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Joan Sims 'Miss Marple' (1984) 1

Actress Joan Sims as Miss Murgatroyd

In the novel A Murder is Announced, Miss Amy Murgatroyd lived on a farm with Miss Hinchcliffe. She was able to see who left the room in the darkness, just before the shooting at Little Paddocks, because she was standing behind the door, and so was not dazzled by the flashlight.

She was fat and amiable, with a "curly bird's nest of grey hair".

She was strangled to death, while taking down the washing. Miss Hinchliffe was not in the farm at the time of Miss Murgatroyd's death.

Portrayals

1985 BBC Version

In the BBC 1985 adaptation of the novel which formed part of the Miss Marple series, Miss Murgatroyd is played by Joan Sims. This portrayal is faithful to the original.

2005 ITV Version

In the ITV 2005 adaptation of the novel, Amy Murgatroyd is played by Claire Skinner. In this adaptation, she is portrayed as younger than either the novel or the 1985 adaptation. In this adaptation, Miss Marple stays with Miss Murgatroyd and Miss Hinchcliffe while she is in Chipping Cleghorn. Miss Murgatroyd mentions that her mother and Miss Marple were friends.

Miss Murgatroyd invites Colonel Easterbrook, Mrs Swettenham, and Edmund Swettenham to dinner at Boulders, with herself, Miss Hinchcliffe, and Miss Marple. Colonel Easterbrook attempts to reenact the shooting at Little Paddocks, and realises that Miss Murgatroyd was standing behind the door, and was not dazzled by the flashlight. He asks her to try to remember sho was not in the room when the shots were fired.

Miss Murgatroyd later remembers who was not in the room, and runs outside to tell Miss Hinchcliffe. However, Miss Hinchcliffe is busy tending to the pigs. Miss Murgatroyd begins taking down the washing, and is strangled to death by an unseen person. Unlike the novel, both Miss Marple and Miss Hinchcliffe were on the premises at the time, although they did not witness the murder. Miss Marple is the first to discover Miss Murgatroyd's body.

Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie

In Murder Party, the TV film adaptation of the novel by France Télévisions, the parallel character is Henriette Parisot.

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