Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
Back in March, I gave my Mum her birthday present, which she enjoyed. Since she loves crime drama, I gave my Mum the 2015 series of Agatha Christie‘s ‘Partners In Crime’ on DVD. I’m glad she enjoyed it as well as me and my Dad. I’m saddened the series wasn’t renewed for a second season. 😦
2015’s ‘Partners In Crime’ (not to be confused with the 1983 series) stars David Walliams and Jessica Raine as the crime-solving duo Tommy and Tuppence. Some of you may not be very familiar with Tommy and Tuppence as Agatha Christie characters compared to Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. 😐
Tommy and Tuppence actually did appear in one of the ‘Marple’ episodes with Geraldine McEwan in 2006 called ‘By the Pricking of My Thumbs’, though I’ve yet to review the episode and it was actually based on a ‘Tommy and Tuppence’ novel, not a ‘Miss Marple’ novel. Interesting what you discover. 🙂
I enjoyed discovering more of Agatha Christie’s world through these characters I hadn’t come across very often compared to Poirot and Marple. It’s also interesting to see him as a married couple and getting involved with crime cases that might be beyond their depth as they’re trying to solve them. 🙂
The ‘Partners In Crime’ 2015 series is six episodes in total. It’s divided into two stories. The first story is a three-parter called ‘The Secret Adversary’, based on the 1922 novel by Agatha Christie. The second story is a three-parter called ‘N or M?’, based on the 1941 novel. Both are pretty enjoyable. 🙂
Both stories are set in the 1950s. It was fun to see David Walliams in a more serious role compared to seeing him in ‘Little Britain’ and the ‘Doctor Who’ episode ‘The God Complex’. It was also nice to see Jessica Raine, who’s well-known for playing Jenny in the first three seasons of ‘Call the Midwife’.
She was also in the ‘Doctor Who’ episode ‘Hide’ and played Verity Lambert in ‘An Adventure In Space and Time’. The series itself has comedic moments featured throughout, but there’s also a underlying dark tone to make it more dramatic, which I found intriguing in an Agatha Christie drama.
Thankfully this is better compared to 2015’s ‘And Then There Were None’. 😀 The series also features James Fleet (who, for me, played Hugo Horton in ‘The Vicar of Dibley’) as Major Anthony Carter. He’s Tommy’s uncle and the head of ‘The Third Floor’ branch of British Military Intelligence. 🙂
It’s interesting 2015’s ‘Partners In Crime’ is set in the 1950s, especially with the Cold War atmosphere throughout both stories. There’s also Matthew Steer as Albert Pemberton, a chemistry teacher and a part-time agent for Carter, who assists Tommy and Tuppence during their crime-solving.
The series has guest stars like Alice Krige (the Borg Queen from ‘Star Trek’), Camilla Beeput (who I’ve heard in ‘The Ninth Doctor Adventures’ story ‘Ravagers’ with Christopher Eccleston), Andrew Havill, Ed Speleers (from ‘Downton Abbey’), Roy Marsden, Christina Cole, Trevor Cooper (from ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Star Cops’) and Susan Brown (who I’ve seen and heard in ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Torchwood’).
In terms of which of the two stories I enjoyed the most, it’s hard to say. They’ve both been good and on-the-edge-of-your-seat, especially when you get to the end of an episode cliffhanger. Mind you, I think each episode would’ve benefited with a recap of the previous episode to tune its audiences in.
Despite that, 2015’s ‘Partners In Crime’ has been an enjoyable crime series featuring two Agatha Christie characters I’m not very familiar with and well-played by David Walliams and Jessica Raine. I would’ve liked there to be a second season of the TV show. It seemed to have a lot of potential in it.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim. 🙂
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