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This is the very first Poirot/Hastings story. Set in 1916, we meet Captain Hastings as he is invalided out of the Great War and goes to convalesce at Styles Court, the family home of his great friend, John Cavendish. By an extraordinary coincidence, billeted in the village is a brilliant little retired detective with an egg-shaped head, who made a considerable impression on the Captain when he was in Belgium. Styles is not a happy household and in the blistering summer heat, tensions mount.
Recently, there had been some strange goings on at Styles St Mary. Evelyn, constant companion to old Mrs Inglethorp, had stormed out of the house muttering something about "a lot of sharks". And with her, something indefinable had gone from the atmosphere. Her presence had spelt security; now the air seemed rife with suspicion and impending evil.
A Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation starring June Whitfield as the deceptively mild Miss Marple with Ian Lavender, Joan Sims and Susannah Harker. Elspeth McGillicuddy is down from Scotland for a holiday and boards the 4:50 train from Paddington station to visit her friend, Miss Marple. During the journey, another train pulls alongside, and through the window Mrs McGillicuddy witnesses a tall, dark man strangling a blonde woman. She reports what she has seen, yet no one takes any notice.
A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation starring June Whitfield as Miss Marple, the sharp-witted spinster sleuth. In the sleepy little English country village of St Mary Mead, all is not as it seems. Under a seemingly peaceful exterior lurks intrigue, guilt, deception - and murder. Colonel Protheroe, local magistrate and overbearing landowner, is the most detested man in the village. Everyone, even the vicar, wishes he were dead. And very soon he is - shot in the head in the vicar's own study.
Three BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations starring John Shrapnel as Morse and Robert Glenister as Lewis, plus a bonus reading by Colin Dexter of one of his short stories. In Last Seen Wearing, Inspector Morse is reluctant to take over an old missing person case from a dead colleague. But two years, three months and two days after teenager Valerie Taylor's disappearance, somebody decides to supply some surprising new evidence....
As Miss Marple sat basking in the Caribbean sunshine, she felt mildly discontented with life. True, the warmth eased her rheumatism, but here in paradise nothing ever happened. Eventually, her interest was aroused by an old soldier's yarn about strange coincidence. Infuriatingly, just as he was about to show her an astonishing photograph, the Major's attention wandered. He never did finish the story....
This is the very first Poirot/Hastings story. Set in 1916, we meet Captain Hastings as he is invalided out of the Great War and goes to convalesce at Styles Court, the family home of his great friend, John Cavendish. By an extraordinary coincidence, billeted in the village is a brilliant little retired detective with an egg-shaped head, who made a considerable impression on the Captain when he was in Belgium. Styles is not a happy household and in the blistering summer heat, tensions mount.
Recently, there had been some strange goings on at Styles St Mary. Evelyn, constant companion to old Mrs Inglethorp, had stormed out of the house muttering something about "a lot of sharks". And with her, something indefinable had gone from the atmosphere. Her presence had spelt security; now the air seemed rife with suspicion and impending evil.
A Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation starring June Whitfield as the deceptively mild Miss Marple with Ian Lavender, Joan Sims and Susannah Harker. Elspeth McGillicuddy is down from Scotland for a holiday and boards the 4:50 train from Paddington station to visit her friend, Miss Marple. During the journey, another train pulls alongside, and through the window Mrs McGillicuddy witnesses a tall, dark man strangling a blonde woman. She reports what she has seen, yet no one takes any notice.
A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation starring June Whitfield as Miss Marple, the sharp-witted spinster sleuth. In the sleepy little English country village of St Mary Mead, all is not as it seems. Under a seemingly peaceful exterior lurks intrigue, guilt, deception - and murder. Colonel Protheroe, local magistrate and overbearing landowner, is the most detested man in the village. Everyone, even the vicar, wishes he were dead. And very soon he is - shot in the head in the vicar's own study.
