"A Pocket Full of Rye" is definitely one of my favorite Miss Marple books. I find the ending of the book to be superb and one of Christie's best. This episode marks "the new wave "in the series, because Miss Marple is not played by Geraldine McEwan, but Julia McKenzie. It's very good start for her.
Let's start with the good aspects.
. The production values of this episode are great. The music fits the good-looking scenery and the acting's solid for the most part. Julia McKenzie is a delight as Miss Marple, very close to the character in the books. Matthew Macfayden and Kenneth Cranham are fine in their roles. Rose Heiney is surprisingly sympathetic as Gladys, Liz White, Helen Baxendale are good and Rupert Graves gives a captivating performance as Lance.
. The mystery is very intriguing indeed. There are great twists, turns, especially at the ending. The solution is very suprising and neat (Lance is the killer).
But....
. There were scenes that did not have a place in the story. The two sex scenes for instance caught me very off-guard and the characters of mister Crump and Ralph Little's police officer were not as developed as they could have been. The story is fast-paced and sometimes maybe bit too much, because the information tends to flow very quickly out of the characters mouths.
Overall, a pretty good one.
8/10 HK.
Let's start with the good aspects.
. The production values of this episode are great. The music fits the good-looking scenery and the acting's solid for the most part. Julia McKenzie is a delight as Miss Marple, very close to the character in the books. Matthew Macfayden and Kenneth Cranham are fine in their roles. Rose Heiney is surprisingly sympathetic as Gladys, Liz White, Helen Baxendale are good and Rupert Graves gives a captivating performance as Lance.
. The mystery is very intriguing indeed. There are great twists, turns, especially at the ending. The solution is very suprising and neat (Lance is the killer).
But....
. There were scenes that did not have a place in the story. The two sex scenes for instance caught me very off-guard and the characters of mister Crump and Ralph Little's police officer were not as developed as they could have been. The story is fast-paced and sometimes maybe bit too much, because the information tends to flow very quickly out of the characters mouths.
Overall, a pretty good one.
8/10 HK.