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The Agatha Christie Hour

1982

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

EP1 The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife Sep 07, 1982

Maria Packington's husband George is making a fool of himself over his young blonde secretary, Nancy. In her unhappiness, Maria turns to Mr. Parker Pyne for professional advice and assistance. Mr. Parker Pyne engages the services of the young and handsome Claude Luttrell, who helps Maria turn the tables on George. George had told Maria to take up a hobby - so she does - dancing the nights away at 'The Aphrodite', London's top nightclub, with Claude in attendance, and wearing a new, expensive and luxuriant wardrobe of beautiful evening gowns, fur wraps and accessories. Unexpectedly, Claude, the hardened lounge lizard, finds himself falling in love with the newly glamourous Maria Packington. A charming love story of an autumn romance from the pen of Agatha Christie.
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EP2 In a Glass Darkly Sep 14, 1982

While visiting Badgeworthy, the home of the Carslake family, Matthew Armitage experiences a strange and frightening vision in a mirror in his bedroom of a man with a scar strangling Sylvia Carslake. Time passes, the First World War takes place, and then finally Matthew marries Sylvia Carslake. However, suffering badly from shell-shock, he nearly destroys his own marriage through an Othello-like jealousy and possessiveness, which threatens to destroy both him and Sylvia, until one night Matthew's vision of the man with the scar comes back to haunt him.
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EP3 The Girl in the Train Sep 21, 1982

Cast upon the world without a penny by his heartless Uncle William, young George Rowland decides to catch a train down to Rowland's Castle, a village which happens to bear his name. As George sits in the train at Waterloo Station, a young woman throws herself into his compartment, begging him to hide her from a mysterious enemy. George complies and finds himself mixed up in the affairs of the young and beautiful Grand Duchess Anastasia of Catonia. Entrusted with a small, sealed package George embarks on An Adventure, only to find true love and romance at the end of it, plus the forgiveness of an uncle who turns out to have a heart after all. A tale of young romantic adventure from the pen of Agatha Christie.
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EP4 The Fourth Man Sep 28, 1982

Is it possible for the dead to come back and possess the living? And is it possible to strangle oneself because of it? The fourth man in the railway compartment seems to think so, with his strange story about the doomed little chanteuse Annette and the love/hate relationship that she shares with the backward Felicie Bault.
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EP5 The Case Of The Discontented Soldier Oct 05, 1982

Major John Wilbraham, newly retired from the British Army in Kenya and now living in the English country-side in a wisteria covered cottage with his faithful cocker spaniel finds life tame. Seeking adventure and romance, he consults Mr. Parker Pyne. Fairly soon the rather shy major meets the equally shy Freda Clegg. An adventure follows, involving buried treasure, maps written in Swahili, crooked lawyers, thugs, maidens in distress and imprisonment in a water filling cellar. All ends happily, mainly due to the imaginative prowess of that inimitable authoress, Mrs. Ariadne Oliver (Agatha Christie's alter ego). John Wilbraham and Freda Clegg soon find themselves not only embarking on a quest for buried treasure in Africa, but more importantly, each finds that they are in love with the other. Another charming love story of an autumn romance from the pen of Agatha Christie.
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EP6 Magnolia Blossom Oct 12, 1982

In her determination to start a new life with her husband Richard's business rival Vincent, Theo flees to Paris with Vincent. But bad news follows quickly - Richard's business has collapsed. Theo returns to find that Richard has been less than honest with her, and that more than his job is at stake.
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EP7 The Mystery of the Blue Jar Oct 19, 1982

While playing golf, young Jack Hartington hears a woman's voice crying ""Murder! Help! Murder!"" Racing in the direction of the voice, Jack comes upon Felise Marchaud, a young Frenchwoman living in a cottage nearby who is sceptical of his claims and who claims to have heard nothing. Several days later under almost identical conditions Jack hears the cry again, and then starts to doubt his sanity. Enlisting the aid of Dr. Lavington, a psychiatrist, and Felise, Jack finds that the supernatural events surrounding the cottage seem, by an odd coincidence, to have some connection with a blue jar purchased some months previously by his Uncle George. Jack is persuaded by his new friends to fetch the blue jar, which turns out to be Ming and priceless beyond value. A cautionary tale of youthful inexperience and naivety from the pen of Agatha Christie.
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EP8 The Red Signal Nov 02, 1982

Dermot West is in love with Claire, the wife of his best friend, Jack Trent. After visiting them one night he has a premonition, what he terms 'the red signal', that there is danger in the air, that death walks abroad and there is nothing that he can do about it. When his uncle is subsequently murdered, Dermot is the chief suspect.
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EP9 Jane in Search of a Job Nov 09, 1982

Jane Cleveland is out of work and owes rent on her London flat. When she is offered the role of 'double' to the Grand Duchess Olga, the adventurous Jane accepts with alacrity, especially as the financial renumeration for the role is lucrative. However, all is not as it seems ... Jane is thrown into a world of intrigue, double-dealing, jewel robberies, and deceit. It is perhaps as well that Jane's new boyfriend is attending Hendon Police College and has an observant and quick eye.
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EP10 The Manhood of Edward Robinson Nov 16, 1982

Although he should be saving for his wedding, when meek Edward Robinson wins the lottery, he buys a sports car and takes off on a journey. A case of mistaken identity later, Edward finds himself in the midst of a grand adventure.
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7.2| 0h30m| NR| en
Synopsis

This ten episode program was based on ten short stories written by Agatha Christie but with wide-ranging themes. Some were romances, some had supernatural themes and a couple were adventures. The common link was that all came from the talented pen of Agatha Christie, all were entertaining and each drama was carefully crafted and well cast with many of Britain's best known actors of the time represented.

