Agatha Christie, They Watched

Warning: SPOILERS! If you haven’t read “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” do yourself a favor and stop here and read it. You’ll thank us later. Teresa Peschel, author of "Agatha Christie, She Watched" and the "International Agatha Christie, She Watched," hosts our livestream. Joining Teresa is her husband, technical adviser, and straight man, Bill Peschel. Together, they are Pesche...

Two years after the execrable “Agatha Christie Poirot” episode that ended in a shootout in a factory, the Russians released a FIVE-HOUR version of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” that may be the best adaptation of all. Warning: SPOILERS! If you haven’t read “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” do yourself a favor and stop here and read it. You’ll thank us later. Teresa Peschel, author of "Agatha Chri...

After a five-year hiatus, “Agatha Christie’s Poirot” returned in 2000 with a different format (90-minute movies), a more serious tone, and less emphasis on Miss Lemon, Hastings, and Inspector Japp. The series was launched with one of Christie’s greatest novels, “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” and what they did to the book, well, you’ll have to watch us and find out. Teresa Peschel, author of "...

Before we move on to “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” let’s discuss this adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “The Unexpected Guest.” This play is popular everywhere but in Britain and the U.S., which has never filmed it. Why is that? And how well did the Estonians do? While this movie is subtitled, it was done using AI, so we’ll also talk about the current state of translation software and artificial in...

Our progress through the Peschel Press annotated Christies continue. Today, we takedown “Crime Does Not Pay,” an adaptation of “Murder on the Links” from “Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie.” It’s set at a nightclub, there are more murders (including dogicide!), Inspector Swan gets investigated, Alice gets cut in half, and Marlene gets harassed. But otherwise, it’s just like the novel! Tere...

After last week’s “Hercule Poirot” TV pilot, we turn back to the great David Suchet for a look at “Murder on the Links.” Since we published “The Complete, Annotated Murder on the Links,” we’ve got a lot to say about this episode from “Agatha Christie’s Poirot.”   Teresa Peschel, author of "Agatha Christie, She Watched" and the "International Agatha Christie, She Watched," hosts...

“Hercule Poirot” was a pilot for a TV series for American television. Shown as an episode of “General Electric Theater,” it starred Martin Gabel as Poirot, who is chauffeured around the United States in a limousine tricked out with a bar, a TV set, and a phone! The pilot wasn’t sold, and the episode vanished until the archives until it recently resurfaced on YouTube! Teresa Peschel, author of &quo...

Teresa Peschel, author of "Agatha Christie, She Watched" and the "International Agatha Christie, She Watched," discuss the Hungarian "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," an hour-long "collage movie" from 2022 that combines silent movie clips, video game footage, geometric shapes, and even DOS file lists to create a surreal hour-long retelling of the novel that...

Teresa Peschel, author of "Agatha Christie, She Watched" and the "International Agatha Christie, She Watched," discuss "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," the 2016 TV episode from "Les Petites Muertes d'Agatha Christie." Joining Teresa is her husband, technical adviser, and straight man, Bill Peschel. Together, they are Peschel Press, publisher of intrigu...

For the first episode of the third series of “Agatha Christie’s Poirot,” we jump back to the middle of World War I and the village of Styles St. Mary. There, Captain Hastings, recovered from his wounding in the trenches, relaxes with his friends at Styles. Days of tea on the lawn, tennis, horseback riding, maybe the possibility of a romance. Then, a tragic death in the middle of the night lead to...

Teresa Peschel, author of "Agatha Christie, She Watched" and the "International Agatha Christie, She Watched," discuss "The Secret of Chimneys," the 2010 episode of "Agatha Christie's Marple" starring Julia McKenzie. Joining Teresa is her husband, technical adviser, and straight man, Bill Peschel. Together, they are Peschel Press, publisher of intriguing...

"Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie," also known as "The Little Murders of Agatha Christie" or "Agatha Christie's Criminal Games" (it's complicated) ran from 2009 to 2023. It is set in three eras (it's complicated) featuring three separate casts (more complicated) and the episodes range from faithful adaptations to the merest smidgen of relationship...

We're discussing "The Man in the Brown Suit" the 1989 TV movie starring Stephanie Zimbalist, Tony Randall, and Edward Woodward. For those of us who remember the '80s, this is a time capsule. Will it work for you? Joining Teresa is her husband, technical adviser, and straight man, Bill Peschel. Together, they are Peschel Press, publisher of intriguing, intelligent, and idiosyncratic books. LOOK UP...