Three BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations starring John Shrapnel as Morse and Robert Glenister as Lewis, plus a bonus reading by Colin Dexter of one of his short stories. In Last Seen Wearing, Inspector Morse is reluctant to take over an old missing person case from a dead colleague. But two years, three months and two days after teenager Valerie Taylor's disappearance, somebody decides to supply some surprising new evidence....
As Miss Marple sat basking in the Caribbean sunshine, she felt mildly discontented with life. True, the warmth eased her rheumatism, but here in paradise nothing ever happened. Eventually, her interest was aroused by an old soldier's yarn about strange coincidence. Infuriatingly, just as he was about to show her an astonishing photograph, the Major's attention wandered. He never did finish the story....
In a remote house in the middle of Dartmoor, six shadowy figures huddle around a small table for a seance. Tension rises as the spirits spell out a chilling message: "Captain Trevelyan...dead...murder."
June Whitfield stars as the sharp-witted spinster sleuth in a BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation now available on audio. Miss Marple is totally shocked to receive a letter from the recently deceased Mr Rafiel, an acquaintance she had met briefly on her travels. The letter leaves instructions for Miss Marple, whom Mr Rafiel had recognised as a natural detective, to investigate a crime after his death.
Lady Tresselian invites several guests to stay at her seaside house at Gull’s Point. Against her better judgment she has allowed her late husband’s ward, handsome tennis ace Neville Strange, and his wife Kay to come at the same time as Neville’s ex-wife Audrey. Other guests include Mary, Lady Tresselian’s companion; Ted, Kay’s ever-present friend; Thomas, a family friend who has just returned from spending the war in Africa and Lady Tresselian’s old friend Lord Justice Treves.
A BBC Radio full-cast dramatisation starring June Whitfield as Miss Marple, the deceptively mild spinster sleuth. 'A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29, at Little Paddocks, at 6:30pm. Friends please accept this, the only intimation.' Nestled among the usual notices about dogs for sale and appeals for domestic help, the startling entry in the personal column of the Chipping Cleghorn Gazette has the the entire village agog with curiosity. Is it a game? And who is meant to attend?
Miss Marple is told that her old friend, Carrie, is in danger and she goes to stay with her at Stoneygates, a home for maladjusted adolescents. While she is there, tragedy strikes as Carrie's step-son, Christian Gulbrandsen, is shot dead. There are at least seven suspects and two more murders follow. But the man with the obvious motive has a cast-iron alibi, as he could hardly be in two places at once - or could he? June Whitfield once again stars as the indomitable amateur detective.
In these two dramas, she puts her extraordinary mind to work investigating cases of disguise, dismemberment, mayhem and murder. In Speedy Death, a country house in the 1920s is rocked by a murder which takes place in a room which is first locked, then later unlocked. As fingers point and the suspects begin to turn on each other, another death occurs. Then The Mystery of a Butcher's Shop sees Mrs Bradley investigating as a headless body is found in the butcher's shop.
Gwenda Reed arrives from New Zealand, travelling ahead of her husband with the task of finding the perfect place to make their base. In the quiet village of Dilmouth, she finds a house with immediate appeal. A few renovations will convert it into her ideal home. Then things get very strange indeed. Wanting porch stairs, Gwenda hires a builder to put them in - only to find some old steps, covered up by bushes.
Clive Merrison and Michael Williams star as Holmes and Watson in this collection of stories from the unique fully dramatised BBC Radio 4 canon, based on Arthur Conan Doyle's original short stories. The 12 dramatisations include 'A Scandal in Bohemia'; 'The Red-Headed League'; 'A Case of Identity'; 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery'; 'The Five Orange Pips'; 'The Man with the Twisted Lip'; and 'The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle'.
"Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe," declared the parson, "would be doing the world at large a service!" It was a careless remark for a man of the cloth. And one which was to come back and haunt the clergyman just a few hours later. From seven potential murderers, Miss Marple must seek out the suspect who has both motive and opportunity.
