Agatha Christie-Marple-Ordeal by Innocence (2007)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Mystery	Main Menu Audio-VERY LOUD!
Rating
Year Of Production	2007
Running Time	93:23
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Nicholas Winding Refn
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Geraldine McEwan Juliet Stevenson Alison Steadman Richard Armitage Burn Gorman Lisa Stansfield Jane Seymour
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$19.95	Music	Dominik Scherrer

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Agatha Christie created two of the most enduring characters in crime fiction, Hercule Poirot & Miss Jane Marple. Both of these characters have recently been brought to life again in a series of Granada Television telemovies over the last few years. Both series have been shown on ABC television here in Australia and both have been released as a series of DVDs by Roadshow. Unlike Hercule Poirot where the stories are mostly set in the 1930s, these are set in the late 1940s after World War II.

    As you would expect from Agatha Christie, all of these new Miss Marple (played here by the wonderful Geraldine McEwan) stories are full of murder, twists, lies, red herrings and deceptions. It is impossible to describe the plot in detail without giving away the story and spoiling the twists.

    This is the second of two movies which were made for UK TV in 2007 and were shown here in 2008. In Ordeal By Innocence Miss Marple is invited to the wedding of an orphan who worked for her some years before. The lady, Gwenda Vaughan (Juliet Stevenson) is marrying her former employer, widower & author, Mr Leo Argyle. Mr Argyle has a large family of adopted children who he adopted with his former wife. Two years previously, the wife Rachel (Jane Seymour) was murdered and one of her adopted sons, Jacko (Burn Gorman from Torchwood) was executed for the murder. Other members of the family include oldest adopted daughter Mary, her husband Phillip Durrant (Richard Armitage from Robin Hood), Bobby - Jacko's real brother, Micky - a younger adopted son, Hester & Tina - adopted daughter and housekeeper, Kirsten (Alison Steadman who some my recognise from Worst Week of my Life). Obviously all of these are suspects in the original murder and the murder of one of these characters that happens during the story. An interesting member of the cast is former pop singer Lisa Stansfield.

    As usual with this series the production values are high with excellent costumes, a fine ensemble cast and a fine score. This is a particularly fine example of the series with a great tone, quality acting and lots of intrigue. Fans of the series will definitely enjoy this one, however, I believe fans of the original Agatha Christie story may find it too different. I have not read the book and enjoyed this episode greatly.

Video

    The video quality is very good but not spectacular.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is most likely the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout without being overly crisp. There was some mild macro-blocking in backgrounds. There was no evidence of low level noise.The shadow detail was good.

    The colour was very good with no major issues to report.There was some light colour bleeding.

    There was some edge enhancement here and there along with some occasional light grain.

    There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired which are clear and easy to read.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 256 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The score of this film by Dominik Scherrer is very good indeed surprisingly so for a television production. It adds significantly to the mood of the show. The music sounds very rich and full.

    The surround speakers were used quite extensively for music and atmosphere such as storm effects when played using Dolby ProLogic II.

    The subwoofer was used to add bass to the music but this was more a function of my amp's bass management than anything else.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    None.

Menu

    The menu was very simple only allowing for scene selection and turning on and off of subtitles. Very loud music plays over a still from the show.

    There is a Region 1 release of this particular episode but only as part of a four disc set. If you only want this story, go for the local product, otherwise consider the Region 1 set.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The disc has no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall