OK, so UK readers may have just finished watching the first three episodes of Partners in Crime, based on The Secret Adversary. What do you think?
Marks out of ten below, and thoughts in the comments…
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Past Offences: Classic crime, thrillers and mystery book reviews 
Awful
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Mediocre at best…Agatha Christie must be turning over in her grave…if the BBC wants to supplant ITV for Agatha Christie Mysteries this is a poor way to start…Campy is one thing, but poorly done is another…Check out the 1983 version which starred James Warwick and Francesca Annis…There was also a previous Agatha Christie book adaptation of “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” televised in 1980 with Warwick and Annis playing Tommy and Tuppence style characters…both different styles of presentation, but well done…I’ve been watching British Mystery TV since the late 1970’s when it was televised on U.S. Public Television…the BBC is certainly can do better than this, but ITV will be hard to beat…
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I hated the first episode and very nearly didn’t watch the rest – the changes to the original were just too much, Tommy was wimpish and ungentlemanly – that scene with him leaving his wife to carry all the luggage! – and the interaction between him and Tuppence felt strained and unnatural, rather than amusing. More like Martha and George in ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ rather than Beatrice and Benedick. However, it got slightly better in the second and especially in the third episode. It is still too sickeningly deliberately ‘quirky’ for my taste. I could see this more as a 1930s fast-speaking Hollywood comedy – Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday etc.
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I thought episode 1 just OK, episode 2 and 3 were better. I still don’t like the change, and DW just wrong for Tommy Beresford. As a series I will continue to watch as it’s a nice thing to relax with on a Sunday evening. I think I have got a bit more used to the new Tommy and Tuppence now.
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Having read all of the Tommy and Tuppence novels, I knew going in, that things would not be completely like the book, but I was not really prepared for the chaos and destruction the BBC wrought upon the original plot of The Secret Adversary, with Jane playing a lesser and at times incomprehensible role (compared to the novel). Rather annoyed about them changing the time period, as I’m a bit tired of everything being set in the 1950s these days or/and including a communist plot. Equally something which bugged me throughout the three episodes was that the solution e.g. the recording, was in their bee box from the start and we knew that, so it just seemed rather ridiculous to watch them running around getting into scrapes when the answer was in their garden shed. I rather dread what they will do to N and M next week.
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I’m not purist about my adaptations – happy to enjoy if they offer something unusual and entertaining, even if not faithful. But I found this rather dull, and agree with the point made by the commentor above about our knowing where the vital item was all along.
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A dreadful adaptation. In the original book Tommy and Tuppence were bright young things setting out to solve mysteries as a bit of a lark. Here we have a lumpish, charmless Tommy and a waspish Tuppence. How are we supposed to warm to these characters? I suppose they changed the setting to the 1950s because it was easier to find suitable locations/cars. I remember with pleasure the Warwick/Annis adaptations – still very watchable today – and this attempt by the BBC just makes me sad. After about half of the first episode I stopped watching. If they did do N or M afterwards, I wonder how they managed to drag the plot into the 1950s? The original is set during WW2!
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I predicted this would be less than great. I hate to say I told you so, but…
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Ah, just wait until the eighth series. It’ll grow on you.
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I think this week’s Dead Ringers sums it up perfectly – it’s on the IPlayer about 12 minutes in.
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