The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

The Duchess of Duke Street Miniseries…

The Duchess of Duke Street - The Complete Collection [DVD] The Duchess of Duke Street is a BBC series from the mid 1970s. Masterpiece Theatre aired this British miniseries, which is set in Victorian and Edwardian England… the late 1800s and early 1900s. The series follows Louisa Trotter, a young woman from England’s lower class society – during a time when the possibility of bettering your social standing was pretty much nil to nothing.

Louisa (played magnificently by Gemma Jones) works as a scullery maid (the lowest servants’ position possible for women) but has three very strong traits: ambition, the inability to “hold her tongue,” and intelligence. We watch Louisa go from a very young, almost abrasive girl to a self-assured woman of high society.

Gemma Jones’ portrayal of Louisa Trotter, as she goes up the ladder of British society, is absolutely superb. This period BBC (and Masterpiece Theatre) production will stay with you way after you watch the two-season miniseries.

As you watch the episodes in The Duchess of Duke Street, try to keep in mind that the plot is based on the true life story of Rosa Lewis and The Duchess of Duke Street‘s Bentinck Hotel is based on London’s Cavendish Hotel.

The Duchess of Duke Street miniseries takes us along as Louisa goes from being a scullery maid to a great chef, to eventually the owner of a London hotel. Quite a feat for those times!

This period piece production is (to me) delightful. I enjoyed the costumes, make up, acting, sets, and plot line. Fans of Upstairs, Downstairs will no doubt become fans of  The duchess of Duke Street.

Watching it is addictive, but beware – it is not for young children. (Also, it is not a mystery…)

If you would like to see more TV and Movies suggestions, click here.

Hercule Poirot : Appointment with Death – Agatha Christie – PBS NEW Masterpiece Mystery!

Here’s another reminder… Appointment with Death, is the last of the first-run Agatha Christie episodes featuring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot this summer. After tonight’s showing, PBS Masterpiece Mystery! will be airing “encore” presentations of one more Poirot episode, followed by three “encore” presentations of Inspector Lewis, with Kevin Whately… who is absolutely fabulous in this role! If you missed those three episodes, I urge you to watch them (or record them) this summer. There will be one first-run Inspector Lewis episode on August 29. Terrific! I’m looking forward to it already!

Appointment with Death is based on the 1938 Agatha Christie mystery.  And yes, I do know that in the late 1980s, Peter Ustinov starred in a movie based on this Agatha Christie mystery. That version was yet another “Who’s Who” from earlier Hollywood movies: Lauren Bacall, Piper Laurie, Hailey Mills, even Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher)!

This 90 minute version of Appointment with Death will (of course) star David Suchet… AND Tim Curry… who happens to be wonderful in every role he undertakes.

Will Hercule’s little gray cells enable him to solve the mystery? Will Hercule sift through all of the clues and be able to reach the correct solution? And last, but not least (perhaps only for me!), will Hercule be the same Hercule we have all grown to love over the last few decades, and, incidentally, the same Hercule Poirot that Agatha Christie wrote about >>>OR Will Hercule be a different (albeit still very convincing Belgian detective), more soul-searching Monsieur Poirot?

Hercule Poirot : Third Girl – Agatha Christie – PBS NEW Masterpiece Mystery!

Here’s another friendly reminder >>> Don’t forget Hercule Poirot (aka David Suchet) is again going to grace us with his phenomenal little gray cells… tonight, July 18, 2010. Yes, it’s that time again… Someone has done a very terrible “something”… and our favorite Belgian detective is going to tell us who, what, when, and why!

This adaptation of Third Girl  (based on the 1966 Agatha Christie mystery) will star David Suchet… but here’s an extra treat: both the wonderful actress Zoë Wanamaker and the always-great David Yelland will be in tonight’s episode. I won’t list all of their credits, but am guessing you will recognize their very familiar faces… a real treat!

So, I urge you to set up whatever type of recording device you “depend on” for tonight’s showing of Agatha Christie’s Third Girl (check your local PBS schedule for the exact time)… unless you plan on being in front of your television set at the appointed hour!

Hercule Poirot : Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie – PBS NEW Masterpiece Mystery!

Do NOT forget that the latest version of Murder on the Orient Express will be airing tonight, July 11, 2010. Yes, it’s true! The (British) actor David Suchet will deliver yet another perfect portrayal of the Belgian private investigator. (What Jeremy Brett is to Sherlock Holmes, David Suchet is to Hercule Poirot!)

I recently re-watched the 1974 movie version of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (directed by Sidney Lumet) just so that I could compare that particular version to tonight’s Masterpiece Mystery! 90-minute version. (Having already read the Agatha Christie mystery, and seen both the 1974 version of the movie, and a 1930/1940 movie, I knew I wouldn’t be spoiling the actual plot.)

The 1974 movie stars Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot, and has a dream cast of actors from the 1970s. (Watching the 1974 Albert Finney Murder on the Orient Express reminded me of watching Murder, She Wrote… and having all of the “A-list” guest stars in one 2-hour movie…)

If you have a yearning for seeing: Albert Finney and (by alphabetical order) Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Widmark,and Michael York… all in the confines of a very luxurious, absolutely splendorous train setting, with gorgeous chandeliers that shimmer and shine, mother-of-pearl inlays in the (¿mahogany?) wood paneling of the walls, private sleeping cars that are without doubt unequal today, shared sleeping berths that would make you wish you could travel in the second-class section >>>Well then, this 1974 Murder on the Orient Express is for you!

BUT >>> If you have a desire for watching Hercule Poirot as only David Suchet can portray him, then make sure you are either sitting in front of your television tonight (on your local PBS station) OR you don’t forget to set your mode of recording!

I only wish that Hugh Frasier (Capt. Hastings) and Pauline Moran (Miss Lemon) could have come aboard!

MENU