| | |  | GIFT SETS | Home » » Miss Marple - 3 Feature Length Mysteries (The Body in the Library / A Murder Is Announced / A Pocketful of Rye) | | | | | | | Description: | | Joan Hickson. Includes The Body in the Library (1985/155 min.), A Murder Is Announced (1984/155 min.) and A Pocketful of Rye (1985/152 min.). 3 DVDs. Color/NR/fullscreen. | | | Features: | |
• The beloved dowager detective Miss Marple (Joan Hickson) unravels three of Agatha Christie's most popular brainteasers: A Murder Is Announced, A Pocketful of Rye and the series premiere, The Body in the Library.Running Time: 421 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MYSTERY/SUSPENSE Rating: NR Age: 794051168924 UPC: 794051168924 Manufacturer No: E1689
| | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Timothy West, Tom Wilkinson, Joan Hickson | | Format:
| Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC | | Language:
| English | | Number of Discs:
| 3 | | Studio:
| BBC Worldwide | | Run Time:
| 421 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| August 27, 2002 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 72 reviews |
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| New | |
| $28.62 | New | | | $28.66 | New | | | $28.77 | New | | | $28.78 | New | | | $29.21 | New | | | $29.25 | New | | | $29.93 This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. | New | | | $29.94 | New | | | $30.54 This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. | New | | | $31.20 | New | | | $31.22 | New | | | $31.60 | New | | | $32.12 | New | | | $32.42 | New | | | $32.85 | New | | | $33.68 | New | | | $34.33 | New | | | $35.12 | New | | | $35.69 | New | | | $35.80 | New | | | $36.18 | New | | | $37.25 | New | | | $37.47 | New | | | $37.54 | New | | | $42.99 | New | | | $46.04 | New | | | $119.99 | New | |
| Used | |
| $23.98 | Used
- Good | | | $23.99 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $25.23 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $27.21 This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. | Used
- VeryGood | | | $27.90 | Used
- Mint | | | $27.99 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $28.95 | Used
- Mint | | | $28.96 This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. | Used
- Mint | | | $30.53 This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. | Used
- Mint | | | $31.00 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $32.42 | Used
- Mint | | | $35.80 | Used
- Mint | | | $47.22 | Used
- Mint | | | $138.48 | Used
- Good | | | $500.00 | Used
- VeryGood | |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 72 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
94 of 98 found the following review helpful:
 charming tea timeNov 01, 2004
By Terran
"Terran"
My favorite Miss Marple film is BODY IN THE LIBRARY, which is included in this set. First off, unlike for some other reviewers, the films are crisp, no dark multi-gen'd versions on my disks. Re the set appearance itself, quite charming overall, as if one should sit down with coffee, tea or cocoa while perusing. The individual disk decor is lovely, with photos from the particular installment, and the disks contain chaptering of the installments (you can elect to view all three eps on disk 1 & 2 in one go or do it on an individual basis). The real drawback with high irritation factor is the BBC-A ads that appear at the beginning of each disk, you can fast-forward through both, but really they shouldn't be there at all. One point of possible confusion is John Castle, who played Miss Marple's inspector nephew elsewhere is actually an inspector of non-relation in A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED. The introduction of the Inspector Slagg character, who resented Miss Marple's detecting skills, is introduced in BODY IN THE LIBRARY. There is also - on Disk 3 - which contains the two-parter of POCKETFUL OF RYE - a half-hour documentary on the birthplace of Agatha Christie celebrating the centenary of her birth. In this, the Orient Express makes an appearance as well as the actors who played Marple and Poirot (david suchet) appearing in character and meeting each other formally and for the first time.
61 of 62 found the following review helpful:
 A great DVD collection!Feb 01, 2006
By Kurt A. Johnson
Every once in a while, an actor comes along who not only plays the role of Sherlock Holmes, but actually redefines the role. Well, this has now happened with Agatha Christie's detective, Miss Marple! In 1984, veteran actress Joan Hickson (1906-98) was tapped to play Miss Marple, and the rest, as they say, is history.
