
and a fuss is being
made about this event...
795
00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:47,560
Linnet cops it.
796
00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:51,000
[narrator] Fortunately, one
of the fellow passengers
797
00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:53,560
is none other than
Hercule Poirot.
798
00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:56,960
{\an8}There are lot of people
who've got motives for Linnet
799
00:36:57,040 --> 00:36:58,920
{\an8}so it's a classic in that way,
800
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:03,720
but the solution does something
different and inventive.
801
00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:06,040
[narrator] Death on the Nile
802
00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:08,920
was first adapted for
the big screen in 1978.
803
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:12,400
Peter Ustinov made the first of
six big screen appearances as Poirot.
804
00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:17,120
His portrayal was thought to be
more lighthearted and bumbling.
805
00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:19,120
I love the Peter Ustinov Poirot.
806
00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:22,480
It's maybe a bit left-field,
807
00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:24,480
but I absolutely
adore him as Poirot.
808
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,320
The Ustinov Poirot is
much more sort of gentle,
809
00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:28,680
it's somebody who
you'd much rather have
810
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:30,120
at a dinner party.
811
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:32,640
And you can see a lot of
Peter Ustinov and his sort of--
812
00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:36,360
as famous raconteur, you can see
a lot of that in his version of Poirot.
813
00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:38,640
[narrator] Like
Murder on the Orient Express,
814
00:37:38,720 --> 00:37:40,880
this film attracted
an all-star cast.
815
00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:44,680
Sort of cast to the hilt, we'll get
Maggie Smith, we'll throw her in.
816
00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:46,520
We'll get Bette Davis.
817
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:49,240
So you again, got that very, um...
818
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:52,600
stellar quality to
the whole thing.
819
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:55,560
[narrator] In 2020 Kenneth
Branagh reprised his role
820
00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:58,880
as Poirot in another lavish
star-studded production.
821
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:01,120
We're incredibly
excited about the new
822
00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:04,680
feature film version
of Death on the Nile.
823
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:07,240
So we worked closely with
Michael Green who adapted the book
824
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:09,920
and also wrote
Murder on the Orient Express.
825
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:14,880
And Michael is fantastic
at taking the story,
826
00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:16,720
actually not changing
it very much,
827
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:18,480
but making it feel
really relevant to today.
828
00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:20,040
[Prichard]
We have an extraordinary cast.
829
00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:23,640
I mean, obviously you have
Ken Branagh as Poirot himself,
830
00:38:23,720 --> 00:38:25,840
but then you've got Gal Gadot,
you've got Armie Hammer,
831
00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:27,440
you got Emma Mackey,
832
00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:28,960
you've got all sorts of stars.
833
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:29,960
You've got Annette Bening.
834
00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:31,160
And the cast is younger
835
00:38:31,240 --> 00:38:33,600
and that leads to a
different atmosphere.
836
00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:35,040
I think fans will
enjoy it a lot.
837
00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:40,320
[narrator] As the
1930s drew to a close,
838
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:43,040
war clouds were once again
building over Europe.
839
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:47,760
Agatha, Max, and Rosalind
840
00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:49,920
were living in fashionable
Kensington, London.
841
00:38:51,240 --> 00:38:52,720
Agatha continued to write.
842
00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:57,840
Whenever she could, she would
escape to her childhood home
843
00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:00,640
of Ashfield, in Torquay, Devon.
844
00:39:00,720 --> 00:39:02,520
It was a place that
held fond memories.
845
00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:04,360
[Smith] And much of her
childhood was spent,
846
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:06,880
{\an8}you know, sort of like,
around Ansteys Cove
847
00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:12,320
{\an8}and Meadfoot Beach doing all the things
that children would enjoy doing.
848
00:39:12,720 --> 00:39:15,720
Her childhood was probably
the happiest time of her life.
849
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:20,080
[narrator] Agatha's siblings
were much older than her
850
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:23,160
so she spent most of her early
life alone with her mother.
851
00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:30,040
{\an8}Mother had quite strong
Christian science beliefs for a while.
852
00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:35,400
And one of her very
strong instructions
853
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:40,240
was that Agatha must
not be taught to read.
854
00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:43,320
She lived in her imagination
855
00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:47,080
and she created worlds
and games for herself.
856
00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,320
She also famously
didn't attend school
857
00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:52,400
and her mother didn't
want her to read
858
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:53,400
until she was seven or eight,
859
00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:55,880
but she secretly
taught herself to read
860
00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:58,880
and then kind of I think, spent
most of her time self-educating.
861
00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:00,800
[Christie]
I never had any education.
862
00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:02,840
Apart from being taught
a little arithmetic,
863
00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:06,240
I've had no lessons
to speak of at all.
864
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:08,120
But I found myself
making up stories,
865
00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:10,600
and acting the different parts.
866
00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:12,320
[narrator]
Her childhood in Ashfield
867
00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:14,880
had laid the foundations for
her career as a novelist.
868
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:19,360
As an adult, Devon continued
to spark her imagination,
869
00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:22,360
particularly a hotel
she would often visit
870
00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:23,640
further along the coast.
871
00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:28,280
It, in reality, is actually
accessible at low tide
872
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:29,480
you can walk across the beach
873
00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:31,440
but then at high
tide it gets cut off.
874
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:33,800
[narrator] This is Burgh Island
875
00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:35,400
and it was to be the inspiration
876
00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:38,400
for the most successful
mystery story of all time.
877
00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:43,440
It's a dark
psychological thriller
878
00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:46,800
set on an island from
which there's no escape.
879
00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:55,400
[thunder rumbling]
880
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:57,360
I mean, if I was gonna
put my list of three
881
00:40:57,440 --> 00:40:59,880
greatest murder
mysteries ever written,
882
00:40:59,960 --> 00:41:01,560
I think it'll almost
certainly be on it.
883
00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:06,000
It's an absolutely kind
of irresistible formula
884
00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:07,760
and it doesn't feature Poirot,
885
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:09,520
it doesn't feature Miss Marple,
886
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:11,880
but it came out of her mind.
887
00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:14,600
[Christie] I wrote the book
888
00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:17,200
but it was so enormously
difficult to do.
889
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:19,400
The idea fascinated.
890
00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:22,400
And it is a very difficult
technical accomplishment.
891
00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:27,600
I wrote the book and I was
pleased with what I had made of it.
892
00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:31,480
It was clear, straightforward,
quite baffling,
893
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:35,840
yet had a perfectly sound
and reasonable explanation.
