Search - Agatha Christie's Romantic Detectives (Tommy & Tuppence 1 & 2 / Why Didn't They Ask Evans? / Seven Dials Mystery / Agatha Christie A Life in Pictures) on DVD

Partners in Crime and more

bernie | Arlington, Texas | 01/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Secret Adversary

Who is Mr. Brown?

After the Great War, out of work Captain, Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) accidentally comes across his lifelong friend and pal Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley (Francesca Annis). Tuppence is also out of work. Over their sparse meal they speculate on doing any job of anybody for outrageous fees.

This speculative talk was over heard and the wheels are set in motion when Tuppence is given the opportunity and gives what she thinks is a false name. This sets off a series of events that employs them to find a missing girl and the identity of a mysterious Mr. Brown.

Made for TV and fairly transparent, this film still has all the ambiance of a BBC Agatha Christy production. It is a period piece and employs many major English actors. One actor you can recognize right off is Honor Blackman who played Pussy_Galore in "Goldfinger" (1964).

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The Affair of the Pink Pearl

A pearl of great price

After their re-introduction in "The Secret Adversary", it looks like Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and Tuppence (Francesca Annis) are married and after finishing their first case are looking for a little more action. They get the opportunity to purchase the international detective agency and with the help of their new friend Albert (Reece Dinsdale) set up shop.

Before Tommy can stop her Tuppence promises their first client their 24 hour guaranteed special. If they can pull this off then they will be in with the right crowd to be thought of incase a pink pearl should end up missing.


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House of Lurking Death

Death is like a box of chocolates

Agatha Christie's "The House of Lurking death" adapted by Jonathan Hales.

Mary Chilcott (Louisa Rix) receives a box of chocolates. She naturedly shares them with others to find that the chocolates were lased with poison. Not enough to kill but to make everyone sick. Being private and figuring that the anonymous came from someone in that very house, contacts Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and Tuppence (Francesca Annis) of the international detective agency.

Naturally as with their first two episodes or movies Tommy and Tuppence are both wise beyond their time and do some of the dumbest things that lead them to the solution of the problem. Will they be there in time to save Mary or if not will they be able to figure out who and how it was done. More important why.

As with most of the Partners in Crime series we are fare ahead of them on the whom. The fun is to watch them figure out not only the whom but the other details. This story is a period piece of just after The Great War.

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Finessing the King

Keep your eye on the queen of hearts

Agatha Christie's "Finessing the King" adapted by Gerald Savory.

Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and wife/ assistant Tuppence (Francesca Annis) of the international detective agency are getting bored when Tuppence notices an anonymous advertisement in
The Daily Leader (local new paper.)

"I should go three hearts, twelve tricks, Ace of spades, necessary to finesse the king."

Of course it is an obvious secret message. However being clever they figure that the message is some sort of rendezvous. It is to take part at the Three Arts Ball (costume ball) where one of the sleuths gets to dress up as Sherlock Homes and the other as Dr. Watson. One guess as to who gets to be homes.

After the ball is over, like most of the revelers, they go to xxx to have a drink an early breakfast. There they notice a man costumed as the local paper entering a private booth with a woman and coming out alone. We are way ahead of them on the plot

As with most of the "Partners in Crime" series we are fare ahead of them on the whom. The fun is to watch them figure out not only the whom but the other details. This story is a period piece of just after The Great War.

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The Clergyman's Daughter

A mysterious man with a gold tooth

Agatha Christie's "The Clergyman's Daughter" adapted by Paul Annett.

Miss Dean, a clergyman's daughter inherits The Red House, a great house, from her father's deceased and supposedly rich old aunt. Nobody has found any money so to keep the house she must rent it out. The only problem is that it appears to be haunted. There are other complications.

Miss Dean turns to Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and wife/ assistant Tuppence (Francesca Annis) of the international detective agency for help as had been predicted by Tuppence.

As with most of the "Partners in Crime" series we are fare ahead of them on the whom. The fun is to watch them figure out not only the whom but the other details. This story is a period piece of just after The Great War.

