Of the two, the BBC dramatisation featuring Joan Hickson was by far and away the best.
Some characters were cut in both TV shows, (but that always happens) the ending was changed, and I’m not sure either of them got the period right – both were more 1950s than anything else, and if this was published in 1930, the setting would, I think, have been late ’20s. For a start, I was surprised to find the narrator is actually the vicar – I’d have laid money on it being the ‘authorial voice’. I had read this before, but I think my memories must have been heavily influenced by the two TV versions, because on re-reading it wasn’t quite as I remembered. A major departure for the book is the addition of a series of flashbacks to Miss Marple's youth and her love affair with a married soldier.This is week I’m joining the 1930 Club and celebrating books written or published in that year, though I had some trouble finding something to fit the bill, which is very odd when when you consider how many books I have! Anyway, I plumped for Agatha Christie’s Murder at the Vicarage so I can support the event, which is organised by Simon over at Stuck in Book, and Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings. In this adaptation, Miss Marple is portrayed as a close friend of Anne Protheroe. Miss Marple is given an ankle injury during the course of the lead-up to the murder. This version eliminates the characters of Dr Stone and Gladys Cram, replacing them with Professor Dufosse and his granddaughter Helene, and the reclusive Mrs Lestrange becomes a lavish alcoholic named Mrs Lester. (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) Jane Marple, recuperating at home from a sprained ankle, had a bird's eye view of all the comings and goings at the vicarage around the time of the murder and she gladly assists Inspector Slack in solving the crime. Lester with whom he clearly had some previous connection. There is also the vicar and his assistant, whom Protheroe suspected of stealing church funds. His daughter Lettice bridled under his strict rule. His wife Ann was having an affair with a local artist, Lawrence Redding.
So, when he is found dead in the vicarage study, there is no end of suspects. All resent his superior and demanding attitude. Colonel Lucius Protheroe is probably the least-liked individual in St Mary Mead.
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