894
00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:37,840
[narrator]
And Then There Were None
895
00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:39,840
is another Christie
closed mystery.
896
00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:44,240
It's 1939 and Europe
teeters on the brink of war.
897
00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:47,760
Ten strangers are
invited to Soldier Island
898
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:50,440
an isolated rock
on the Devon coast.
899
00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:52,360
A group of people who
do not know each other,
900
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:55,880
have all been invited for
a sort of a weekend party
901
00:41:55,960 --> 00:41:58,200
by a man called U.N. Owen.
902
00:41:58,280 --> 00:41:59,520
[Man on phonograph]
You are charged
903
00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:01,000
with the following indictments.
904
00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:03,720
[Horowitz] And on the first night,
a phonograph is played.
905
00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:06,160
[phonograph] Edward George Armstrong,
that you murdered
906
00:42:06,240 --> 00:42:07,880
-Louisa May Clees.
-Who is this?
907
00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:11,560
And a voice accuses them all
of having committed a murder.
908
00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:14,680
They've all killed somebody,
so this is payback.
909
00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:18,080
{\an8}One by one the
guests are murdered.
910
00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:21,920
[narrator] With no Poirot
and no Marple to help them
911
00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:25,080
the guests try to work
out who the killer is.
912
00:42:25,160 --> 00:42:27,760
[breathing heavily]
He's dead.
913
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:30,680
It's this brilliant,
brilliant unraveling.
914
00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:32,040
What does seem to be clear
915
00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:33,520
is that there's no
one else on the island
916
00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:36,840
so surely the murderer must
be one of these ten people.
917
00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:38,360
There is no getting away.
918
00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:41,280
There is no little boat, that's
mysteriously disappeared,
919
00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:43,520
so they can't make a
getaway to the mainland.
920
00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:45,200
They're killed off one by one,
921
00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:48,280
according to the nursery
rhyme that's hung on the wall
922
00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:50,760
of all the bedrooms
of these poor souls.
923
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:54,000
[narrator] This was
another first for Agatha,
924
00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:58,120
the use of childish innocence
in a dark and sinister way.
925
00:42:58,200 --> 00:42:59,720
This is a trope that's been used
926
00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:02,000
in countless Hollywood
blockbusters,
927
00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:04,320
from The Shining to The Exorcist.
928
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:06,480
It's like a doll in a
horror film or something.
929
00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:08,440
It takes the absolute innocence,
930
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:11,360
the childlike innocence
of the nursery rhyme
931
00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:14,960
and utterly subverts it
to the cause of murder.
932
00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:17,160
So you get, "One,
Two, Buckle My Shoe,"
933
00:43:17,240 --> 00:43:19,560
"Five Little Pigs,"
"The Mouse Trap," and,
934
00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:22,200
"And Then There Were None."
935
00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:25,040
Seven little soldiers
chopping up sticks
936
00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:27,600
one chopped himself in half
and then there was six.
937
00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:29,400
[narrator]
And Then There Were None
938
00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:31,160
has been adapted more than
any other Christie story.
939
00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:35,600
In 2015, Mammoth Screen and
the Agatha Christie estate
940
00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:38,920
teamed up to produce a huge
scale production for the BBC
941
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,840
to celebrate the 125th
anniversary of Agatha's birth.
942
00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:47,400
[Timmer] It was an amazing
project to, you know, to start with.
943
00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:49,720
{\an8}It's been so influential,
944
00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:53,040
{\an8}so many slasher films have been,
945
00:43:53,120 --> 00:43:55,920
{\an8}you know, you wouldn't
have any number of
946
00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:58,440
Nightmare on Elm Street,
Halloween, I think,
947
00:43:58,520 --> 00:43:59,680
without
And Then There Were None.
948
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:01,080
It's her bleakest book,
949
00:44:01,160 --> 00:44:02,600
kind of brilliantly bleak.
950
00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:05,040
It doesn't pull any punches
951
00:44:05,120 --> 00:44:07,560
and it's just a real tour de force.
952
00:44:09,400 --> 00:44:12,560
Agatha Christie was this kind
of unassuming, as you see,
953
00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:13,600
a middle-class lady,
954
00:44:13,680 --> 00:44:16,640
she knew about...
955
00:44:16,720 --> 00:44:18,640
extensively about murder,
956
00:44:18,720 --> 00:44:21,560
and you have to wonder
how and why. [laughs]
957
00:44:21,640 --> 00:44:23,160
I think she was a dark horse.
958
00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:26,640
[narrator]
By 1938, Agatha Christie
959
00:44:26,720 --> 00:44:29,000
was a hugely successful author.
960
00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:31,400
She sold her childhood
home of Ashfield
961
00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:33,760
and bought a new property
in Devon called Greenway.
962
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:36,840
{\an8}And she looked at it
from the river one day
963
00:44:36,920 --> 00:44:39,280
{\an8}and really did declare it, the
loveliest place in the world.
964
00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:44,480
It's somewhere where she could
very much be Mrs. Mallowan
965
00:44:44,560 --> 00:44:45,880
as well as Agatha Christie,
966
00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:49,480
so without being known
as that famous author.
967
00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:53,640
[Thompson] I mean, it's just magical,
magical. An enchanted place.
968
00:44:53,720 --> 00:44:56,840
But it was also a place
where she could
969
00:44:56,920 --> 00:44:59,800
{\an8}just withdraw from the world.
970
00:45:01,880 --> 00:45:03,280
[narrator] But her
idyllic life at Greenway
971
00:45:03,360 --> 00:45:05,360
was about to come
to a jarring halt.
972
00:45:07,240 --> 00:45:08,560
The Second World War began
973
00:45:08,840 --> 00:45:12,120
and the house was requisitioned
by the American Navy.
974
00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:14,120
Agatha braved the
bombing out in London.
975
00:45:18,360 --> 00:45:21,760
[Prichard] Pretty much no part of London
was untouched by bombs.
976
00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:23,560
You must've felt the fear.
977
00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:25,120
It must've been a very
strange existence.
978
00:45:29,720 --> 00:45:32,600
[narrator] Despite the constant air
raids, Agatha continued to write.
979
00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:36,680
[Christie]
I never found any difficulty
980
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:38,480
writing during the war.
981
00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:41,720
I had written two books
during the first years,
982
00:45:43,400 --> 00:45:47,000
this was in anticipation of
my being killed in the raids.
983
00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:51,760
It seemed to me in the
highest degree, likely.
