Murder At The Vicarage (1986)

When a retired Colonel (Robert Lang) is found shot to death in the vicar's (Paul Eddington) study, there is no shortage of suspects. The man was universally disliked, even by his wife (Polly Adams) and daughter (Tara MacGowran). Based on the novel by Agatha Christie novel and directed by Julian Amyes. The first novel to feature Miss Marple, this is a decent if unimaginative adaptation. The details and the atmosphere of the sleepy village of St. Mary Mead are all perfect. But the whole venture seems rather lackadaisical with no real sense of mystery which is essential to a good whodunit. The acting seems rather bland on the whole with the exception, of course, of Joan Hickson as Miss Marple who once again embodies Christie's octogenarian heroine to perfection. But the characters seem so nondescript and the victim so unlikable that we really don't care much who killed him. With Rosalie Crutchley, Cheryl Campbell, James Hazeldine, Norma West and David Horovitch.