The Sittaford Mystery (Agatha Christie's Marple episode)

The Sittaford Mystery is the fourth episode of the second series of Agatha Christie's Marple. It was broadcast on ITV by Granada Television on 30 April 2006. The screenplay was written by Stephen Churchett and the episode was directed by Paul Unwin. It was an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name although originally Miss Marple was not involved.

Synopsis
When Clive Trevelyan - Member of Parliament, war hero and heir apparent to Prime Minister Winston Churchill - is killed, Miss Marple sets about to solve the case. Trevelyan has made his fortune many years before in Egypt having secretly uncovered a lost tomb. He is killed during a major snowstorm when there are no police available. There are several possible suspects including Trevelyan's ward, James Pearson and his fiancée Emily Trefusis; his political agent, John Enderby; a journalist Charles Burnaby; a visiting American Martin Zimmerman; and several other apparently disinterested parties. A convict has also escaped from Dartmoor prison. Miss Marple concludes that Trevalyan's murder is related to his days in Egypt and sets about to identify the murderer.

Comparison with the original story

 * The Sittaford Mystery was not originally a Miss Marple book. Some plot elements from the original are retained but spun together differently to result in a totally new story. Most of the characters are new and even the few who have some part of the original names now have totally different backstories.
 * The identity of the killer is not the same as in the novel.
 * Several characters have different names than in the novel.
 * Several characters are omitted or changed.

Cast

 * Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple
 * Timothy Dalton as Clive Trevelyan
 * Robert Hickson as Arthur Hopkins
 * Robert Hardy as Winston Churchill
 * Laurence Fox as James Pearson
 * James Murray as Charles Burnaby
 * Ian Hallard as Reporter
 * Zoe Telford as Emily Trefusis
 * Jeffery Kissoon as Ahmed Ghali
 * Mel Smith as John Enderby
 * Rita Tushingham as Miss Elizabeth Percehouse
 * James Wilby as Stanley Kirkwood
 * Paul Kaye as Ambrose Burt
 * Michael Brandon as Martin Zimmerman
 * Carey Mulligan as Violet Willett
 * Patricia Hodge as Mrs. Evadne Willett
 * Matthew Kelly as Donald Garfield
 * Michael Attwell as Archie Stone
 * Harry as Enderby's pet hawk (uncredited)
 * Laurence Richardson as Journalist (uncredited)
 * Uncredited actress as Violet Hopkins

Filming Locations

 * The Flower Pot Hotel, Aston, Henley-on-Thames - Three Crowns Hotel
 * Dorney Court, Dorney, Buckinghamshire - Interiors of Sittaford House
 * Church of St James the Less, Dorney (so says the Dorney Court web site) - could be the entrance doorway where Enderby hides to take Burnaby by surprise during the trek down to Exhampton in the snow storm
 * Hilfield Castle, Hertfordshire - externals of Sittaford House, but looks more like CGI based on the castle