984
00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:55,040
[narrator] Then in 1942,
985
00:45:55,120 --> 00:45:57,400
she published an
Hercule Poirot novel
986
00:45:57,480 --> 00:45:59,960
that was very different
and ingeniously clever.
987
00:46:00,480 --> 00:46:03,640
The murder itself happened
in the distant past.
988
00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:07,880
[insect buzzing]
989
00:46:14,200 --> 00:46:16,560
{\an8}Of all Agatha Christie's books
990
00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:19,480
{\an8}I think it is fair to say
that Five Little Pigs
991
00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:23,200
has by far the most
memorable murder.
992
00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:27,600
{\an8}Very few Christie novels have
that kind of tunnel-visioned
993
00:46:27,680 --> 00:46:29,720
{\an8}focused, constrained structure,
994
00:46:29,800 --> 00:46:34,200
so that, even aside from
everything else it does,
995
00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:36,920
that makes it a quite
unique Christie novel.
996
00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:39,880
[narrator]
Although Five Little Pigs
997
00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:42,000
was her 25th Poirot story,
998
00:46:42,120 --> 00:46:43,920
it was not a
conventional Christie.
999
00:46:44,520 --> 00:46:47,480
The murder took place
16 years earlier.
1000
00:46:47,560 --> 00:46:49,960
So how would the famous
detective find his clues?
1001
00:46:50,600 --> 00:46:54,440
The murder in question was
that of artist Amyas Crale,
1002
00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:58,000
whose wife Caroline Crale,
was convicted of his murder.
1003
00:46:58,400 --> 00:47:01,800
She protested her innocence,
but then died in prison.
1004
00:47:01,880 --> 00:47:05,440
The daughter, Carla, goes
to Hercule Poirot and says,
1005
00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:07,040
"I don't think my
mother did it."
1006
00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:09,880
And my mother was...
1007
00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:12,480
-Caroline, Crale.
-Caroline.
1008
00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:13,960
[narrator] The plot is
cleverly constructed
1009
00:47:14,040 --> 00:47:15,800
from a series of five interviews
1010
00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:17,800
with the prime
suspects in the case,
1011
00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:19,160
dubbed the five little pigs.
1012
00:47:19,240 --> 00:47:23,360
And of course they all have
something slightly different to say.
1013
00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:25,400
Five very well-drawn characters.
1014
00:47:25,960 --> 00:47:26,960
[narrator]
When she wrote the book,
1015
00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:29,320
Agatha was again doing war work
1016
00:47:29,400 --> 00:47:31,720
at the pharmacy at
University College Hospital.
1017
00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:33,840
Elsa, you should have a sniff.
1018
00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:35,760
-Ugh!
-[narrator] So her choice
1019
00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:36,760
of murder weapon,
1020
00:47:36,840 --> 00:47:39,400
the poison coniine
is no coincidence.
1021
00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:40,720
I've never heard of this.
1022
00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:43,560
It's distilled from the
flowers of the spotted hemlock.
1023
00:47:45,240 --> 00:47:46,960
[narrator] Agatha was
writing about what she knew
1024
00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:52,080
not only professionally,
but also personally.
1025
00:47:52,160 --> 00:47:54,840
The location of the
story is unmistakable.
1026
00:47:54,920 --> 00:47:57,960
[Thompson] She has a murder at
what they call "The Battery"
1027
00:47:58,040 --> 00:47:59,920
and that's where he dies.
1028
00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:01,800
And she describes
1029
00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:04,960
you know it from the surround
1030
00:48:05,040 --> 00:48:08,080
the way she describes the river
and all that kind of thing.
1031
00:48:08,160 --> 00:48:10,920
[narrator] The setting was
her own home, Greenway.
1032
00:48:13,520 --> 00:48:16,760
Christie peppers the story
with red herrings and clues.
1033
00:48:18,200 --> 00:48:20,640
[Horowitz] And Amyas Crale,
almost his last words are,
1034
00:48:20,720 --> 00:48:23,400
as he drinks his beer,
"everything tastes foul today," he says.
1035
00:48:23,480 --> 00:48:24,880
Everything tastes foul today.
1036
00:48:25,840 --> 00:48:28,320
And we assume that he's
talking about one thing
1037
00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:29,880
but actually he's
talking about another
1038
00:48:29,960 --> 00:48:31,160
and that's one of the
tricks in the book
1039
00:48:31,240 --> 00:48:32,200
that make it such a pleasure.
1040
00:48:33,080 --> 00:48:34,800
Bloody rheumatism.
1041
00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:38,480
[Elsa] Then the bell sounded for lunch
and Meredith came to fetch me.
1042
00:48:38,680 --> 00:48:40,040
So we left him...
1043
00:48:41,520 --> 00:48:43,040
to die alone.
1044
00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:46,480
[pigeons flying away]
1045
00:48:46,720 --> 00:48:47,720
[Caroline] Amyas!
1046
00:48:48,240 --> 00:48:51,360
It is a brilliant
piece of construction
1047
00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:54,800
the way the five different versions of
events come together,
1048
00:48:54,880 --> 00:48:58,440
and Poirot works out from what
was said and what was seen,
1049
00:48:58,520 --> 00:49:02,320
and particularly what was on
the look on the artist's face
1050
00:49:02,400 --> 00:49:03,720
just before he died.
1051
00:49:04,080 --> 00:49:07,480
[narrator] Five Little Pigs
was published in 1942,
1052
00:49:07,560 --> 00:49:10,280
two years later and
Europe was at peace again,
1053
00:49:10,360 --> 00:49:12,480
but the England
of the late 1940s
1054
00:49:12,560 --> 00:49:14,080
was a very different place.
1055
00:49:14,560 --> 00:49:16,000
Values were changing
1056
00:49:16,080 --> 00:49:18,600
and this was reflected
in a Miss Marple story
1057
00:49:18,680 --> 00:49:20,960
published in 1950.
1058
00:49:21,040 --> 00:49:24,280
It's a slightly comical
look at a changing country
1059
00:49:25,200 --> 00:49:28,480
and it tells the story
of an incredibly audacious murder.
1060
00:49:40,080 --> 00:49:42,640
A Murder Is Announced
is a Miss Marple story
1061
00:49:42,720 --> 00:49:45,960
but this time it's not
based in St. Mary Mead.
1062
00:49:46,040 --> 00:49:49,240
This novel is based in the
village of Chipping Cleghorn.
