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Marlow’s Murder Club
When faced with any adaptation of a novel to the screen, the question always arises: what is better, the book or the series? Extravagant publications can produce stellar serials, great literature can become flat and compressed.
In the case of writer Robert Thorogood’s gentle mystery The Marlow Murder Club (Drama), the answer is easy: although there are minor differences between the bestseller and the two-parter, they are equally good.
This is because Thorogood, the creator of Death In Paradise, is equally comfortable in both genres. In fact, this story of three meddlesome women investigating a double murder in their Thames town was originally pitched as a television concept, before becoming the first in a series of chart-topping books.
Now the author has written the script for this television version. You have to admire his dedication and the skill with which he puts together a handful of different stories.
Samantha Bond as Judith Potts in The Marlow Murder Club
From left, Jo Martin as Suzie Harris, Samantha Bond as Judith Potts and Cara Horgan as Becks Starling.
It’s clear that he adores his characters, and as a result, we soon find ourselves drawn to them too. The leader of the group is retired archaeologist and crossword puzzler Judith (Samantha Bond).
When we first meet her in the novel, she hears a murder while bathing naked in the river, and Samantha boldly played the scene as written.
Vicar’s wife, Becks (Cara Horgan), is a bag of nerves in the book, but emerges from her shell more quickly on screen. One moment she hides in closets to avoid irritable parishioners and the next she tricks police officers into taking photographs of evidence.
Jo Martin’s Suzie is the most well-rounded character, a single mother who took up dog walking after her teenage daughter left home.
On the page, there is more time for a strong friendship to develop between the three women, but it’s easy to imagine that they would want to be friends, because they instantly feel like friends to us, too.
Much of the plot is simple investigation. Judith is a busybody who insists on interviewing everyone she knows. That could be infuriating, if she weren’t so knowledgeable about every subject under the sun, from Nazi memorabilia to Bible verses.
And every time he’s in danger of becoming unbearable, he says something so collegial: “Not even because of you!” —We have to forgive her.
Although there are minor differences between the bestseller and the two-parter, they are equally good.
The leader of the group is retired archaeologist and crossword puzzler Judith (Samantha Bond).
There are also moments of comedy that make you laugh out loud. “It’s not as bad as it seems,” Judith shouted, as armed police burst into a house in the stockbroker’s belt and found her wielding a machine gun and a hand grenade.
The setting is the undiluted Home Counties, all the parish church and vintage sports cars on the High Street. Thorogood is consciously paying homage to Agatha Christie, and even includes a reference to an archeology colleague of her husband’s.
This show is made by UKTV, part of BBC Studios, but why BBC1 didn’t pick it up is a mystery. Perhaps its overtly English setting and lack of violence make it too middle-class and welcoming for today’s Beeb.
The international market is not so disdainful. Like Midsomer Murders and Father Brown, this delightful slice of cleverly constructed entertainment is sure to sell well around the world.