By the Pricking of My Thumbs (Agatha Christie's Marple episode)

By the Pricking of My Thumbs is the third episode of the second series of Agatha Christie's Marple. It was broadcast on ITV by Granada Television on 19 February 2006. The screenplay was written by Stewart Harcourt and the episode was directed by Peter Medak. It was an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name although originally Miss Marple was not involved.

Summary
When Tommy and Tuppence Beresford visit Tommy's elderly aunt in her nursing home, Tuppence is concerned by the odd behavior of some staff and residents. So when Tuppence hears about Aunt Ada's sudden death and the disappearance of her friend Mrs Lancaster, she realizes her concerns were right. Tuppence meets Miss Marple and together they follow a path of clues that lead them to the Norfolk village of Farrell St Edmund, where they find a community guarding an array of secrets. Only by getting to the bottom of these secrets do they begin to unravel the truth about the mystery of Aunt Ada's death and Mrs Lancaster's disappearance.

Comparison with the original story
The plot originally featured Tommy and Tuppence Beresford as detectives in their own right but for the episode the story was altered by sending Tommy away on military intelligence business abroad and re-writing his part for for Miss Marple.

Cast

 * Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple
 * Chloe Pennington as Young Hannah
 * Oliver Jordan as Young Ethan
 * Anthony Andrews as Tommy Beresford
 * Greta Scacchi as Tuppence Beresford
 * Clare Holman as Miss Packard
 * Miriam Karlin as Marjorie Moody
 * June Whitfield as Mrs Lancaster
 * Claire Bloom as Aunt Ada
 * Steven Berkoff as Mr Eccles
 * Patrick Barlow as Mr. Timothy
 * O-T Fagbenle as Chris Murphy
 * Jody Halse as Amos Perry
 * Josie Lawrence as Hannah Beresford
 * Michael Maloney as Dr. Joshua Waters
 * Michelle Ryan as Rose Waters
 * Michael Begley as Ethan Maxwell
 * Lia Williams as Nellie Bligh
 * Charles Dance as Septimus Bligh
 * Bonnie Langford as Betty Johnson
 * Brian Conley as Eric Johnson
 * Leslie Phillips as Sir Philip Starke
 * Eliza Bennett as Nora Johnson
 * Florence Strickland as Actress playing Jane Eyre

Research notes
In the episode, posters of a Jane Eyre movie are often shown. These posters, with the necessary modifications, are actually the ones used for the American 1943 directed by Robert Stevenson, adapted from the Charlotte Brontë novel.