1063
00:49:49,320 --> 00:49:51,560
[Timmer] So what I love about
A Murder is Announced
1064
00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:54,880
{\an8}is that it's set in a
sleepy post-war village
1065
00:49:54,960 --> 00:49:58,640
{\an8}with all these very, kind of,
charming village types.
1066
00:49:58,720 --> 00:50:00,040
So A Murder Is Announced
1067
00:50:00,120 --> 00:50:02,560
starts with an advert
in the local paper
1068
00:50:02,640 --> 00:50:04,680
saying there will be a murder
1069
00:50:04,760 --> 00:50:07,680
in this house, at this time,
in this village.
1070
00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:09,360
There's going to be a murder.
1071
00:50:09,760 --> 00:50:11,080
What time?
1072
00:50:11,160 --> 00:50:13,040
Seven o'clock this evening.
1073
00:50:13,160 --> 00:50:14,160
Short notice.
1074
00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:17,280
So, the reader immediately
sees all these villagers
1075
00:50:17,360 --> 00:50:18,600
reading the local
paper and going,
1076
00:50:18,680 --> 00:50:20,360
"Oh, look it says there's
going to be a murder
1077
00:50:20,440 --> 00:50:21,680
at Little Paddocks."
1078
00:50:21,760 --> 00:50:24,880
Listen to this! In the Gazette.
1079
00:50:25,640 --> 00:50:26,880
"A murder is announced
1080
00:50:26,960 --> 00:50:30,400
and will take place
on Friday, October 5th
1081
00:50:30,480 --> 00:50:32,640
at Little Paddocks at 7:00 P.M."
1082
00:50:32,720 --> 00:50:35,360
Then it cuts to the
owner of Little Paddocks
1083
00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:36,800
who reacts in much the same way,
1084
00:50:36,880 --> 00:50:40,200
"Oh, look, it says there's going
to be a murder here at my house."
1085
00:50:40,640 --> 00:50:43,120
I guess I better go and see
if there's any sherry in the house.
1086
00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:46,360
{\an8}Everybody is terribly
interested by this
1087
00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:49,760
{\an8}and so they'll find any
excuse so they can to turn up
1088
00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:51,000
to see what's gonna
actually happen.
1089
00:50:51,080 --> 00:50:52,240
Is there going to be a game?
1090
00:50:52,320 --> 00:50:53,360
Well. Good evening.
1091
00:50:53,440 --> 00:50:55,400
-Good evening.
-Good evening.
1092
00:50:55,480 --> 00:50:56,360
Evening.
1093
00:50:56,440 --> 00:50:58,240
-Good evening, Ms. Blacklock.
-Good evening.
1094
00:50:58,320 --> 00:51:00,120
This is jolly nice, isn't it?
1095
00:51:00,200 --> 00:51:01,240
Here we are.
1096
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:02,960
Indeed. We are.
1097
00:51:03,280 --> 00:51:07,800
I just popped in to see whether you
might be interested in a kitten.
1098
00:51:08,800 --> 00:51:10,880
-A kitten?
-[sniggering]
1099
00:51:10,960 --> 00:51:12,880
To pretend they've got
another reason to turn up.
1100
00:51:12,960 --> 00:51:13,800
How are your hens laying?
1101
00:51:13,880 --> 00:51:15,120
How's this? How's that?
1102
00:51:15,200 --> 00:51:16,680
And then somebody
turns up and says,
1103
00:51:16,760 --> 00:51:18,280
"Oh, am I too late
for the murder?"
1104
00:51:18,480 --> 00:51:20,440
Hello Ms. Blacklock?
1105
00:51:20,520 --> 00:51:23,320
I'm not too late, am I?
When does the murder begin?
1106
00:51:23,400 --> 00:51:27,040
It's nicely done.
It's amusingly done.
1107
00:51:27,120 --> 00:51:29,160
'Cause that is actually
just what would happen.
1108
00:51:29,240 --> 00:51:31,960
[bell dings]
1109
00:51:32,040 --> 00:51:35,880
And it starts like a game,
like murder in the dark.
1110
00:51:35,960 --> 00:51:37,760
[bell dings]
1111
00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:41,320
-[people scream]
-It's beginning.
1112
00:51:41,400 --> 00:51:44,160
At the appointed time
the lights go out.
1113
00:51:44,240 --> 00:51:46,600
[Man] Stick 'em up!
1114
00:51:46,680 --> 00:51:47,840
Stick 'em up, I tell you!
1115
00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:49,360
[Woman] Isn't it wonderful.
1116
00:51:49,440 --> 00:51:52,160
[Woman] I must say it's
quite impressive so far.
1117
00:51:52,240 --> 00:51:53,320
[gunshots fire]
1118
00:51:53,400 --> 00:51:55,360
[women screaming]
1119
00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:56,560
And someone is found murdered
1120
00:51:56,640 --> 00:51:59,600
but not necessarily the
person you would expect.
1121
00:51:59,960 --> 00:52:01,560
-Good God!
-What is it?
1122
00:52:01,640 --> 00:52:03,120
[Man] The man's dead!
1123
00:52:03,200 --> 00:52:04,200
We have to start to wonder
1124
00:52:04,280 --> 00:52:06,520
who has manipulated
this scenario?
1125
00:52:06,600 --> 00:52:10,360
And surely somebody who turned up
to Little Paddocks that evening,
1126
00:52:10,440 --> 00:52:11,560
must be our killer.
1127
00:52:11,640 --> 00:52:13,040
[narrator] Conveniently,
1128
00:52:13,120 --> 00:52:15,520
Miss Marple happens to be
staying at the local hotel,
1129
00:52:15,600 --> 00:52:18,400
and she joins the investigation.
1130
00:52:19,400 --> 00:52:21,640
She knows these people.
She knows this setup.
1131
00:52:22,040 --> 00:52:23,200
You know Inspector,
1132
00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:26,200
some of the best
murderers are women,
1133
00:52:26,320 --> 00:52:28,520
especially in an
English village.
1134
00:52:28,600 --> 00:52:31,440
You turn over a stone,
you have no idea what will crawl out.
1135
00:52:31,520 --> 00:52:32,920
[narrator] The
story weaves its way
1136
00:52:33,000 --> 00:52:34,560
through a maze of
double identity
1137
00:52:34,640 --> 00:52:37,000
and trademark
Christie red herrings.
1138
00:52:37,080 --> 00:52:38,320
It's a great detective story.
1139
00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:40,680
I think it's one of the
great detective stories
1140
00:52:40,760 --> 00:52:41,720
in terms of the plotting.
