Violet Hopkins

Violet Hopkins is a non-canonical character created for ITV's 2006 adaptation of the novel The Sittaford Mystery. She was the sister of archaeologist Arthur Hopkins and she worked as a nurse in Egypt in 1927 some 25 years before the events in the show. Like her brother, her relevance to the plot would only emerge during the denouement at the end.

As Miss Marple's investigation and the revelations of Miss Elizabeth Percehouse showed, Violet Hopkins met Clive Trevelyan while he was stationed in Egypt. They fell in love and he made her pregnant. Subsequently Clive abandoned Violet and went back to England to pursue his political ambitions. Violet was disowned by her family because of her illegitimate son and she died some three years later out of neglect in slum in Cairo. Much later her son took on the name of Charles Burnaby.

Violet is only seen a few times in the show but does not have any lines. There is a flashback to her with Clive in Egypt. She also appears as an apparition in Clive's imagination. Miss Percehouse also produced a photograph of Violet with Arthur Hopkins and Clive. The actress who portrayed Violet is named in the show credits. However, during the show, Clive would be attracted to someone else named Violet Willett played by Carey Mulligan. One of factors contributing to his attraction was thought to be the fact that she looked like and reminded him of Violet Hopkins. Some internet resources therefore conclude that Violet Hopkins is played by Carey Mulligan in a dual role.