There are two things writers for TV should never rewrite--Shakespeare and Agatha Christie. Both are too classic and are sure to annoy purist fans. Secondly, Agatha needs no rewriting, because she can still cut it on her own. Her books don't need updating to entertain even young viewers.
As a project for my honors senior British Lit this year each of them had to pick a different Christie novel to read and analyze. After doing research on Agatha's life, they had questions to answer about the time period, the slang, the customs of the society, etc. Since even her most recent novels predate these kids by forty years, they all seem old to them and they just accepted that as a given. To my delight, not one kid reported being bored with the novel they picked. Some were frankly incredulous as the way the novel had drawn them in and at the ingenious plotting techniques the author used. They also gained tremendously from having to "decipher" some of the British references and putting them into context. One of the things they had to identify were historical references to events, things or persons. To my astonishment--I'd never picked up on this--one of my students realized that the plot point upon which Mrs. McGinty's Dead turns is archaic--no one writes letters using fountain pens anymore, therefore Mrs. McGinty buying a bottle of ink was something this student definitely found an interesting piece of history. This was only one incident in a unit that brought many interesting pieces of information to their attention and the parallels they found between Agatha's life and the books was masterly.
These kids were raised on computers and action films. If they can find a read through a richly plotted Agatha Christie novel fun and challenging, then surely Masterpiece Theatre can show the Queen of Crime some respect and stop eviscerating her work. I will not watch these horrible adaptations. They make me too angry.
If I want to see Miss Marple, I'll rent something with Joan Hickson which adheres to the original.
As a project for my honors senior British Lit this year each of them had to pick a different Christie novel to read and analyze. After doing research on Agatha's life, they had questions to answer about the time period, the slang, the customs of the society, etc. Since even her most recent novels predate these kids by forty years, they all seem old to them and they just accepted that as a given. To my delight, not one kid reported being bored with the novel they picked. Some were frankly incredulous as the way the novel had drawn them in and at the ingenious plotting techniques the author used. They also gained tremendously from having to "decipher" some of the British references and putting them into context. One of the things they had to identify were historical references to events, things or persons. To my astonishment--I'd never picked up on this--one of my students realized that the plot point upon which Mrs. McGinty's Dead turns is archaic--no one writes letters using fountain pens anymore, therefore Mrs. McGinty buying a bottle of ink was something this student definitely found an interesting piece of history. This was only one incident in a unit that brought many interesting pieces of information to their attention and the parallels they found between Agatha's life and the books was masterly.
These kids were raised on computers and action films. If they can find a read through a richly plotted Agatha Christie novel fun and challenging, then surely Masterpiece Theatre can show the Queen of Crime some respect and stop eviscerating her work. I will not watch these horrible adaptations. They make me too angry.
If I want to see Miss Marple, I'll rent something with Joan Hickson which adheres to the original.