Jane in Search of a Job (The Agatha Christie Hour episode)

Jane in Search of a Job is the ninth episode of the television series The Agatha Christie Hour and is based on the Agatha Christie short story of the same name.

Synopsis
An unemployed girl is the spitting image of a Grand Duchess fearing to be assassinated by the anarchists. So, she accepts to impersonating her in a charity fête, risking her life for a very big sum of money.

Comparison with original story
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) The adaptation is fairly faithful to the original story except that many characters in the original who did not have names are given names here.

A number of additional scenes are inserted for dramatic interest. For example, standing in the queue is dealt with quickly in the text but in the adaptation, Jane interacts with the person before her, one Holly de Witt. After Jane gets the job, she shares the details (despite being told not to) with her fellow tenant Nigel Guest (the unnamed young man in the original). The bazaar is also dramatised in detail.

Nigel plays a significantly larger role than the unnamed man in the original. Besides knowing the details of Jane's job. He scouts the area before the bazaar. He also follows Jane on a motorbike. But in this case he also notifies the police before going to rescue Jane and he does get knocked out. After they both come to, he goes off to summon the police.

In this adaptation, the robbery gang has to pass through a road block. They pose as French people just coming from the bazaar. The police let them pass, but it is later revealed that, having been alerted by Nigel, they also accepted his suggestion to let the gang through so that they would lead the police to the rest of the gang.

Cast

 * Elizabeth Garvie as Jane Cleveland
 * Andrew Bicknell as Nigel Guest
 * Amanda Redman as Pauline, Grand Duchess of Ostravia
 * Stephanie Cole as Princess Anna
 * Tony Jay as Count Streptitch
 * Geoffrey Hinsliff as Colonel Kranin
 * Julia McCarthy as Miss Northwood
 * Helen Lindsay as Lady Anchester
 * Robert McBain as Police Superintendent
 * George Waring as Station Sergeant
 * Hetty Baynes as Holly de Witt
 * Roy Macready as Mr Bissell
 * Neville Phillips as Delemain
 * Josie Kidd as Miss Thristle
 * Martin Chamberlain as Police Sergeant
 * Richard Tate as Manfred
 * Tex Fuller as Chauffeur
 * Mac Andrews as Footman