Sleeping Murder

Gwenda Halliday, a wealthy young Englishwoman recently emigrated from India, intuitively buys a seaside manor house, where she re-experiences a murder in a good Agatha Christie adaptation. Of course, it's adjusted for a modern audience, but it's quite engaging with the focus on the characters, they are fleshed out well, and the acting is fine all around. The denouement was well done, though I wasn't too surprised as I had already the splendid book.

This series continues working hard to be the 'weird' version of Miss Marple. The producers and writers do everything they can to be perversely (and I choose the word advisedly) different from previous versions. Admittedly the earlier Joan Hickson version of this story was not that great and the heroine had a very insipid husband. He's been abolished here, along with her New Zealand upbringing. Instead, a new character, Mr Hornbeam, has been brought in, who is a definite asset and well acted.

The plot has really been through the wringer and has been made confusing and hard to follow. Somebody seems to have thought they could out-Christie Christie. But Christie is always clear. Here the exact relationships in the Funnybones troupe are not easy to grasp and the cascade of complex plot information in the long 'all the cast in the library' scene at the end is very hard to understand and digest.

Also, there are lots of seemingly casual phone calls to India. This was far from easy in those days, when overseas calls had to be prebooked and waited for and the line quality was often poor. When a lot of care has been taken over period accuracy it is a shame to see this anachronism.

And why is Julian Wadham (the heroine's father) in the shadows playing her fiancé -- at least I think it's him? This is very misleading. Couldn't they afford another actor?

It's quite fun to watch, but I still wonder what the producers are thinking of.

First off, these were produced by Granada, not the BBC; therefore accusing them of making a mess is very unfair. Why can't people just accept that these stories have been adapted for a more modern audience; unfortunately the youth of today needs something a little 'dumbed-down'. Just enjoy them for the stories they are - there are some superb acting turns, and a bunch of new talent is being showcased - it's not as if this is factual and the truth is being changed to suit. Thank the lord they don't use American actors, and are taking the current cream of the British crop. Geraldine McEwan brings a rather sweeter disposition to Jane Marple than Hickson and Co., something I find easier to believe.

Gwenda Halliday moves to England from India and moves into a house in a seaside village. She will soon be married and needs to renovate the house first. However, she keeps getting the strange feeling that she's been in the house before even though, as far as she is aware, she has never been in England before. Then a view of a part of the house sparks an image of a murder in her mind, and she gets extremely agitated. Her assistant, Hugh Hornbeam, is worried about her and calls in a friend, Miss Marple. It turns out Ms Halliday has previously lived in England, in that same house.

Quite intriguing, especially as the mystery involves a potential murder committed nearly 20 years previously. "Potential" because we don't even know if there was a murder, adding to the intrigue.

Quite engaging too. We have some interesting relationship drama and the plight and backstory of Gwenda is quite engaging. Some colourful characters too and a touch of romance.

Great cast, with some big names: Paul McGann, Dawn French, Geraldine Chaplin and Martin Kemp (of Spandau Ballet fame). The standout for me is the gorgeous Sophia Myles, who plays Gwenda.

It starts off incredibly bright and vibrant with the Indian dancers, you can't beat a bit of Julian Wadham. The music is quite nice too. We get a glimpse of young Gwen, and the sad tail of her mother's death. They clearly tried to do something different, and it's all started off really well.

Sadly it starts to go a little off the boil...

Sophia Myles is a beautiful girl and makes a very good Gwen, but her realisation that she's been in that house before is forced through too quickly, it feels rushed. Sophia does act her scenes out brilliantly though and her terror at the flashback is truly well done.

The Theatre scene is stunning, DAME Harriet Walter on stage, joyous, once again Myles is up to the mark.

Charles Vanstone's voice overs are cringe worthy, and serve no real purpose. Where did he get that ridiculous voice from!!

Una Stubbs is how can i put it, unusual in the role I have to admit, and she looks like Geraldine's grandmother, which way have they done her up!!!! Geraldine herself looks a big ragged in Sleeping Murder, she's wearing some dubious cotton seconds.

I hated the Funnybones, each of them are actresses and actors of some quality, but they are given a shambles of a script. Sarah Parish is marvellous through, definitely the best of the bunch, Dawn French is NO singer.

I am a lifelong fan of Hickson's versions, and they are glorious, I did not want to do the usual comparisons because they are totally different, but they are leagues apart. Personally I was always a fan of changes to the scripts and updates, I know the JH version and the book so well, I welcome a few changes, good ones that is, largely they got them wrong here.

I'm one of the few that loved McEwan's Jane Marple, I loved the twinkle in the eye, but she was very poorly written for in this one.

It get's a 6, largely because of the performances of Sophia Myles and Phil Davies, without them it would have been a 5. The script is a little disjointed, it could have been so good, especially with the stellar cast. The last 20 minutes are the high point, really good. Shame the rest wasn't the same quality.