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Agatha Christie the world famous, best selling crime writer's
life and work is presented in this box set of two DVDs. Christie
was the creator of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple and her
career spanned more than 50 years during which time two million
of her books were sold...
The
Agatha Christie Boxed Set contains two DVDs A life
in Pictures and Agatha Christie's Garden: Murder and
Mystery in Devon.
A
Life in Pictures is
a film about Christie's life and stars Olivia Williams (The
Sixth Sense) as the young Agatha, and Anna Massey (Hotel
de Lac) as Agatha in her later years. A very private woman
Christie gave very few interviews in her life, but this film
includes her life in her own words using actual documented
accounts.
Born
on 15 September 1890 in Torquay, this film follows her childhood
days, the death of her father when she was 11, her time as
a volunteer nurse at Torquay hospital during the war. It was
in the dispensary that she learnt all about medicines and
their properties. This was where she conceived the idea to
write a detective story. As she was surrounded by poisons,
perhaps it was inevitable that death by poisoning should be
the method she selected for her story. Although it was written
in a year, it wasn't published until 1920, five years later.
In
1914 Agatha was married and had a daughter, Rosalind, in 1919.
Then in 1920 she created Hercule Poirot, the retired Belgian
detective who she based on a Belgian Refugee being treated
at Torquay Hospital. In 1926, Agatha's mother died and her
husband asked for a divorce. Already upset by her mother's
death, this extra news caused Agatha to suffer a nervous breakdown
which led to her mysterious disappearance. This was one of
Agatha's mysteries that was never solved. Her car was found
abandoned at a beauty spot in Guildford, Surrey and a massive
police search was mounted that lasted for 12 days. She
was eventually found in a hotel in Harrogate and claimed to
have suffered complete memory loss.
The
rest of this DVD examines her move to Baghdad and marriage
to archaeologist Max Mallowan. And concludes with her death
on 10 January 1976. She is buried in St Mary's Churchyard
in Cholsey, Berkshire. Although, for some reason, it is never
explained why she was buried there and not in Torquay.
Extras
are pretty poor. All we get are text based cast filmographies,
Agatha Christie biography and a picture gallery that contains
two very poor photos.
The
second DVD, Agatha Christie's Garden: Murder and Mystery
in Devon, explores the real Agatha Christie. It includes
interviews with her only grandson, her biographer Janet Morgan
and the crime writer P. D. James.
This
DVD is presented by Pam Ferris and provides an insight into
Christie's time at Greenway.
This was her home in Devon where she spent precious time with
her family and friends. Greenway has, for many years, been
hidden from the public. It was given to the National Trust
only a few years ago by her daughter and son in law. Only
the gardens are open to the public at present, although the
National Trust hope to open part of the house soon.
The
Sci-fi-online offices are just a stone's throw away from Greenway
on the river Dart. Many of the settings for her books were
based on this area of outstanding beauty and if you are familiar
with Devon, many landmarks can be identified from some of
her most popular novels. Burgh Island at Bigbury was the setting
for And Then There Were None, as it is now known. Sittaford
Tor on Dartmoor was used for the Sittaford Mystery.
It
was interesting to learn that in 1945 the war effort took
over the house, as the Naval college was just down the river
in Dartmouth, and Agatha and her husband Max had to move out
for four years while it was occupied by the military.
When
you visit Greenway you can instantly see the setting for the
novel Dead Man's Folly. The house, the river, the boat
house and nearby Dartmouth all have their part to play.
Extras
include A History of Greenway Gardens; Remembering
Agatha;
Agatha's Writing (which includes interviews with P.
D. James and Janet Morgan, Christie's biographer); biography;
and a picture gallery of Greenway house and the gardens.
Priced
at £33.99, it may seem a little expensive - and to be
honest it is, as all the material on both discs would easily
have fitted onto a single DVD. But then, as this is a box
set collection of two discs that are also being released individually,
you can't really grumble.
If
you are an avid Christie fan this is well worth picking up.
A thoroughly informative release.
Heather
Simpson
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