This is a great DVD collection, containing three of the excellent Joan Hickson/Miss Marple episodes, each of which is a great small-screen adaptation of Agatha Christie's excellent book of the same name. If you are a fan of great mysteries, then this is for you. Heck, even if you just like high-quality British drama, then you will love these movies. I love this DVD set, and give it my highest recommendations!
The three episodes are:
The Body in the Library - Episode #1, 1984 - When the body of a murdered young woman is found in their library, the Bantry's bring in their old friend, Jane Marple. There's a mystery within a mystery here: who is the murdered girl, and how did she get from where she was last seen to the Bantry's library?
A Murder is Announced - Episode #2, 1985 - When a personal item in the Chipping Cleghorne Gazette invites people to a murder at the home of Miss Blacklock, they show up to be part of a real murder! The police are baffled as to what happened and why, and that leaves only one person who can unravel this mystery - Miss Jane Marple!
A Pocketful of Rye - Episode #3, 1985 - When a rich man dies under very mysterious circumstances, Miss Marple quickly realizes that more murders are sure to follow. This is a very deep mystery, and only Jane Marple can find out what is really going on and why!
By the way, as an added bonus, this set contains "Crime Does Pay," a 1990 episode of the British television show Western Approach. On September 15, 1890, the city of Torquay threw a celebration of the 100th birthday of their favorite citizen, the late Agatha Christie. This show is an interesting salute to Dame Agatha, and focuses on her life, her work, and her legacy.
45 of 46 found the following review helpful:
Splendid showcaseJan 12, 2003
Restricting my comments to the quality of the 3-disc release: I was very worried, based on a review published here, that the video quality of this product might be poor. It isn't; in fact, it's very good. I don't know why the reviewer would have complained about this unless his/her copy of the DVD was really as poor as described, which I have to accept that it was. All I can say is, mine isn't. A couple of nights ago, one of our Bay Area PBS channels did re-broadcast one of the 3-part episodes on this disc, and the quality of their print was awful. So, I can tell the difference between grainy and spotty on the one hand, and sharp and clear on the other...it's quite plain on my equipment, which is only average. Unlike the other reviewer's, my discs are quite sharp.
194 of 216 found the following review helpful:
 Wonderful mysteries; horrible DVD transfersSep 05, 2002
By Tom Anderson
I love the Miss Marple mysteries in both book and movie form, but unfortunately not a one of them has been transferred properly to video or DVD. While this BBC set of the longer Marple mysteries looks somewhat better than the two A&E sets, they're still pretty bad. The main reason for this (apart from the BBC's obvious indifference to whole matter) is that the transfer material is SEVERAL generations removed from the negative. The result: loads of grain, overall dark and muddy looking, little detail, washed out highlights, faded color, dirt, occasional wavering picture, focus problems (except for most closeups, many long shots look as if NOTHING is in focus), contrast problems (In many scenes, anything in the lower third of the screen is so dark that all detail is lost--people's legs dissapear into a dark area, which is presumably the floor). I don't know if the BBC treats all of their projects this way or if they just have a thing against poor Miss Marple, but they need to hear from us. People should not receive defective merchandise for their money.
One of the most irritating things about this set is that each movie is split up into 3 episodes, each with the same opening and closing credits, just like they are broadcast on TV. Of course, the viewer can fastforward through this, but it was a stupid thing to do, and it's just another indicator of the lack of care in making this set of DVDs.
It's wonderful to have these mysteries available again on video, but it's aggravating to see the indifference of big business to its customers and to its own product. Buyer beware!
24 of 25 found the following review helpful:
Excellent!Sep 22, 2003
My Gift Set Miss Marple DVD collection is of excellent quality. Miss Marple is my favorite Christie sleuth and I am so pleased to have these episodes (Body in the Library, Pocket Full of Rye, Murder is Announced) on DVD. I noticed no grainy quality whatsoever. There are a few ads in the beginning and the episodes are individually split up into separate parts as in when they were broadcast on TV but these facts really did not bother me. I especially enjoyed the "Who's Who" feature which gave brief bios of the BBC actors. All-in-all very enjoyable!
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