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Made for TV and fairly transparent, this film still has all the ambiance of a BBC Agatha Christy production. It is a period piece and employs many major English actors. Detective Inspector Marriott (Arthur Cox) played the newspaper reporter Salcombe Hardy in Dorothy L. Sayers' Have His Carcase (1987).

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Sunningdale Mystery

Pure deduction

After the Grate World War, Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and Tuppence (Francesca Annis) are out of work and form a partnership in a detective agency. They eventually marry and continue their detection business. On the surface they look like they are stumbling into the answer of each mystery they solve. But upon further observance they are cunning and resourceful.

In this "The Sunningdale Mystery" story by Agatha Christie and screen play adapted by Jonathan Hales, the international Detective Agency is not finding enough clients so they go out to solve a mystery found in the paper.

In this mystery part of the Tommy and Tuppence, "partners in crime" series, Tommy and Tuppence actually go to the scene of the crime, do their deductions in Hercule Poirot fission using the little gray cells. It is unique in the fact that they do not interview any suspects.
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The Ambassador's Boots

Solve a crime and have fun to boot

After the Grate World War, Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and Tuppence (Francesca Annis) are out of work and form a partnership in a detective agency. They eventually marry and continue their detection business. On the surface they look like they are stumbling into the answer of each mystery they solve. But upon further observance they are cunning and resourceful.

In this "The Ambassador's Boots" A story by Agatha Christie and screen play adaptation by Paul Annett, Tommy and Tuppence have just saves someone from an international kidnapping. So at an exclusive party they are introduced to the ambassador from the United States.

Later the Ambassador tells them of a mystery where his bag got mixed up with another. You may have guessed that his bag contained his boots. Even though it seems trivial Tommy and Tuppence are determined to get to the bottom of why the bags were swapped and then the other party denies it ever happened.

For some reason you get the feeling that they are just acting and everyone is just going thru the motions. Do not get discourages as it is part of the plot to get to the bottom of the mystery. You will find that the Partners in Crime" are more cunning and coordinated than they look.
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The Case of the Missing Lady
You will want to get the real skinny on this one

Agatha Christie's "The Case of the Missing Lady" adapted by Jonathan Hale.

The Scene opens with a moaning lady; hovering over her is a brute assistant Muldoon to what looks like a mad doctor and his Brunhilda looking assistant. To make matters worse there is the biggest hypodermic syringe ever conserved by man. It is half full of green glop.

Gabriel Stovington just returned from a two year stint in the artic and is getting the runaround while trying to find his fiancé. He is in need of a detective agency.

After the Great War Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and wife/ assistant Tuppence (Francesca Annis) buy the Blunt International Detective agency. And with out any background become detectives. By the time you get to this episode they are getting good at it (maybe).

The acting at first make you thing that you are sitting in the front row of a Bernard Shaw play.

Of course it is an obvious secret message. However being clever they figure that the message is some sort of rendezvous. It is to take part at the Three Arts Ball (costume ball) where one of the sleuths gets to dress up as Sherlock Homes and the other as Dr. Watson. One guess as to who gets to be homes.

After the ball is over, like most of the revelers, they go to xxx to have a drink an early breakfast. There they notice a man costumed as the local paper entering a private booth with a woman and coming out alone. We are way ahead of them on the plot

As with most of the "Partners in Crime" series we are fare ahead of them on the whom. The fun is to watch them figure out not only the whom but the other details. This story is a period piece of just after The Great War.

Made for TV and fairly transparent, this film still has all the ambiance of a BBC Agatha Christy production. It is a period piece and employs many major English actors. Detective Inspector Marriott (Arthur Cox) played the newspaper reporter Salcombe Hardy in Dorothy L. Sayers' Have His Carcase (1987).
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The Crackler

"I promise to pay"

After the Grate World War, Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and Tuppence (Francesca Annis) are out of work and form a partnership in a detective agency. They eventually marry and continue their detection business. On the surface they look like they are stumbling into the answer of each mystery they solve. But upon further observance they are cunning and resourceful.

