Paul Evans The sleepy peaceful home of the Bantry's is woken to the shattering news that the body of a young platinum blond woman has been found in the Library. Somehow she seems unreal, Dolly Bantry seeks the help of her friend Jane Marple, and the pair seek to unravel the mystery, enquiries lead them to the seaside.This version mirrors the book in so many ways, it's a truly faithful adaptation, as the saying goes 'if it ain't broke don't fix it.' I understand that a few elements are missed, but it would have been impractical to attempt to squeeze it all in.Straight away Joan Hickson shows us why she is the definitive Miss Marple, endorsed by Agatha Christie herself, she'd play the role from 1984 - 1992 and make it her own. She is truly wonderful, even after her introduction you just know that she is Miss Marple.Other performances I liked, firstly Gwen Watford, she is delightful as the ditsy Dolly Bantry, so excited that a body has been found, she clearly loved a bit of drama, I'm so glad she returned in the final episode too. David Horovitch played Slack so well, I can see why he was made a recurring character, I'm sure he was overused but I get why. Trudie Styler is a brilliant Josie Turner, she helps to make the ending quite brilliant, all in a look.It is very long, they certainly put as much of the book in it as possible, it's very faithful, possibly guilty of being a little slow in parts. That somehow seems not to matter, it's a gorgeous production and well worth watching. 8/10

pekinman The Body in the Library is one of the most satisfying of the twelve Marples starring Joan Hickson as a not-really-very-sweet little old lady who possesses "a mind more cynical... than any barrister you'll ever encounter.." as one older copper tells a young and ambitious inspector in this episode. Gwen Watford plays Miss Marple's batty chum from Saint Mary Meade (their home village). She is Dolly Bantry and is married to Moray Watson's daft and courtly Col. Arthur Bantry.If Hickson's Marple displays momentary hints of menace it is only that. Hers is a very subtle and dry performance, crammed with sparkling humor that shoots out from her beady little blue eyes. Hickson was a formidable comedian and she is very much one in these shows, powdered over with politeness and modesty. She is never annoying, like Geraldine McEwen's Marple is from time to time with that Old Mother Hubbard portrayal of hers; not her fault really as the producers of that later series had a political agenda which ruined the stories and scripts and any chance of McEwen's being as good as Hickson.With the cast alone you have one of the classics of British television from the mid-to-late 20th century. It isn't only that Joan Hickson is nigh perfect for the role of Miss Jane Marple, it is also that the supporting actors, direction, locations, props, everything are splendidly done. It took me awhile to accept the musical score because I had been watching the pretty awful Marple series with Geraldine McEwen and the score to those productions was very 20th century sounding, like the music of Prokofiev or Britten. In the Hickson series the music is disarmingly charming and almost sounds trite at first. Now it is one of the highlights in an already brilliant achievement. It is catchy and sticks in the mind, it is also frequently very funny. The ballet music in They Do It With Mirrors is hilarious.Some of the highlights of the supporting cast are Jean Simmons, Renée Asherson, Joyce Carey, Claire Bloom and greatest of all joys, Joan Greenwood who plays Selina Hazy in At Bertram's Hotel. After this film Greenwood went on to play a brilliantly macabre Mrs Clenham in Little Dorrit, dying young at 65 and still much missed.The vital secondary roles, inspectors, murderers, victims, chambermaids, cooks, butlers, young lovers and vicars are all appealingly cast by actors familiar to fans of British television. There are no misfires in the casting, which is very rare.The directors take a lot of time surveying the English countryside and the sea. The series, in general, is extremely atmospheric and has just enough sinister shots to prevent the story from becoming merely light entertainment.This Hickson Marple is the one to have in your collection if you need a Marple series to watch on demand, as I do. The Margaret Rutherford movies were bogus but entertaining, and Rutherford is her usual bumbling, hilarious self, but these Hickson shows are the real Marple as Mrs Christie intended her to be.I rate this series a 9 because I still think there is room for something even greater and more like the original stories. Some of the Hickson stories are updated to the 1950s when the entire series takes place. It works fine, but still....

Iain-215 This was the first of the BBC Miss Marples to feature Joan Hickson. I thoroughly enjoyed it when it was first shown and still do BUT it does seem a little slow now. It was originally shown over three nights and is very steadily paced. Hickson of course is marvellous as Marple and will not offend in any way (unlike the cheekier McEwen) and she has some terrific support. I am particularly fond of Gwen Watford as Dolly Bantry even if she tires of the investigation more quickly than she does in the book. I have to confess to liking the newer ITV cast more in most of the other roles but I do think that Jess Conrad was born to play Raymond Starr! David Horovitch has his first outing as Slack and is still quite fresh here - I did come to wish that the BBC didn't use him quite so much by the end of the series. On the whole, its good stuff and highly recommended.

kennethkdj This gem is indeed far superior to the Geraldine McEwan version. Although it is a very good attempt and the supporting cast are superb,the period detail very good and is faithful to the book, Miss McEwan just does not have the x factor for Miss Marple. In fact with the contrived voice and the gestures she tries just that bit too hard to achieve what Joan Hickson did with so much ease.I understand that so far only four of the series have been re-filmed out of a total of twelve, and I am sure that out of the available Miss Marple contenders. i.e. Angela Lansbury, Helen Hayes, Maragret Rutherford,Joan Hickson and Geraldene McEwan it will be found that Miss Hickson is the definitive.