Paul Evans Giles and his beautiful New Zealander wife Gwenda return to the UK, whilst driving through the sleepy village of Dilmouth, they drive past a house which Gwenda falls in love with, the couple quickly snap it up and move in. Gwenda starts to feel deja vu and memories of the house haunt her, she feels like she's been there before and also believes she witnessed a murder there. Miss Marple is called in to solve the puzzle and protect Gwenda.Sleeping Murder is one of my favourite Agatha Christie novels, it has some really dark elements to it, it's very captivating with real life and intriguing characters. I think the production team did an excellent job making it, they characters seem like real people, nobody is too over the top, the story is not too way out.There are several scenes that stand out, firstly the Dutchess of Malfi play, Jacobean drama is particularly heavy, but those words 'cover her faced mind eyes dazzle she died young,' they have such an impact, Gwenda's reaction is wonderfully sincere, the whole staging of the scene is brilliant. The unveiling of the murderer scene is also brilliant, so creepy and sinister.There is lots of tension, they succeeded in creating a definite sense of unease, the music is really spot on, it fits perfectly. The English countryside looks so beautiful too.The acting as always is spot on, not a single weak link in the chain. Joan Hickson is as always bang on the money. John Bennett is excellent as Richard Erskine, what a great actor. Freddie Treves is very good as the sinister Doctor Kennedy, John Moulder Brown is charming as Giles, but it's Geraldine Alexander that puts in a truly fabulous and believable performance as Gwenda, her interpretation is somehow better and more sincere then the character in the book. For years I believed she was actually a New Zealander, so she did a good job with the accent.An excellent production that's a must for any fan of mysteries, may be a little plodding for some, but I think it's spot on, beautifully acted it's such a clever story. 9/10 Miss Marple as the hero!

bob the moo My girlfriend put this film on while I got on with some ironing and I was surprised to find that it was one I hadn't seen before – I had assumed that I had seen almost all of them but yet here I was. The plot is rather clumsy by way of setup as it involves a huge amount of coincidence to get everyone where they need to be; whether it be Gwenda ending up in that house from the other side of the globe or the chance meeting (and involvement) with Miss Marple herself, it is built on coincidence. It took about thirty minutes to get passed this but it manages to do it by laying on the rather supernatural suspense before Marple of course comes in with logic to set us off.From here the film is an enjoyable little tale that brings in characters and motives and investigates them all. The limited history and routes of investigation help make the plot quite easy to follow and as such I was surprised to find that it was one of the more accessible of the BBC Marple's that I've seen. It probably "helps" that it is perhaps a little too obvious who the killer is and what their motives would have been. This wasn't a massive problem for me but I'm so used to being so far behind Marple that it was an odd feeling to be ahead of her for once! The whole film also has quite a light feel to it in stark contrast to the rather prime setting of the English village; the sea-side setting may be part of it but having a "foreigner" in the lead role of the investigation is probably a bigger influence. I don't think Gwenda was a great character but she was quite engaging and her threads allowed Marple to do more observing while we the viewers have it more spelt out for us via her. Miss Marple herself isn't in it that much but her presence is well felt and her read between the lines and tap the grapevine investigation style came over quite well. Of course I would have liked it to have been a little smarter in terms of the development and the resolution but it was quite enjoyable and it didn't hurt to be led through it rather than feeling like you had to work at it – it wasn't quite CSI, but Sleeping Murder certainly felt a lot "gentler" in terms of complexity than the normal Marple's.Hickson is on typically good form even if the material is a bit more obvious than normal; she plays her character well – wise but not "knowing" with it. Alexander didn't convince me at first but she did work as a "normal" person following the leads with a certain amount of intrigue and innocence, she is the actor on the screen most and she did it pretty well. Treves overplays his Scottish doctor a little bit but is fine generally while Moulder-Brown is light and enjoyable.Overall Sleeping Murder isn't a great example of the BBC Marple mainly because it is rather lively, brisk and easily understood – which is not always the case with them. Although I was a little disappointed by how accessible and easy it all was in the end, I did enjoy watching it and found it to easily hold my attention and interest me without being so complex that I stopped paying attention.

TheLittleSongbird Sleeping Murder is one of my favourite Agatha Christie books, I will warn you though I find it very creepy. As an adaptation, this version is surprisingly faithful, much more faithful than the Geraldine McEwan adaptation; that started off well but was ruined by some unnecessary plot changes. This 1987 adaptation looks wonderful, with some beautiful photography and lovely scenery and costumes without being too fancy. A number of scenes gave me nightmares when I first saw it, especially the ending. The book had real nervous edge and left some really haunting imagery inside your head, and the adaptation did very well in that aspect. The script is good, the pace isn't that slow, the music was haunting and beautiful and the acting was solid. Joan Hickson as usual is terrific in the title role, and Geraldine Alexander, like Sophia Myles in the recent version, was entirely captivating as Gwenda. Frederick Treves despite the shaky Scottish accent is quite effective as Kennedy, but John Moulder-Brown is rather wooden as Giles. All in all, a very effective adaptation of an excellent book. 9/10 Bethany Cox

gridoon2018 Let's see, this is an Agatha Christie murder mystery (which teases you with the supernatural at the start, but of course AC did not believe in the supernatural). There is a major character, who is of the right age to have committed the murder, had the motive and the opportunity, but NEVER gets implicated in the investigation, while several other minor characters are considered as the definitive suspects. Do you by any chance suppose that he or she will turn out to be the real killer? I don't know if Christie's story was so obvious on paper, but on the screen I spotted the killer as soon as he appeared, never changed my mind until the end, and I was actually right - something which happens in only about 10% of the mysteries I watch! Otherwise, this film is well-made, with an engaging performance by the lovely Geraldine Alexander, and a tense climax. Miss Marple herself is not the central character is this one, which works out fine. (**1/2)