| rdfs:comment | - Christie had never been very happy with most filmed adaptations of her works, and according to her grandson Mathew Pritchard, who handled her estate after her death, "did not care much for television" either. Producer Pat Sandys of LWT first approached Pritchard and the Christie estate with a researched, detailed plan to film the novels Why Didn't They Ask Evans? and The Seven Dials Mystery in the early 1980s. Although indifferently treated by critics, the projects were popular with audiences and led to the filming of a number of short stories and the Tommy and Tuppence Beresford stories in the series Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime. With the success of that series, the BBC got the approval to produce the stories of one of Christie's most famous detectives.
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| abstract | - Christie had never been very happy with most filmed adaptations of her works, and according to her grandson Mathew Pritchard, who handled her estate after her death, "did not care much for television" either. Producer Pat Sandys of LWT first approached Pritchard and the Christie estate with a researched, detailed plan to film the novels Why Didn't They Ask Evans? and The Seven Dials Mystery in the early 1980s. Although indifferently treated by critics, the projects were popular with audiences and led to the filming of a number of short stories and the Tommy and Tuppence Beresford stories in the series Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime. With the success of that series, the BBC got the approval to produce the stories of one of Christie's most famous detectives. Joan Hickson, who played Miss Marple, was an octogenarian herself during most of the series' production. Decades before, she had appeared in a minor role in Murder, She Said, in which Margaret Rutherford played Miss Marple. The adaptations are mainly true to the original novels. Hickson had also appeared in a stage adaptation of the novel Appointment with Death in 1946, after which Christie sent Hickson a note "I hope one day you will play my dear Miss Marple." There were two other semi-regular characters in Miss Marple. The first was Detective Inspector Slack (later Detective Superintendent), played by David Horovitch, the second Detective Constable (later Detective Sergeant) Lake, played by Ian Brimble. Detective Inspector/Superintendent Slack and Detective Constable/Sergeant Lake appeared in five episodes, The Body in the Library, The Murder at the Vicarage, 4.50 From Paddington, They Do It with Mirrors and The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side. Detective Inspector Craddock appeared in A Murder is Announced and The Mirror Crack'd. Gwen Watford also appeared in two episodes as Miss Marple's friend and neighbour, Dolly Bantry.
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