It's very easy to kill - so long as no one suspects you.' So says Miss Pinkerton when ex-policeman Luke Fitzwilliam meets her on a train. Luke doesn't take much notice of this little old lady's story about a serial killer on the loose in her village - until her predictions start to come true, when he feels compelled to check it out. Very soon the race is on to prevent any more murders...
John Moffat stars as the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in seven more BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations. The stories in this volume are: Evil Under the Sun, Sad Cypress, Murder in Mesopotamia, Lord Edgware Dies, Halloween Party, Murder on the Links and Five Little Pigs. Based on the original novels by Agatha Christie, these superb adaptations feature a cast of outstanding actors playing an array of likely suspects.
A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation starring June Whitfield as Miss Marple. Recuperating from a flying accident, Jerry Burton needs to take a break somewhere peaceful. He and his sister rent a house in the little village of Lymstock, where they know no-one and hope to be able to relax. Their quiet life is shattered, however, by the arrival of an obscene anonymous letter accusing them of impropriety. Jerry refuses to take it seriously and throws it on the fire.
A millionaire strikes a deal on the seedier side of Paris and a priceless cache of rubies becomes destined for his beloved daughter, Rachel.
Two days later Rachel is dead - murdered on a train on her way to the Riviera to meet her scoundrel lover: a mysterious, dark man. The suspects line up... only master slueth Hercule Poirot can unravel the mystery and find the truth.
Maurice Denhham stars as the great Belgian detective in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation.
An excellent Agatha Christie book superbly brought to life with a professional full cast of some of the best British actors. Actor Maurice Denham pulls of a good performance though for me, he is no true Hercule Poirot & John Moffat should be in the role as he is on the rest of this full cast collection. True Christie to listen to & enjoy anywhere anytime any place.
I have become addicted to the dramatized Poirot stories in the past year or so. After listening to about 20 of them, I have noticed a few things. Some seem to follow a rather set pattern while others go along in a seemingly nonsensical way until -bam!- the solution appears.
This book is unique in that where it has many elements of other Agatha Christie tales (ex: a murder on a train, a romance that may or may not be a good idea, Poirot's ambiguity on certain moral issues) it stands apart in how the story plays out. As usual, there are suspects a-plenty, but every time you think you have the killer pegged, that's about the time a new prime suspect crops up. It should keep you engaged all the way through without the annoying "Oh, it's obvious that guy did it and now I have to listen to 2 more hours of an unnecessary story" syndrome.
There was one main difference in this dramatization from the majority (or even all) of the others available: Hercule Poirot is voiced by a different actor. I was really used to John Moffat in the role and as such, hearing Maurice Denham exercising his "little grey cells" was a little hard for me. It was a little like switching Darrens (or Beckys, depending on your generation) and that took me out of the story. But after listening to it 3 or 4 times (yes, it's good enough to do that), he grew on me. I still prefer John Moffat, but not to the point where I can't listen.
As for the rest of the main cast, I don't know all the names, but the voices for Mr Van Alden, Major Knighton, Katherine Grey and Derek Kettering seemed spot on. The voice for Mirelle was really shrill and grating, but that fit the character perfectly. Ruth Kettering sounded like she was the same actress as Louise from "Murder in Mesopotamia" and for some reason, I can't see her as either of those characters. Her voice has a slight lisp to it that doesn't fit with the image of a glamorous femme fatale, but that's my take. The voice of Ada Mason just drove me batty, but again, maybe that was the point for the character.
All in all, this is one of my favorite Poirot stories. I really recommend it if you enjoy Agatha Christie at all.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
Would you listen to The Mystery of the Blue Train (Dramatised) again? Why?
it was very interesting and exciting to hear the voices of different characters
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Mystery of the Blue Train (Dramatised)?
The ending which was surprising a great who done it.
What about Maurice Denhham’s performance did you like?
The depth of portraying the characters
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Money; deception and love of money