Losing Their Marples

ITV1’s reworking of Miss Marple was disappointingly poor. Playing up the comedy seems like a good idea in this post-Midsommer Murders world, but what was great about the old Joan Hickson series was the dark, sinister edge that was simply missing here. Instead, Marple (now played by Gerladine McEwan) is a batty old woman, who somehow manages to solve crimes, despite being unable to work out what jumper really should be worn with which skirt. This week, she didn’t really even do much sleuthing, allowing the A-list cast to do all of their trademark routines before declaring who the killers were. Look, there’s Ben Miller playing a pompous rogue. And there! It’s David Walliams as a comedy loner. Oh, and there’s Ian Richardson as an austere patriarch whose legs were blown off seven years ago. And who’s that? Yep, it’s Jamie Theakston playing a large lump of wood. To make matters worse, the conclusion was rewritten (allegedly to provide a similar shock to that original readers would have had on the revelation of the motive), to comprise a couple of unconvincing lesbians. Poor show, indeed, though the gimmicky casting will probably lure us to tuning in again on Sunday…