1141
00:52:41,800 --> 00:52:43,920
Every single crucial clue
1142
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:46,440
is absolutely there
for you to see
1143
00:52:46,640 --> 00:52:49,000
and you do see it, but
you don't work it out.
1144
00:52:49,080 --> 00:52:52,040
[narrator] As with
most of Agatha's novels
1145
00:52:52,120 --> 00:52:54,000
the setting of
A Murder is Announced
1146
00:52:54,080 --> 00:52:57,640
is a reflection of British life
at the time she was writing.
1147
00:52:58,160 --> 00:53:00,040
[Prichard] It is a really
interesting portrayal
1148
00:53:00,120 --> 00:53:02,720
{\an8}of post-Second
World War Britain,
1149
00:53:02,800 --> 00:53:05,240
{\an8}some of the hardships, the
rationing that was going on,
1150
00:53:05,320 --> 00:53:09,320
{\an8}and people who maybe before
the war had a certain
1151
00:53:09,400 --> 00:53:11,240
style and standard of living
1152
00:53:11,320 --> 00:53:13,960
and suddenly things
aren't as easy.
1153
00:53:14,040 --> 00:53:18,680
It's a world of
rationing and coupons and
1154
00:53:18,760 --> 00:53:20,600
immigrants from Europe.
1155
00:53:20,680 --> 00:53:24,480
All the old hierarchies are
sort of falling apart a bit.
1156
00:53:24,560 --> 00:53:27,080
It's... they know a way of life
1157
00:53:27,160 --> 00:53:29,080
and they're desperately
trying to keep it up
1158
00:53:29,160 --> 00:53:30,480
and it's getting more
and more difficult.
1159
00:53:30,560 --> 00:53:32,440
They're all after the
same one cleaning woman.
1160
00:53:34,680 --> 00:53:37,560
[narrator] In 1985, the
BBC adapted the novel
1161
00:53:37,640 --> 00:53:40,600
as part of their first season
of Miss Marple stories.
1162
00:53:41,920 --> 00:53:44,080
This was Joan Hickson's
third appearance
1163
00:53:44,160 --> 00:53:45,080
as the amateur detective.
1164
00:53:45,160 --> 00:53:46,040
Miss Marple.
1165
00:53:47,240 --> 00:53:50,280
{\an8}I think we called her Miss Hickson.
I don't think we called her Joan.
1166
00:53:50,720 --> 00:53:55,240
{\an8}Um, and... or maybe you called
her Joan after a while,
1167
00:53:55,320 --> 00:53:57,280
but not till you were invited.
1168
00:53:57,440 --> 00:53:59,520
And I'd come here
pretend to be Julia
1169
00:53:59,600 --> 00:54:01,040
and keep peace in the camp.
1170
00:54:01,880 --> 00:54:03,440
It was completely awesome.
1171
00:54:03,520 --> 00:54:04,520
I mean, the whole
thing was awesome.
1172
00:54:04,600 --> 00:54:07,280
My parents split up three
years after they were married.
1173
00:54:07,640 --> 00:54:09,320
They split us up too.
1174
00:54:09,680 --> 00:54:12,480
For an English actor,
it's a sort of rite of passage
1175
00:54:12,560 --> 00:54:14,280
to be in an Agatha Christie.
1176
00:54:14,360 --> 00:54:17,400
I feel very honored to have
been in them three times
1177
00:54:17,480 --> 00:54:21,840
and she just writes such
glorious characters.
1178
00:54:23,440 --> 00:54:25,560
[narrator] But a new
era was approaching,
1179
00:54:25,640 --> 00:54:29,640
as the 1960s began, a 70
year old Agatha Christie
1180
00:54:29,720 --> 00:54:32,600
found the world changing
rapidly around her,
1181
00:54:32,680 --> 00:54:36,880
{\an8}and those changes were a huge
influence on her next novel
1182
00:54:36,960 --> 00:54:40,880
{\an8}a supernatural thriller
populated by witches and poison.
1183
00:54:43,640 --> 00:54:46,640
The dawn of the swinging
sixties saw the publication
1184
00:54:46,720 --> 00:54:49,080
of a very different type
of Agatha Christie novel.
1185
00:54:51,200 --> 00:54:52,440
This was a dark thriller
1186
00:54:54,320 --> 00:54:57,680
set against a backdrop of
witchcraft in an English village
1187
00:54:57,760 --> 00:54:59,720
and in fashionable London.
1188
00:55:04,360 --> 00:55:07,240
{\an8}I think The Pale Horse"
has a different tone.
1189
00:55:07,320 --> 00:55:11,520
{\an8}The setting and the locations
in the book are different.
1190
00:55:11,600 --> 00:55:13,120
It's set in London.
1191
00:55:13,200 --> 00:55:15,120
And it's set in 1960s London
1192
00:55:15,200 --> 00:55:17,480
and it's got a real
feeling of modernity.
1193
00:55:17,640 --> 00:55:19,920
It's not a classic
detective novel.
1194
00:55:20,000 --> 00:55:21,000
{\an8}And for a lot of her life
1195
00:55:21,080 --> 00:55:23,200
{\an8}Christie had an interest
in the supernatural.
1196
00:55:23,280 --> 00:55:27,200
{\an8}And this is the book
where the supernatural
1197
00:55:27,280 --> 00:55:28,360
meets murder mystery.
1198
00:55:28,920 --> 00:55:30,720
[narrator] The Pale Horse
is a Christie novel
1199
00:55:30,800 --> 00:55:32,840
with no Marple and no Poirot.
1200
00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:36,840
Instead it tells the story
of historian Mark Easterbrook
1201
00:55:36,920 --> 00:55:39,400
who gets drawn into
a supernatural world
1202
00:55:39,480 --> 00:55:41,840
in the strange village
of Much Deeping.
1203
00:55:43,080 --> 00:55:44,280
Do you want your fortune told?
1204
00:55:45,240 --> 00:55:47,840
{\an8}It starts out feeling like
1205
00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:53,360
{\an8}the atmosphere is so,
kind of, spooky and ghostly
1206
00:55:53,440 --> 00:55:57,680
and there's all this, you know,
magic and supernatural allusions.
1207
00:55:58,280 --> 00:56:00,240
[narrator] The village is
full of unusual goings on
1208
00:56:00,320 --> 00:56:02,320
that Mark has to unravel.
1209
00:56:02,400 --> 00:56:04,240
His name is on a list of people
1210
00:56:04,320 --> 00:56:06,440
most of whom have
already been killed.
