And Then There Were None |
The book, by Agatha Christie, was published in 1939 and I think the miniseries captures the era well and it certainly has a lot of the nostalgic Christie feel about it. If you're thinking of an Agatha Christie novel with good manners, manor houses and a little inconvenient murder to solve then you need to revisit Dame Christie. And Then There Were None is when Agatha Christie tapped into her dark side and the result is a real masterpiece.
One of the reasons I liked the miniseries is that it managed to capture the darkness really well. The bleakness of the island that is the main setting for the mini series made me want to go and visit, but it turns out that it wasn't actually filmed on an island! When I first heard about this adaptation I remember reading 'mass murder rarely gets as fun as this' which I thought would've made a great tagline.
The basic story shows 8 strangers being invited to stay on a small, isolated island by someone none of them have actually met - the mysterious U. N. Owen. When they get to the island their host isn't there although there are two servants on the island to look after them.
As the three part mini series unfolds our island cast of ten are killed off in the same way as the nursery rhyme (known as Ten Little Indians or Ten Little Soldiers), something which is picked up on by one of the main characters Vera Claythorne (played admirably by Maeve Dermody).
As you get to the end and are still trying to work out who did it we do get to see who was pulling the strings and it is the ending where it deviates from the book a bit, but not in a bad way.
I really believe that if Agatha Christie was alive today she'd be very happy with how this mini series turned out.
If you wanted to you could always read the book and watch the mini series to see which you prefer! You can check out all of Agatha Christie's books on Agatha Christie's Booklist.
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Wonderful! This sounds like a mini-series we will love watching. My husband and I are constantly searching for good shows to watch together. I can hardly wait to tell him a new one has been found and recommended. He will enjoy the mystery part and I will love the historical setting. Thank you for the review and recommendation Lou!
ReplyDeleteWow, you've drawn me in with this excellent review! Sounds like a fabulous mystery in an amazing setting. Thanks for the recommendation!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a really good weekend movie choice. Great review Lou.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommend and interesting review. I always love s good mystery.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun - a new mystery for this mystery fan! A most enticing review, Louanne.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like something my mother would love to watch, I'll have to give her a heads-up on this, wonder if it's on Netflix?
ReplyDeleteIt's not on Netflix in Australia, one of the reasons hubby got me the DVD set.
DeleteThanks Lou for a great review. I don't watch a whole lot of TV so it's nice to hear about something that might be worth my time. When I have a quiet evening I will see if I can watch this. I just happen to love Agatha Christie too.
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