The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death Television Movie

Good news! Ian sent me a note all the way from across the pond telling me something I absolutely have GOT to share with you all. M.C. Beaton‘s first Agatha Raisin mystery has been made into a television movie. Since they are showing the movie in Great Britain on Boxing Day (December 26), we should be getting “Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death” pretty soon.

Ian:

Just in case you’re not aware, the first Agatha Raisin book ‘…and the Quiche of Death’ has been filmed and is going to be on Sky1 (in the UK at least) on Boxing Day. The trailer makes it look quite good and it stars Ashley Jensen (Extras) as Agatha.

Thank you, Ian! We won’t be seeing it for a while, but it’s great to know they have made it!

Here’s the trailer I found on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4jlAieV5vE

I’m already looking forward to seeing this television movie. If you’re anything like me, you are probably wondering why Ashley Jensen (a beautiful, trim blond) is playing Agatha Raisin. Keep in mind, they had beautiful Sharon Small playing Sgt. Barbara Havers in the Inspector Lynley television shows, and that show was very good.

Again, thank you, Ian!

Jeeves & Wooster – British Television Comedy Series

Jeeves & Wooster Complete Collection Have you ever wondered why the name “Jeeves” has somehow become associated with butlers? Well, I can tell you >>> it comes from the classic British series, “Jeeves”, written by P.G. Wodehouse from the 1910s clear until the 1960s. (P.G. Wodehouse is one of the non-mystery authors I have on my site. Even though they aren’t mysteries, they certainly provide a Cozy-ish atmosphere due to their recurring characters and settings.)

Wodehouse’s character Jeeves so personified the unfailingly polite and devoted manservant that the name soon became almost a general noun associated with all butlers – despite the fact that Jeeves wasn’t even a butler; he was a valet!

Of course, the books are quite excellent, but today there is a more accessible way to become well-acquainted with these classic characters. Originally airing from 1990 to 1993, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie starred in the roles of the iconic valet and his bumbling master in the BBC series, Jeeves and Wooster. The series had the good sense not to meddle too much with the classic stories originally told by Wodehouse, instead only changing smaller details and allowing the actors to improvise slightly in ways that better fit their personal styles >>> and what style they have!

Both the lead actors really shine in their roles. Hugh Laurie makes an almost effortless overconfident and cheerful Bertie Wooster, who always means well but never quite has the intelligence to pull off his often-zany solutions to what other people would consider minor problems. Stephen Fry’s dry, witty demeanor is a perfect fit for ever-calm-and-collected Jeeves, always ready on hand to solve whatever misadventure his master has accidentally landed in.

The supporting cast is excellent as well, though the episodic nature of the show means that few actors return for more than a handful of appearances. Instead the audience is regaled with a rotating cast of Bertie’s social club friends, most featuring ridiculous nicknames like “Tuffy,” “Oofy,” or “Gussie” – names that really tell you just about all you really need to know about them. Also demanding on his time are Bertie’s Aunts (usually Aunt Agatha, sometimes Aunt Dahlia, just once Aunt Hilda), who are always trying to “fix” the unfortunate Bertie, often by attaching him to a “suitable” woman.

Even today, Jeeves has a clear influence on modern authors: Emily Brightwell’s Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series shows elements of Wodehouse in the relationship she has developed between the incompetent Inspector Witherspoon and his efficient and unflappable head of household, Mrs. Jeffries. The Jeeves series has withstood the test of time, and even helped form elements of modern literature, and the televised series is a great way to at least get an introduction to the adventures of Jeeves & Wooster.

P.S. To me, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are Jeeves & Wooster – they’re perfect in the role, and are the adaptation that will likely forever cement my mental image of the characters. That said, there is another television adaptation of Wodehouse’s original works, the 1960s series The World of Wooster, starring Ian Carmichael as Bertie and Dennis Price as Jeeves. Though I haven’t seen this series, the actors seem like good picks, and I could easily see someone from an earlier generation picking them as “their” Bertie and Jeeves.

“Evil Under the Sun” – Poirot Comes to Life in Peter Ustinov’s 1982 Portrayal

Agatha Christie Mysteries Collection [DVD] A while back I wrote about the series of shows starring David Suchet as Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. I said then that all of the actors in those shows portraying Christie’s characters “‘became’ the characters they portrayed….” I still believe that Suchet’s portrayal of the little Belgian detective (who was Agatha Christie’s most popular detective) is definitive, and I might say the “last word.”

However, I  recently watched the 1982 version of  Agatha Christie’s Evil Under the Sun in which Peter Ustinov played Poirot, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the acting and the movie – I was quite pleasantly surprised. I guess I was especially surprised because I remembered having seen Ustinov’s Poirot in other movies (he played Poirot a total of six times between 1978 and 1986) and, although I remember enjoying the movies, I didn’t remember his Poirot as completely hitting the mark. Now I think he does a perfect job. Ustinov is able to give Hercule a certain (dare I say it!) normalcy of sorts, and also plays Hercule with a twinkle in his eye. I truly enjoyed him in this movie.

Maybe it was something about this production – Agatha Christie’s Evil Under the Sun – that caused me to see Ustinov’s Poirot in a different and better light. The story takes place in a fictional island off the coast of Albania.  The movie is set in a beautiful location (it was actually filmed on location in Spain’s Majorca) and has a high quality cast – Maggie Smith, James Mason, Roddy McDowall and Diana Rigg (among others) each performing splendidly in the idyllic setting of a hotel/villa overlooking the sea.

The film is filled with gorgeous costumes – beautiful colors surround the wonderful acting by this veteran cast.  It just leaps off the screen that the actors were having a good time together. To cap it all off, the use of Cole Porter songs as (mostly) background music was a brilliant stroke. The setting, the cast, the costumes, the music, the period, and of course Agatha Christie’s classic story beautifully told make for a great couple of hours of movie watching.

P.S. Agatha Christie’s Evil Under the Sun is available on Netflix.

Rough Diamond (USA) Diamond Geezer (UK) Television Series

It has been a few years since I watched this British television series, however I remember it as a fun show to watch. I had seen every one of the A Touch of Frost episodes, and at the time, I was searching to see if David Jason (Jack Frost) had any other mystery shows I could watch. I was delighted to find Rough Diamond (2008) but wasn’t very happy to see that it only aired one year. (This is not a mystery show. It is more like Mission Impossible, only with thieves.)

The premise of Rough Diamond is this: Des (David Jason) is an “older” (thus the UK’s title Diamond Geezer) Mastermind thief who we first encounter in prison. He seems to have worked his way up the prison’s hierarchical ladder, as he is now in charge of taking around the tea cart. Of course, we hope that his prison time has rehabilitated him!

Upon his “release”, however, Des isn’t content with serving tea. He decides to go back to his old ways >>> since he truly never left them.

The production crew of Rough Diamond must have had great fun coming up with the different disguises Jason donned. David Jason is able to pull off all of the disguises with boyish glee.

I have to admit that this series is pretty zany. I mean, how realistic is it that a 60+ year old man would be able to lead his cohorts on the criminal escapades they go on? It is still a delightful show to me. Even if I had trouble buying that these older men were zipping around, pulling off dangerous capers with the precise punctuality they required, I had a good time watching them. (If television viewers can buy CSI’s and Law & Order’s 60 second DNA test results, then why can’t television viewers equally buy a sixty plus year old cat burglar?!?)

If you decide to watch this British import, suspend your belief, get comfortable, kick your shoes off, and enjoy David Jason >>> again!

P.S. It is available on Netflix.

MENU