John Burnaby

In the novel The Sittaford Mystery, Major John Edward Burnaby is living in Sittaford. He is a longtime friend of Joseph Trevelyan. He likes solving crosswords.

Agatha Christie's Marple
Massive changes are made to this character in ITV's 2006 adaptation of the novel. The first name is retained but the last names are swapped with that of the journalist Charles Enderby so that this close associate of Clive Trevelyan becomes "John Enderby". Like John Burnaby in the original, he is ex-military. In this adaptation, John Enderby is Trevelyan's closest and most loyal friend and his political agent in the constituency. He resides in Sittaford House and manages the constituency matters of Exhampton while Trevelyan is in London. The role of killer is given over to the journalist, now renamed "Charles Burnaby". John Enderby is portrayed by Mel Smith.

John Enderby tells Miss Marple that his friendship and loyalty stemmed from the First World War when Trevelyan saved his life by dragging him out of no man's land. Like John Burnaby in the original, John Enderby also trekked from Sittaford House to Exhampton. In this case this was because he had discovered a plot to poison his friend. Someone had poisoned a box of after dinner Turkish Delight. Fortunately, Enderby had fed one to his pet hawk Harry who promptly died. John Enderby arrives at the Three Crowns Hotel in time to be told that Trevelyan had been murdered. As the hotel is snowbound and there is no local police available, Enderby takes a lead in the investigations, a role that he plays until the police take over at the end of the show.