Teresa Peschel, author of "Agatha Christie, She Watched" and the "International Agatha Christie, She Watched," discuss "The Secret Adversary," the 2015 version starring David Walliams and Jessica Raine.   This time, Tommy's a failed beekeeper and his 10-year marriage to Tuppence leads us to wonder how much they despise each other. Can they keep it together AND bat...

Teresa Peschel, author of "Agatha Christie, She Watched" and the "International Agatha Christie, She Watched," discuss "The Secret Adversary," the 1983 TV movie starring Francesca Annis and James Warwick. This is the second TV adaptation the estate permitted, and the future of Christie on the screen hung in the balance. Did they succeed? Joining Teresa is her husband,...

Teresa Peschel, author of "Agatha Christie, SheWatched" and the "International Agatha Christie, She Watched," discuss "The Secret Adversary," the 1929 German silent movie. This movie set the pattern for future Christie adaptations, for good and otherwise. Joining Teresa is her husband, technical adviser, and straight man, Bill Peschel. Together, they are Peschel Press...

Warning: Spoiler-Free for the first 10 minutes; spoiler-heavy review afterwards! Teresa and Bill Peschel are talking about mysterious mediums, a wise child, post-war traumas, and water in the basement, a LOT of water in the basement. It’s “A Haunting in Venice,” the 2023 Hercule Poirot movie starring Sir Kenneth Branaugh in his third outing as Poirot and Tiny Fey as Ariadne Oliver.  Sponsored by P...

Warning: Spoiler-heavy review! This week, we’re talking about a night at the opera, comical assassinations, suitcase nukes, and seaside resorts. Teresa and Bill Peschel from Peschel Press discuss “N or M?” from 2015 starring David Walliams and Jessica Raine as Tommy and Tuppence Beresford.   Sponsored by Peschel Press, the publisher of annotated Agatha Christie novels by Bill Peschel.   Support Pe...

Warning: Spoiler-heavy review! This week, we’re talking about queen bees, Soho whorehouses, sugar millionaires, and Commie infiltration. Teresa and Bill Peschel from Peschel Press discuss “The Secret Adversary” from 2015 starring David Walliams and Jessica Raine as Tommy and Tuppence Beresford.   Sponsored by Peschel Press, the publisher of annotated Agatha Christie novels by Bill Peschel.   Suppo...

Warning: Spoiler-heavy review! This week, we’re talking about Egyptian queens, gossip kings, snooping party guests, and adoptions gone wrong. Teresa and Bill Peschel from Peschel Press discuss “The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side” from 2010 starring Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple and Joanna Lumley as Dolly Bantry.   Sponsored by Peschel Press, the publisher of annotated Agatha Christie novels by B...

Warning: Spoiler-heavy review! This week, we’re talking about scarlet pimpernels, Belgian refugees, blown marriage proposals, and spill vases. Teresa and Bill Peschel from Peschel Press discuss “The Mysterious Affair at Styles,” from the Poirot series starring David Suchet.   Sponsored by Peschel Press, the publisher of annotated Agatha Christie novels by Bill Peschel.   Support Peschel Press! Vis...

Warning: Spoiler-heavy review! This week, we’re talking about sleazy directors, pompous playwrights, alcoholic detectives and a murderous Agatha Christie. Teresa and Bill Peschel from Peschel Press discuss “See How They Run,” a meta parody of the production of “The Mousetrap” starring Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan.   Sponsored by Peschel Press, the publisher of annotatedAgatha Christie novels by...

Warning: Spoiler-heavy review! This week, we’re talking about staged accidents, movable plasters, carnival rides, and cross-dressing heroines. Teresa and Bill Peschel from Peschel Press discuss “The Blue Geranium,” a Miss Marple episode starring Julia McKenzie.   Sponsored by Peschel Press, the publisher of annotated Agatha Christie novels by Bill Peschel.   Support Peschel Press! Visit our websit...

Warning: Spoiler-heavy review! This week, we’re talking about staged accidents, movable plasters, carnival rides, and cross-dressing heroines. Teresa and Bill Peschel from Peschel Press discuss “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?,” the 2020 adaptation by Hugh Laurie.   Sponsored by Peschel Press, the publisher of annotated Agatha Christie novels by Bill Peschel.   Support Peschel Press! Visit our website...

Warning: Spoiler-heavy review! This week, we’re talking about creepy flashbacks, rock climbing, old-fashioned tugboats, and the workings of fate. Teresa and Bill Peschel from Peschel Press discuss Desyat Negrityat, the 1987 Soviet version of “Ten Little Indians.” Sponsored by Peschel Press, the publisher of annotated Agatha Christie novels by Bill Peschel. Support Peschel Press! Visit our website...