In this "The Crackler" A story by Agatha Christie and screen play adaptation by Gerald Savory, Tommy and Tuppence are approached by inspector Marriott (Arthur Cox). He has a problem with funny money and needs someone with class to do a little snooping in the hoity-toity crowd to find the culprit(s). The inspector suspects it is a gang.

The partners in crime will be forced to go night clubbing and dancing. There are many suspects and they need to be narrowed down. They are aided by the third detective young Albert (Reece Dinsdale).

While they seem to be lead around by the nose we may be able to figure the plot but are the duo that naive or the cat's meow.
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The Man in the Mist

Do they have a ghost of a chance?

After the Grate World War, Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and Tuppence (Francesca Annis) are out of work and form a partnership in a detective agency. They eventually marry and continue their detection business. On the surface they look like they are stumbling into the answer of each mystery they solve. But upon further observance they are cunning and resourceful.

In this "The Man in the Mist" A story by Agatha Christie and screen play adaptation by Gerald Savory, Tommy and Tuppence are just finished with a mystery that they almost solved. They just happened to guess wrong.

Mean time Tommy is still in his disguise as Father Brown when a new mystery falls into their lap. A well known actress seems to be in some sort of trouble and asks Tommy for his help. Naturally it is too late.

This must have been a longer story because when it got pared down too many details are missing Also all the things that we can not stand in a murder mystery are found here; there are too many read herrings just for the viewer (Not observed by the Partners in Crime). And the last person suspected will be found out by sleuthing not present to the viewers.

Still it is fun to watch and speculate. Also you get to learn a little of the period.
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The Unbreakable Alibi

Now you see her, now you don't

Agatha Christie's "The Unbreakable Alibi" adapted by David Butler.

After the Great War Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and wife/ assistant Tuppence (Francesca Annis) buy the Blunt International Detective agency. And along with Albert, of whom they picked up on their first attempts at sleuthing are now in business.

Unfortunately, due to lack of crimes, things are going so slow that Tommy is doing the crossword puzzles; Tuppence is learning to be the perfect secretary by practicing sitting on Tommie's knee. Albert is reading detective comics.

Finally a client Mr. Montgomery Jones with a unique problem. It turns out that he bet an Australian woman Unna Frek that he could see through any alibi; she says not. The bet is on if he wins they marry. If not She disappears from his life. Looks Like he is in need of a good detective agency which guarantees 24 hr results.

She give two stories of being in tow places at the same time and he must fined out which one is true and which one is false.

The "Partners in crime" can not turn down the challenge.

During the investigation, Mr. Blunt (Tommy) passes off Tuppence as Miss Robinson, his sister so every man they come across makes advances.

Investigation both stories they find both to be true. The 24 hours are just about up.

This is a great series that grows on you. The have it has that British series feel with background music. It is similar to the Dorothy L. Sayers "Peter Whimsy" series.

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Agatha Christie's Why didn't they ask Evans? (1981)

Is there really an Evans?

Bobby Jones (James Warwick) is pitifully attempting to play golf on ground above the cliff to the sea. He would most assuredly hit someone if the ball just gets that far. He hears a cry but just plays on. That is until the search for the ball takes him to the edge of the cliff where it appears that a hiker fell on the rocks below. Bobby rushes to the aid of the fallen man. The fallen man becomes conscious just long enough to say "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" then expires.

From here characters pour in from all sides and you need to keep a score card and there are several doctors and mysteriously guilty looking people. You may guess some of the story but not all as they hold back most of clues until the last moment.

Once again Britton has excelled in bringing a great Agatha Christie story to life. They did not try to overstate or rush through the story. Also true to Christies writing they left in the characters instead of trying to homogenize them into fewer numbers for TV's sake.

