OK, it’s technically not summer yet. Earlier this week, I was going to bed in a sweater. Today, I’m wearing my lightest kaftan, and it’s only 8:00 am. After what feels like a solid month of gray days, it looks like summer has arrived early in the UK. Look, don’t just take my word for it. Is it too late to book annual leave for next week? Sadly, no leave because of the boy’s school schedule.
The remedy for all this unrelenting heat? A nice vintage series accompanied by a cold beer, and this Miss Marple one is turning out to hit just all the right notes.
The whole family sat down to watch season 1 this weekend, which has some of the classics – The Body in the Library, The Murder at the Vicarage, 4:50 from Paddington, and A Murder is Announced.
Unlike the Kenneth Branagh monstrosities, this series is true to the novels, as far as I can tell. There are some plot twists to retain an element of surprise, but overall, they don’t drastically differ from the books.
I know there are numerous Miss Marple adaptations – the Angela Lansbury ones being the most famous, but I haven’t seen any of them, and I am charmed enough by the ITVx adaptation that I plan to watch all of these movies over the course of this summer.
I say I, but actually, it’s a we. For once, the whole family is in agreement. My husband K who normally dislikes murder stories loves the soothing charm of the British countryside – so much so that barely three months after living in London, we are considering moving to a smaller town or village.
I don’t really know if modern villages still have the same Miss Marple vibe. Do people still appear unannounced on a neighbors doorstep bringing food from the garden or useful neighborhood intelligence? Not many, I’d wager. If your life is like this, please share in the comments!
The kids surprisingly love Miss Marple too. They haven’t read the books, but they love her grandmotherly vibe, Snubnose has desperately tried and failed to guess the murderer in all 4 movies we have watched so far. K surprisingly is pretty on-target. He guessed one of the murderers in The Body in the Library and The Murder at the Vicarage. He came very close in A Murder is Announced. He’s a lot more perceptive than I thought 🫢. Piglet watches it with us, trying to understand all the nuances, which he’s still too young to get.
So, yes, summer viewing is sorted for now ☺️.
What series/movies are you watching these days?