1211
00:56:06,520 --> 00:56:07,840
Do you know anyone on this list?
1212
00:56:08,920 --> 00:56:12,080
Ormerod, Sandford,
Hesketh-Dubois,
1213
00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:13,720
Shaw, Tuckerton.
1214
00:56:16,200 --> 00:56:17,120
Ardingley.
1215
00:56:17,200 --> 00:56:19,240
Mark becomes embroiled
in trying to figure out
1216
00:56:19,320 --> 00:56:20,720
what this list means,
1217
00:56:20,800 --> 00:56:22,040
who these people are,
1218
00:56:22,120 --> 00:56:23,360
what the connection is
between these people.
1219
00:56:25,400 --> 00:56:28,120
[narrator] The names on the
list lead Mark Easterbrook
1220
00:56:31,120 --> 00:56:32,200
to three witches.
1221
00:56:32,440 --> 00:56:35,360
They are somehow
connected to this list
1222
00:56:35,440 --> 00:56:37,040
but we're not quite sure how.
1223
00:56:37,120 --> 00:56:38,160
What do you want?
1224
00:56:41,240 --> 00:56:43,040
I want you to set me free.
1225
00:56:43,160 --> 00:56:46,880
I played Thyrza Grey and she
is one of the three witches.
1226
00:56:46,960 --> 00:56:49,800
She's very good at, sort of,
mind reading.
1227
00:56:49,880 --> 00:56:52,840
What we do is read
cards and tea leaves.
1228
00:56:52,920 --> 00:56:54,360
What if that's we all can do?
1229
00:56:55,560 --> 00:56:57,920
The main kind of suspects
are the witches
1230
00:56:58,000 --> 00:57:02,240
because of their links
to the supernatural.
1231
00:57:02,320 --> 00:57:04,600
And that is something that
naturally brings about
1232
00:57:04,680 --> 00:57:06,400
a sense of fear in people.
1233
00:57:06,600 --> 00:57:08,680
[narrator] The Pale Horse
was first adapted for TV
1234
00:57:08,760 --> 00:57:12,840
in 1996, and again, in 2010.
1235
00:57:12,920 --> 00:57:16,240
This second adaptation was markedly
different from the novel
1236
00:57:16,320 --> 00:57:20,120
as it added Miss Marple,
played by Julia McKenzie, to the story.
1237
00:57:20,200 --> 00:57:24,920
Then in 2019, screenwriter
Sarah Phelps adapted the novel
1238
00:57:25,000 --> 00:57:26,280
into a two-part series.
1239
00:57:26,360 --> 00:57:29,240
This adaptation also changed
1240
00:57:29,320 --> 00:57:31,320
much of Christie's
original plot.
1241
00:57:31,640 --> 00:57:34,320
[car engine roaring]
1242
00:57:34,560 --> 00:57:36,520
{\an8}I think it says something
about the strength
1243
00:57:36,600 --> 00:57:37,800
{\an8}of Agatha Christie's novels
1244
00:57:37,880 --> 00:57:40,320
{\an8}that something like Pale Horse
1245
00:57:40,400 --> 00:57:42,000
has been adapted three times.
1246
00:57:42,080 --> 00:57:45,200
Those adaptations are all very
different from each other.
1247
00:57:45,280 --> 00:57:46,560
Sarah was actually...
1248
00:57:46,640 --> 00:57:49,480
She took some liberties
and made some changes.
1249
00:57:49,560 --> 00:57:51,520
And I think it's kind
of a fantastic example
1250
00:57:51,600 --> 00:57:54,800
of how Christie
stories can be adapted
1251
00:57:56,480 --> 00:57:59,560
and work for-- in different
ways at different times.
1252
00:58:04,240 --> 00:58:06,400
[narrator] But not all of
Christie's fans agreed.
1253
00:58:06,480 --> 00:58:08,000
[Atim] There's definitely
a mixed response.
1254
00:58:08,080 --> 00:58:09,560
And there's always gonna
be with things like this.
1255
00:58:09,640 --> 00:58:11,040
That upsets a lot of people
1256
00:58:11,120 --> 00:58:13,280
because that's what they've
come to know, you know?
1257
00:58:13,360 --> 00:58:15,040
And that's what
they've come to love.
1258
00:58:15,120 --> 00:58:17,040
But there's also gonna
be a group of people
1259
00:58:17,120 --> 00:58:19,440
who are huge fans,
who are excited to see
1260
00:58:19,520 --> 00:58:21,360
what else can be pulled
out of these classics.
1261
00:58:21,440 --> 00:58:24,960
{\an8}I think there is an
argument to be had
1262
00:58:25,040 --> 00:58:29,200
{\an8}that by taking her
original stories
1263
00:58:30,480 --> 00:58:35,440
and be making them more pertinent to a
modern audience is a good thing.
1264
00:58:37,040 --> 00:58:38,920
[narrator] London at the
dawn of the swinging sixties
1265
00:58:39,120 --> 00:58:40,400
features strongly in the novel.
1266
00:58:40,960 --> 00:58:43,480
It was a world that Agatha
was gradually coming to terms with.
1267
00:58:43,880 --> 00:58:45,520
[Prichard] And you can see
the times that she's writing in,
1268
00:58:45,600 --> 00:58:49,280
but you can also see how she's, um...
you know, how she's aging,
1269
00:58:49,360 --> 00:58:52,120
{\an8}and you can see her kind of
tut-tutting in the background
1270
00:58:52,200 --> 00:58:55,080
{\an8}as young women are walking down
the King's Road in short skirts
1271
00:58:55,160 --> 00:58:58,360
{\an8}and behaving in ways that I think she
probably thought were pretty scandalous.
1272
00:58:58,480 --> 00:59:02,520
And I think that's a nice side
of her that comes through.
1273
00:59:02,600 --> 00:59:04,400
Goodbye, Mark.
1274
00:59:05,320 --> 00:59:06,480
Don't ever come here again.
1275
00:59:10,640 --> 00:59:14,200
[narrator] By 1975, Agatha Christie
had been a published author
1276
00:59:14,280 --> 00:59:16,160
for 55 years.
1277
00:59:16,240 --> 00:59:20,160
Hercule Poirot was still her
most popular creation by far.
1278
00:59:20,240 --> 00:59:21,840
But during the Second World War,
1279
00:59:21,920 --> 00:59:25,280
Agatha was convinced that she
wouldn't survive the bombing.