We recognize the actors for other such stories:

James Warwick who trained at the Central School in London also played Tommy in Agatha Christie's "Partners in Crime" series.
Francesca Annis was Tuppence in the "Partners in Crime" series. But where I remember her most as Lady Jessica in "Dune" (1984).
Sir John Gielgud, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic arts in London played Hamlet on the stage.
The big surprise is the late Joan Hickson who made her stage debut in prudential theater in 1927 and played the best Miss Marple in the Agatha Christie series of movies. You may not recognize her but she was also the landlady in "The Man Who Never Was" (1956)
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Agatha Christie's Seven Dials Mystery (1981)

Why is Lady Eileen Brent called "Bundle"?

The era 1920's the plays a country house where diplomats are staying. Soon a mission to evaluate a new material that is vital to aviation.

Gerry Wade (Robert Longden) seems to be a late sleeper it makes one thing that he may be dead when the story starts. Well his friends with the help of an extraordinarily smart Rupert 'Pongo' Bateman (James Griffiths) bring in eight alarm clocks to help Gerry wake up. Looks like they may have been a tad late with their scheme.

People are starting to die. Marquis of Caterhan (John Gielgud) wants to know why his daughter Lady Eileen 'Bundle' Brent (Cheryl Campbell) ran over a man Ronny Devereux (John Vine) and shot him. As the man is dying he mentions "the seven Dials" and Jimmy Thesiger (James Warwick). She assumes that she is meant to tell Jimmy of the something or someone called the seven dials. From there the plot thickens.

The seven dials theme plays through the whole story. We see it in clocks and clock towers; it turns up on paper and dieing breath. Is it a location or a cabal and does it really have something to do with the mystery?

As with many of Agatha Christies stories there are so many characters that you need a score card. Also there seems to be plots inside plots. Everyone could have done it and yet it is always the last person you suspect; or should I say usually the last person you would suspect. The film was adapted from the Novel by Pat Sandys, has the added benefit of the feeling that it is a play.

The film is packed with well known British actors and sometimes it is hard not to think now where have I seen this person before. Noticeably absent is Francesca Annis, yet the main female character player Cheryl Campbell is well remembers for her role in The Murder at the Vicarage (1986). John Gielgud excelled in his part as Marquis of Caterhan.

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Intelligent, talented women

it | Sunnyvale, CA USA | 08/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What these mysteries have in common is that they contain intelligent, talented women. These gals make Wonder Woman look like an airhead bimbo, but you may have already have had that evaluation of her.

The settings are the inner-war years and the characters are upper class.

The plots of the two complete stories and the first Tommy and Tuppence are first rate because they were written by Christie and not a modern script writter. The plots are convoluted with many red herrings. The remaining T&T episodes are more like short stories and 50 minutes long. You will immediately be consternated on half of these by the obvious important clue that ends up solving the mystery in each one being ignored for 20 minutes. You should get the solution to the alibi episode in under a minute after the visitor to the detective agency tells his story.

There is one DVD on Agatha herself. This is in the form of a dramatization where you are slowly spoon fed bland information about her. This will probably insult your intelligence. Just throw it in the trash."

A Tommy & Tuppence: Partners in crime treat and more

Geoffrey R. King | 06/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD set is a superb BBC collection of some of the works of (Dame) Agatha Christie and gives us the wonderfully wacky pairing of Francesca Annis (Tuppence) and James Warwick (Tommy) in a lively performance of (Dame) Agatha's two amateur sleuths. While not, of course, (Dame) Agatha's most famous sleuths, they do, never the less, solve their cases in the inimitable Christie fashion and give us a lot of fun along the way.

The Seven Dials Mystery gives us the wonderful (Sir) John Gielgud in great form as the distracted but indulgent father apart from the stars of the film who are also in fine form.

Agatha Christie: A life in pictures is a typically superb BBC production
detailing the msterious 11 day disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926. (Dame) Anna Massey is marvellous in her role. The whole film excellently captures the sense of drama of the occasion and the romantic mood of the 1920's.

I reccommend the set to any Agatha Christie fan as an excellent addition to their library.




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