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Thames Television

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Reviews

SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...
Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.
Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
lucyrfisher ...which is the only one I've seen, this series should be worth watching. I am a super-fan, and know all Christie's stories well. Many of them are better than her novels - funnier, or more creepy.The first is Jane in Search of a Job, with Elizabeth Garvie as Jane. She was a bit of a star in the 80s, despite not being "classically beautiful" as the romance novels put it. I love her conversation (not in the original) with the dancer in the queue (they are hoping to get an unspecified acting job). It is also nice to see a very young Amanda Redman as a "Princess". Stephanie Cole as a lady-in-waiting almost steals the show and looks rather good with frumpy clothes and swept-back hair.In fact the best thing about this episode is the attention to period detail in clothes (30s, though the stories were written earlier). I love Jane's rented room (and sweet landlady). The furniture is pre-war, a bed has been shoved into a window recess. A corner with a sink is the kitchen/bathroom. Cooking is done on a gas ring by the fire. This wasn't quite correct - Jane seemed to be cooking on a standalone table stove. Perhaps not enough gas rings survived (they stuck out of the side of a gas fire).I also like Nigel, Jane's admirer, doggedly following on a beautiful early motorbike. The story drags a bit, some of the extras look like padding, and some of the humour falls flat. But I look forward to the rest.
misctidsandbits I deem these excellent because I am a thoroughgoing Christie fan who owns all her books and stories (except Hazelmore, aka Sittaford, which dealt heavily in the supernatural unacceptable to me as entertainment). I have also seen a large percentage of the film and TV adaptations and overall appreciate those. With that background, it is a treat to recently find out about this TV series featuring some of the very early short stories, most of which I have read. With the usual English quality dramatization and casting, this proved a very interesting series. As pointed out by another reviewer and from a background special feature in one of the video sets, the "pre-Poirot" stories, as they put it, introducing Miss Lemon and Adriane Oliver was a treat. I also knew from having read these that Christie didn't get around to concentrated full mystery books until later and that she had a sense of humor. This set depicts her earlier period and well, I thought. Overall, a veddy good show.
gridoon2018 Once you get past the shot-on-video look (it only took me about 5 minutes in the first episode), this is a beautifully produced, elegantly costumed and set, well-acted (with only one notable exception, which I will mention below) series, based on 10 short stories that Agatha Christie wrote without any of her famous sleuths present (although Hercule Poirot's good friend Ariadne Oliver, the mystery writer, makes an appearance, and Poirot's secretary, Miss Lemon, makes two). 5 out of the 10 stories ("The Case Of The Discontented Soldier", "The Girl In The Train", "Jane In Search Of A Job", "The Case Of The Middle-Aged Wife", "The Manhood Of Edward Robinson") are lighter in tone and follow a similar pattern: an ordinary man or woman, who suddenly finds him/herself, either by request or by chance, caught up in an extraordinary adventure which adds excitement but also danger to their quiet lives. These episodes are pleasant but slight, and to be honest "The Case Of The Middle-Aged Wife" is almost dull, and "The Manhood Of Edward Robinson" suffers from the annoyingly exaggerated portrayal of a dork by its male lead. The other 5 episodes are, in my opinion, considerably stronger: "Magnolia Blossom" (an atypical love triangle tale that's more about personal integrity than love), "In A Glass Darkly" (a dark story about predetermined fate and post-war trauma), "The Mystery Of The Blue Jar" (a supernatural tale - or maybe just a long con), "The Red Signal" (the series' only traditional who-dun-it, but also who-will-it-be-done-to), and my personal favorite, "The Fourth Man" (a haunting tale about split personalities (?), possession (?), paranoia (?), science vs. religion, and growing up). Overall, "The Agatha Christie Hour" is well worth your time if you are a Christie buff, just don't expect all the stories to be on the same level of interest. I give the series as a whole *** out of 4.
cdrivanova I've been in an Agatha Christie phase for a bit and remembered having seen this series on TV. It was great because it wasn't the traditional Marple/Poirot/Tommy & Tuppence story, but some of Dame Agatha's lesser known characters. I *really really* wish that this set would come out on DVD because I'd snap it up in an instant.For those wondering which stories were included in this series, here's the list:1 The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife 2 In a Glass Darkly 3 The Girl in the Train4 The Fourth Man 5 The Case Of The Discontented Soldier 6 Magnolia Blossom7 The Mystery of the Blue Jar 8 The Red Signal9 Jane in Search of a Job10 The Manhood Of Edward RobinsonIf this ever comes on TV again, enjoy! It's worth watching.

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