What is it? And Then There Were None, miniseries, three hours on two discs from Acorn Media
How much? $34.99
When? Now
That sounds sort of ominous. It should. This is the televised version of Agatha Christie's most popular novel -- a book that was also one of her darkest and most diabolically brilliant.
It's 1939 and an odd assortment of people are lured to a remote island off the coast of Devon, England. There's the self-important Dr. Edward Armstrong (Toby Stephens), reckless Tony Marston (Douglas Booth), mysterious William Blore (Burn Gorman), watchful Justice Lawrence Wargrave (Charles Dance), moralistic Emily Brent (Miranda Richardson), philosophical Gen. John MacArthur (Sam Neill), conscience-free Philip Lombard (Aidan Turner) and haunted Vera Claythorne (Maeve Dermody). To keep the house and tend to their needs, there are two servants: the surly butler Thomas Rogers (Noah Taylor) and his mousy wife, Ethel (Anna Maxwell Martin).
They seem to have no connection to one another, but they very soon discover that they all have something very sinister in common. Almost right away, their unknown host's intentions begin to become perfectly, horribly clear.
Does it stay true to the novel? Yes and no.
When Christie turned the novel into a play, she altered the ending and the subsequent English-language film versions followed suit. This is the first version to use the original novel's ending. Sort of. The denouement is handled in a different way but the resolution stays the same.
There are still some changes that take place, particularly relating to the murder methods and character back stories. The result leaves less ambiguity than the novel. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is a matter of personal preference.
How is it? It takes a bit to really get going, plot-wise, but in a story like this, atmosphere is key so the time it takes to set the tone of doom and gloom is not wasted. This is a very dark, moody, claustrophobic story and everything from the setting to the camera work to the little details in the set design work together to create a tense piece.
That sounds depressing, but really, it's a suspense piece and a psychological study -- taking complex characters and putting them in a high-stress, isolated environment. And in the hands of a cast packed with talented, experienced actors, it succeeds.
Are there bonus features? A few. There are three featurettes, ranging in length from 15 to 43 minutes, each talking about the making of the series, the difficulties and reasoning that went into the screenplay and about Agatha Christie herself. All are good and give some nice insight into the production, though there is a bit of content duplication between them.
New this week: 19-2, Season 1; The Beverly Hillbillies, Season 1; Hot in Cleveland, Season 6 and complete series; Royal Pains, Season 7; Schitt's Creek, Season 2; The Monkees, complete series (Blu-ray).
New next week: The Brokenwood Mysteries, Season 2; Knight Rider, Seasons 1-2; The Last Ship, Season 2; Mad About You, complete series; Miami Vice, Seasons 1-2.
Style on 04/24/2016