1280
00:59:25,360 --> 00:59:26,720
She was so concerned
1281
00:59:26,800 --> 00:59:29,840
that she had written Poirot's
final case, entitled Curtain,
1282
00:59:29,920 --> 00:59:32,120
and locked it away
in a bank vault
1283
00:59:32,200 --> 00:59:34,360
to only be released
after her death.
1284
00:59:34,440 --> 00:59:36,640
{\an8}What actually happened
in the mid 1970s
1285
00:59:36,720 --> 00:59:39,120
{\an8}was that it became clear
that Agatha Christie,
1286
00:59:39,200 --> 00:59:40,800
{\an8}who was in her
eighties by this point,
1287
00:59:40,880 --> 00:59:42,000
was not gonna be well enough
1288
00:59:42,080 --> 00:59:44,280
to write another
Hercule Poirot novel,
1289
00:59:44,360 --> 00:59:46,480
and she wasn't particularly
interested in doing it.
1290
00:59:46,560 --> 00:59:49,080
And so her daughter, Rosalind,
1291
00:59:49,160 --> 00:59:51,080
actually broached
the subject and said,
1292
00:59:51,160 --> 00:59:53,880
perhaps you want to think
about publishing Curtain.
1293
00:59:53,960 --> 00:59:55,960
And so with her
mother's permission,
1294
00:59:56,040 --> 00:59:57,960
they dug out the typescript
1295
00:59:58,040 --> 01:00:00,880
and it was published
at the end of 1975.
1296
01:00:05,440 --> 01:00:08,440
[narrator] Curtain was to
be Poirot's most surprising
1297
01:00:08,520 --> 01:00:10,640
and controversial of cases.
1298
01:00:10,720 --> 01:00:12,600
The murder is without a doubt
1299
01:00:12,680 --> 01:00:14,880
the most shocking
of Agatha's career.
1300
01:00:19,360 --> 01:00:21,200
It's quite difficult
to talk about Curtain
1301
01:00:21,280 --> 01:00:23,440
without giving away the ending.
1302
01:00:24,880 --> 01:00:29,000
I mean, it famously is known
that Poirot dies in Curtain.
1303
01:00:29,080 --> 01:00:30,520
It is a brilliant novel.
1304
01:00:30,600 --> 01:00:33,480
It's not one of my
personal favorites.
1305
01:00:33,560 --> 01:00:37,000
I think that is purely
because of Poirot dying.
1306
01:00:37,080 --> 01:00:39,320
I'm not gonna have a
favorite Poirot novel
1307
01:00:39,400 --> 01:00:40,960
in which Poirot dies.
1308
01:00:41,040 --> 01:00:42,000
Not on my watch.
1309
01:00:43,240 --> 01:00:45,680
[narrator] Curtain
is set where it all began,
1310
01:00:45,760 --> 01:00:47,360
at the country house of Styles.
1311
01:00:49,120 --> 01:00:52,280
But it's a Styles that has
changed over the years.
1312
01:00:52,360 --> 01:00:55,400
[Thompson] Styles is no longer
the lovely country house.
1313
01:00:55,600 --> 01:00:58,320
{\an8}It's being run as a
kind of boarding house.
1314
01:00:58,400 --> 01:01:00,480
{\an8}It's a very sad place.
1315
01:01:00,560 --> 01:01:02,080
There's someone to see you.
1316
01:01:02,160 --> 01:01:04,240
[narrator] Poirot is
convalescing at Styles,
1317
01:01:04,320 --> 01:01:05,840
only he's old and frail.
1318
01:01:07,440 --> 01:01:12,040
{\an8}In Curtain, Poirot is very
much reduced as a character.
1319
01:01:12,120 --> 01:01:14,040
{\an8}He's in a wheelchair,
he's shrunken,
1320
01:01:14,120 --> 01:01:15,800
he's very, very old-seeming.
1321
01:01:16,000 --> 01:01:18,520
It's a very frail
Poirot who we witness
1322
01:01:18,600 --> 01:01:20,920
in this final adaptation.
1323
01:01:21,000 --> 01:01:24,400
It's somebody that is a
real sort of gut punch
1324
01:01:24,480 --> 01:01:28,320
to those of us who've known
him for nearly 25 years at this point.
1325
01:01:29,640 --> 01:01:30,640
Hastings?
1326
01:01:33,040 --> 01:01:35,520
Oh, Hastings.
My dear, dear, Hastings.
1327
01:01:36,200 --> 01:01:37,360
Poirot, old chap.
1328
01:01:37,440 --> 01:01:39,760
Oh, mon ami, mon ami.
1329
01:01:39,840 --> 01:01:42,160
What Agatha does is she
brings back Hastings
1330
01:01:42,240 --> 01:01:44,240
which is absolutely
the right thing to do
1331
01:01:45,360 --> 01:01:46,600
because Hastings in this book
1332
01:01:46,680 --> 01:01:49,280
is a really, really
good character.
1333
01:01:49,360 --> 01:01:50,880
And how are you?
1334
01:01:50,960 --> 01:01:52,880
Me? I am a wreck!
1335
01:01:52,960 --> 01:01:54,160
No. A ruin.
1336
01:01:54,240 --> 01:01:57,000
Hastings has been in
Argentina with his wife
1337
01:01:57,080 --> 01:01:58,520
comes back from there a widower.
1338
01:02:00,000 --> 01:02:03,960
And so you see the
affection between the two
1339
01:02:04,040 --> 01:02:05,000
and the respect.
1340
01:02:05,640 --> 01:02:07,000
[narrator] The plot
is loosely based
1341
01:02:07,080 --> 01:02:08,720
on Shakespeare's Othello,
1342
01:02:08,800 --> 01:02:11,560
where the character of
Iago has a devilish knack
1343
01:02:11,640 --> 01:02:14,960
of manipulating people
to commit a murder.
1344
01:02:15,040 --> 01:02:18,000
{\an8}Agatha Christie uses Shakespeare
a great deal in her work.
1345
01:02:18,080 --> 01:02:20,360
{\an8}She's always referencing Shakespeare
in one way or another.
1346
01:02:20,440 --> 01:02:22,520
And this book without
giving anything away
1347
01:02:22,600 --> 01:02:26,040
references Othello but
in an extremely clever way.
1348
01:02:27,560 --> 01:02:29,000
[narrator] Like Five Little Pigs,
1349
01:02:29,080 --> 01:02:30,440
the various murders in Curtain
1350
01:02:30,520 --> 01:02:34,000
all took place in
the past, except one.
