We have just left Christmas celebrations behind us. A holiday full of jolly nostalgia and hard core glitter use.
I must admit, I am not that into Christmas traditions. Christmas will be upon us anyway, I say.
So without seeming too grinchy or scroogey I really do not see the appeal of watching the movie Love Actually (2003) more than once. The rest of the TV schedule (at least in Norway) is full of crap B-, C-, and D-movies not worth your while, and the A-listers keeps running and running, staling for every channel you switch on to.
But the holidays is a perfect time to catch up on movies, TV series and shows!
I especially like to indulge in mini-series because they often fit perfectly into my holiday schedule. Short and effective stories with high production value and the best part, you do not have to wait a year for the next season!
So while everyone else was watching and talking about Making a Murderer (2015) (I was saving it for the new year’s celebrations), I was thrilled when I found the new TV adaption of Agatha Christie’s murder mystery And Then There Were None (2015). Perhaps more known as Ten Little Indians.
First class British crime and costume drama from BBC One.
Oh, Holy Night.
Jackpot!
First published in 1939, the novel is recognized as Christie’s masterwork, and has been adapted many times on screen, TV and the stage.
The story is as simple as it is meticulous.
It is Saw set in 1939 without traps and all the gore. And without the possibility of making it out alive.
The mysterious Mr and Mrs Owen invites eight strangers to a secluded Soldier Island. Greeted by the butler and cook when arriving, it is quickly revealed neither they nor any of the guests have actually met the Owens, and that their hosts are nowhere to be seen.
Completely alone on the island, they are interrupted after eating dinner by a recording that reveals that all ten of them have been complicit in the deaths of others but has managed to escape notice and/or prosecution.
Ten artfully crafted table pieces and an American children’s rhyme (Ten little Indians) are also important pieces in the continuing story where the characters are killed off one by one. Until there are none left.
I was thrilled!
The cast is excellent with many familiar faces such as: Toby Stephens (Captain Flint from Black Sails), Burn Gorman (Owen Harper from Torchwood and Major Hewlett from TURN), Noah Taylor (as some of you may know as Locke from Game of Thrones, but who cares about GoT right?).
Miranda Richardson (Rita Skeeter from Harry Potter), Anna Maxwell Martin (Elizabeth Darcy from Death Comes to Pemberley and Mary Shelley from the new and very promising TV series The Frankenstein Chronicles).
Aiden Turner (mostly known as Kili from The Hobbit-trilogy, but for me he will always be Mitchell from Being Human (UK)).
Douglas Booth (Pip from Great Expectations and as Mr. Bingley from the upcoming Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), and (at least for me) the more unknown Maeve Dermody.
And, to top this smorgasbord of, the ever-so cool Charles Dance and Sam Neill, with too much goodness on their filmographies to single out just a few.
It is beautifully crafted TV. And when I got over the cucumber castle in the intro, this three-part series is a total delight!
A must see for crime and costume fans!
Did I just birth a new term?
I can live with that.
Christine
christines rant 