The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

New (2011) PBS Masterpiece Mystery Episodes: Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis, & Zen

If you are anything like my family, then you will be VERY pleased to know that PBS has a new Masterpiece Mystery! summer planned for us. I have to tell you, I am EXCITED about their new 2011 line-up!

Our very favorite Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot, will be the “opening act” (so to speak). Beginning on Sunday, June 19, David Suchet will be gracing us with three new 90-minute Hercule Poirot mysteries. Yes, Poirot, with the help of his little, grey cells, will be solving crimes for the usually-baffled police. (I am especially excited to see what Masterpiece Mystery! will be doing with Agatha Christie’s Hallowe’en Party. It is one of my seasonal mysteries that I never tire of hearing/reading.)

Enter one of the most beloved little, old lady sleuths, with her knitting needles… That’s right, following Poirot will be Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple‘s turn to solve a crime. Unfortunately, there will only be one new Miss Marple Masterpiece Mystery! movie, but one is better than none. (Miss Marple is played by Julia McKenzie.)

The next Masterpiece Mystery! series to air is Zen, a new series which will be set in today’s Italy. The series is based on the mysteries by Michael Dibdin, and will star Rufus Sewell.

Yet another nice surprise is seeing that Inspector Lewis (starring Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox) will be returning in September 2011. (I have had to guess at the titles of the episodes, as they are not yet listed on the PBS site. I’m pretty sure of their chronological order.)

Sunday, June 19, 2011 – Hercule Poirot:  Three Act Tragedy

Sunday, June 26, 2011 – Hercule Poirot:  The Clocks

Sunday, July 3, 2011 – Hercule Poirot:  Hallowe’en Party

Sunday, July 10, 2011 – Miss Marple: The Pale Horse

Sunday, July 17, 2011 – Zen: Vendetta

Sunday, July 24, 2011 – Zen: Cabal

Sunday, July 31, 2011 – Zen: Ratking

Sunday, September 4, 2011 – Inspector Lewis: Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things (?)

Sunday, September 18, 2011 – Inspector Lewis: Wild Justice (?)

Sunday, September 25, 2011 – Inspector Lewis: The Mind Has Mountains (?)

Sunday, October 9, 2011 – Inspector Lewis: The Gift of Promise (?)

Looks like we will soon be in for a lot of Masterpiece Mystery! sleuthing…

Elizabeth R Television Miniseries with Glenda Jackson

There are a few PBS British miniseries that I believe are classics: Upstairs, Downstairs, I Claudius, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, and the 1970s version of Elizabeth R, starring Glenda Jackson.

Elizabeth R follows Elizabeth, the daughter of Ann Boleyn and Henry VIII as she goes from being a young red-head beauty to the gray-haired (red-wigged) reigning queen of Great Britain. Glenda Jackson stars as Queen Elizabeth I her entire adult life. They did not switch out actresses as she aged.

The make up and costumes showed this royal trend-setting woman age, I want to say, at least sixty years. Glenda Jackson was able to depict the vulnerability, intelligence, and strength of this monarch at every age-stage of her life. Jackson (and her make up) was terrific!

The sets are regal, you can almost touch the deep royal blue and crimson velvet. The magnificent jewels make you wonder why there were poor people suffering under her reign…

The people at the BBC outdid themselves on this Emmy award winning production.

We watch as Elizabeth goes from being the banished “bastard” child of Henry VIII, to a strong queen who must put aside her personal feelings to do what she thinks is best for her kingdom. (Her mother was indeed married to Henry, although he labeled her as being that.) The threat posed by Mary, Queen of Scots must be resolved, she insists on making her won decision about marriage, and she must hold on to (and expand!) her country’s borders.

Elizabeth R is a six-part miniseries, which is actually six plays that have been pieced together. Glenda Jackson takes us seamlessly through the Virgin Queen’s life. Robert Hardy (yes, the same Robert Hardy from All Creatures Great & Small) was delightful as “Robin,” Elizabeth’s special friend.

I strongly recommend this 1970s BBC miniseries.

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

Midsomer Murders Television Series… John Nettles Passes the Baton to Neil Dudgeon…

The recent comments on my Midsomer Murders entry (from 2008) made me want to go seek out the information about Inspector Tom Barnaby leaving the county of Midsomer. Yikes! I’ve been able to get used to the different sergeants who work for Tom, but Tom is leaving?!? (And taking Joyce and Cully with him?!?)

Midsomer Murders is (of course) still playing in Great Britain, and, unfortunately we have to make due with being a little behind on the goings-on in Midsomer… a definite case of better late than never! But here’s the scoop:

Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) will be visited by his cousin John Barnaby during the first episode in England’s season 13. Actually, this has probably already happened…

The good news is that John Barnaby will be played by Neil Dudgeon. For those of you who remember the Mrs. Bradley Mysteries (with Diana Rigg), you will no doubt remember George Moody, Mrs. Bradley’s chauffeur (or was he more?!?) Yep, that was Neil Dudgeon. (I loved that series, and I loved the chemistry between Rigg and Dudgeon.)

End of Season 12 (2009-2010):

Small Mercies
The Creeper
The Great and the Good

Season 13 (2010-2011):

The Sword of Guillaume (Tom’s cousin John Barnaby is introduced.)
The Made-to-Measure Murders
Blood on the Saddle
The Silent Land
Master Class
The Noble Art
Not in My Back Yard
Fit for Murder    (Tom Barnaby leaves.)

Season 14 (2011-2012):

Death in the Slow Lane (John Barnaby arrives.)
Dark Secrets
Echoes of the Dead
The Oblong Murders
The Sleeper under the Hill
The Stag

I have enumerated the seasons with the numbers from England. It sure would be a whole lot easier if Amazon would use the same numbers for their seasons as they do across the pond, wouldn’t it?

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