1351
01:02:36,360 --> 01:02:38,320
And this is the most shocking.
1352
01:02:38,400 --> 01:02:40,240
It's a highly unusual one,
1353
01:02:40,320 --> 01:02:43,240
I mean, it's a really interesting reason
to kill somebody.
1354
01:02:43,320 --> 01:02:46,520
You might even say a good
reason to kill someone.
1355
01:02:46,600 --> 01:02:49,360
And of course, that's bound in
with the identity of the killer.
1356
01:02:49,600 --> 01:02:53,320
And it comes-- the book ends
with a really extraordinary twist.
1357
01:02:53,400 --> 01:02:56,520
You feel that Agatha Christie
has managed to achieve
1358
01:02:56,600 --> 01:02:58,600
every single twist
that is possible
1359
01:02:58,680 --> 01:03:00,480
in the course of
her long career,
1360
01:03:00,560 --> 01:03:02,400
but with Curtain
she finds a new one.
1361
01:03:03,600 --> 01:03:05,800
[exhales] The poison works.
1362
01:03:05,880 --> 01:03:07,880
And must be stopped.
1363
01:03:07,960 --> 01:03:12,080
[narrator] Curtain was also the
very last episode of ITV's Poirot.
1364
01:03:12,240 --> 01:03:16,160
It ran for an incredible
13 series and 70 episodes.
1365
01:03:17,320 --> 01:03:21,280
It was very moving
to be part of because--
1366
01:03:21,360 --> 01:03:24,200
partly because it was the end of a very
long series, a very long commitment.
1367
01:03:24,800 --> 01:03:26,520
[narrator] For
actor David Suchet,
1368
01:03:26,600 --> 01:03:28,880
this was the last in
a long line of TV dramas.
1369
01:03:29,040 --> 01:03:30,040
[man] How are you, old chap?
1370
01:03:30,360 --> 01:03:32,240
[narrator] Playing the
Belgian super sleuth.
1371
01:03:32,320 --> 01:03:33,600
Not dead yet.
1372
01:03:33,680 --> 01:03:35,640
[Fraser] I remember the last
scenes that we played
1373
01:03:35,720 --> 01:03:38,360
where I would be sitting
at his bedside talking,
1374
01:03:38,440 --> 01:03:41,360
were very moving and quite
difficult to do in actual fact,
1375
01:03:41,440 --> 01:03:42,840
because it became
quite emotional.
1376
01:03:42,920 --> 01:03:45,600
It was such an amazing
achievement for David
1377
01:03:45,680 --> 01:03:49,200
and we were so happy
for him to complete it.
1378
01:03:49,560 --> 01:03:51,600
Uh, it was-- So was a bittersweet thing.
1379
01:03:51,680 --> 01:03:52,840
It was sad.
1380
01:04:03,760 --> 01:04:06,960
[narrator] In 1975, just
after Curtain was published,
1381
01:04:07,040 --> 01:04:10,560
the New York Times ran a front
page obituary for Poirot,
1382
01:04:10,640 --> 01:04:13,200
the first one ever for
a fictional character.
1383
01:04:16,040 --> 01:04:18,720
On the 12th of January 1976,
1384
01:04:18,800 --> 01:04:21,240
just four months after
Curtain was published,
1385
01:04:21,320 --> 01:04:24,840
Dame Agatha Christie
died peacefully at home
1386
01:04:24,920 --> 01:04:27,120
in Wallingford, in Oxfordshire.
1387
01:04:28,680 --> 01:04:32,400
Her incredible career
spanned 56 years.
1388
01:04:32,480 --> 01:04:35,760
And so far, she has sold
over 2 billion books.
1389
01:04:36,760 --> 01:04:40,160
She is the most successful
novelist of all time.
1390
01:04:41,160 --> 01:04:42,680
I think the relationship
between Agatha Christie
1391
01:04:42,760 --> 01:04:44,760
and her audience
is second to none,
1392
01:04:44,840 --> 01:04:47,480
and it's one of the reasons
why she has survived so well.
1393
01:04:47,560 --> 01:04:50,640
In ways of navigating our
way through the 20th century,
1394
01:04:50,720 --> 01:04:52,800
I think Agatha Christie is
actually really important.
1395
01:04:52,880 --> 01:04:58,960
She chronicles our lives
with wit and murder
1396
01:04:59,040 --> 01:05:01,360
in this very...
in this very accessible way,
1397
01:05:01,440 --> 01:05:04,920
but it's a real kind of
chronicle of Englishness.
1398
01:05:05,000 --> 01:05:08,160
Christie's top
priority is telling you
1399
01:05:08,240 --> 01:05:10,880
a gripping and
entertaining story.
1400
01:05:10,960 --> 01:05:12,680
I think she would
have been amazed
1401
01:05:12,760 --> 01:05:14,400
that we're talking
about her 100 years on.
1402
01:05:14,840 --> 01:05:16,120
She's not gonna die out
1403
01:05:16,200 --> 01:05:18,720
like the other golden
age detective writers
1404
01:05:18,800 --> 01:05:21,760
because she's simply better.
1405
01:05:22,000 --> 01:05:23,440
The more I learn about her,
the more I read her
1406
01:05:23,520 --> 01:05:24,800
actually, the more
admiration I have,
1407
01:05:24,880 --> 01:05:26,920
and actually then the
more pride I have.
1408
01:05:27,040 --> 01:05:28,200
{\an8}We continue to talk about her,
1409
01:05:28,280 --> 01:05:29,800
{\an8}we continue to make
stuff about her,
1410
01:05:29,880 --> 01:05:31,760
{\an8}we continue to make her books
1411
01:05:32,200 --> 01:05:34,880
and, uh, and I think we will do that,
1412
01:05:34,960 --> 01:05:36,880
we will always do that.
1413
01:05:36,960 --> 01:05:38,880
[narrator] Agatha Christie
will continue to inspire
1414
01:05:38,960 --> 01:05:42,280
those who read her books
and watch her adaptations
1415
01:05:42,360 --> 01:05:43,920
around the world.
1416
01:05:44,000 --> 01:05:46,960
Her legacy will live on
in countless versions
1417
01:05:47,040 --> 01:05:48,920
of discerning crime fiction.
1418
01:05:49,000 --> 01:05:53,080
Her enduring appeal has
been resolute over a century
1419
01:05:53,160 --> 01:05:56,440
and undoubtedly the queen
of crime will challenge
1420
01:05:56,520 --> 01:06:00,080
and provoke us for at least
another century to come.