4:50 from Paddington (Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple)

4:50 from Paddington (パディントン発4時50分 - Padinton Hatsu Yonjigojūbun) was a Japanese anime television story produced by Oriental Light and Magic for NHK television. The story was broadcast in four episodes and formed Episodes 21 - 24 of NHK's anime series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple. The adaptation was written by Shôji Yonemura, directed chiefly by Naohito Takahashi and broadcast between 9 January 2005 and 30 January 2005. It was an adaptation of the Agatha Christie's 4.50 from Paddington.

Production Details
The story arc is narrated and broadcast in 4 episodes as follows:

Synopsis
As with the other episodes in this series, the main protagonist is Mabel West, the daughter of Raymond West who spends her time alternating between working for Poirot in London and spending time with her great aunt in St. Mary Mead. This allows her to be involved in cases investigated by both of them. In this story, Elspeth McGillicuddy, a friend of Miss Marple, witnesses a murder on a passing train while on her way to visit St Mary Mead. The police stop investigating when they cannot find the body. Mabel persuades Miss Marple to send her on a dangerous undercover mission to find out the truth.

Comparison with Original Story
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read)
 * The early part of the story line follows the original quite closely except for a few details. After Elspeth reports witnessing the murder, Miss Marple asks Constable Hearst to check which trains could have passed alongside the 4.50 from Paddington train. In the original novel, this research was done by David West.
 * There is no Lucy Eyelesbarrow. Mabel persuades Miss Marple to let her go undercover into Rutherford Hall as a maid. She is the one who discovers the corpse.
 * The plot still parallels the original up to the poisoning of the Crackenthorpe family. Alfred and Harold are killed in the same way as in the original. Here, Bryan is also one of the poisoning victims but survived.
 * Thereafter, the Martine storyline is where the plotlines diverge. Earlier, James, Mabel and Alex had overheard Emma telling Dr Quimper that she had a letter from one "Martine" who claimed to be the wife of Edmund. James is startled because his mother's name is also Martine. When he gets home, he asks his mother about his own background. This leads his mother to pay a visit to Emma to tell her the truth: that she had in fact married Edmund before he was killed in the war and that James was Edmund's son. In the book, Martine had not married Edmund and there is no suggestion that James is Edmund's son.
 * The Anna Stravinska angle was not dramatised at all. The body was not identified as such. Miss Marple only surmised that it must be Quimper's wife. After the death of Alfred and Harold, Miss Marple recalled Elspeth from Southern France and they went straight into the denouement which takes place much as in the original novel.
 * After being identified by Elspeth, Quimper attempts to escape but is caught by policemen stationed in the grounds. In the book, Quimper lunged at Miss Marple but was caught by Cedric and Bryan. He then told Emma that he did it because he loved her, and that his wife (who was never named) would not agree to a divource. Later Craddock says that Quimper confessed to the whole series of killings.
 * The show ends with James expressing gratitude for having a new found family. He also tells Mabel that he is pleased to have met her and suggests that if she is returning to London, they should be able to meet again soon.

Characters/Voice Talents
Note not every voice talent is credited. It is also possible that some of the voice talents supplied the voice of more than one character
 * Masako Jô as Oliver
 * Masataka Nakai	as James
 * Fumiko Orikasa as Mabel West
 * Daisuke Sakaguchi as Alex
 * Kaoru Yachigusa as Miss Marple
 * Kenji Hamada as Inspector Craddock
 * Daisuke Ono as Harold Crackenthorpe
 * Emi Shinohara as Emma Crackenthorpe
 * Akio Ôtsuka as Cedric Crackenthorpe (as Akio Ohtsuka)
 * Keaki Mori as Martine
 * Alfred Crackenthorpe
 * Elspeth McGillicuddy
 * Edna
 * Constable Hearst
 * Florence Hill
 * Mrs Kidder
 * Luther Crackenthorpe
 * Dr Quimper