Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Julia McKenzie, Julia Sawalha, Fiona Shaw, Robert Glenister, John Gordon Sinclair, Judy Parfitt, Vic Reeves, Kimberley Nixon, Rufus Jones, Matt Wills, Joanna David, Bobby Smalldridge, Candida Gubbins, Sam Reid, Martin Compston,
Rarely does Miss Marple stray into the domain held dear by Agatha Christie’s other great creation of Hercule Poirot, that of the understated darkness in greed or supposed glory. Mostly whatever deeds have been committed in the cases of Miss Marple it has been for love or lust. Greenshaw’s Folly though perhaps sees the elderly spinster at her very best as she deals not only with horrifying aftermath of spousal abuse but the very worst case of murder, premeditated and for gain.
A big house with lots of unhappy secrets is always a great setting for a murder mystery but the disturbing thought of orphaned children being experimented upon for a cure for Polio in the name of science had semblances of what happened in the name of something else, something even more sinister across the channel. The menacing overtones gave the episode a grizzly edge, which was both unnerving and yet avid television, it was Miss Marple but not as the audience knows her.
Julia McKenzie has certainly grown into the role and gives the amateur detective a normality; a grounding that has been missed by other actors with the exception perhaps of the late great Joan Hickson. However she also brings warmth in the face of danger and adversity and her scenes with young actor Bobby Smalldridge as Archie Oxley were delightful, this is not the image of Miss Marple one expects and it is one that should see Julia McKenzie stay in the role for quite a while.
The supporting cast also in this episode were on great form with Julia Sawalha showing why she has always been on television as a great character actor and Fiona Shaw as the owner of the country home in particular fine form.
Although to see Robert Glenister on television in almost anything is a delight, it is a shame that his time as Father Brophy was as short as it was, aside from that his nervous ferret like stance as his downward spiral of drinking and stealing was well captured and in the best tradition of Agatha Christie films.
Unlike Poirot which has been defined completely by the tremendous David Suchet to the point where to even think of remaking any of the stories for at least a couple of generations is unthinkable, Miss Marple is a fluid character, one who every generation seems to have to struggle to define. In Julia McKenzie, Marple should have a 21st Century iconic performance.
Ian D. Hall