In some of my user-comments I jokingly mentioned that, next to my wife and daughter - and possibly my mother - dame Agatha Christie is the most important woman in my life. The more I read of her work, and the more film/TV-adaptations of her work I watch, this actually becomes less and less of a joke. This is perhaps a bit of a dramatization, but my life would be a lot more boring without reading the occasional Christie novel or watching a convoluted whodunit based on her stories.
This relatively short and superficial documentary is mainly just interesting for people who are not or hardly familiar with Christie and her legacy. For the more avid fans, and certainly for those who read her autobiography, it doesn't have a lot of new info or footage to share. The parts that are most interesting are recording of Agatha's Christie's actual voice, and footage filmed by herself during archeological expeditions she went on with her second husband.
What I personally admired about this documentary is how it aptly emphasizes what an autodidactic, independent, mentally strong, ambitious and borderline stubborn woman she was. She studied, did voluntary nursing work, traveled around the world alone and with partners, and responded uniquely to her first husband's adultery. Agatha Christie was a feminist before the term existed, and she probably wouldn't have thought of herself as one. Her many interests and passions, all of which frequently feature in her novels and plays, are briefly covered as well. There's the use of herbs in medicine, archeology, exotic places as well as small traditional villages, large family estates, ...
It's really cool as well that Mrs. Christie's actual grandson and great-grandson are among the people/experts interviewed. How I wished she was my grandmother!