ITV Commissions Three New Miss Marple Mysteries

Just minutes after posting the news that ITV has commissioned five more episodes of Poirot we read that the British network has also commissioned three additional made-for-television movies starring Julia McKenzie as Miss Jane Marple.

A Caribbean Mystery will be filmed during the summer of 2012 to be followed by the filming of Endless Night and The Seven Dials Mystery.

"It's a huge privilege for me to play Miss Marple," said McKenzie. "After such a successful career I was content to play guest roles, but then Marple came along. How could I not play her? I love her shrewd intelligence, and yet she has a warmth and a sweetness that is so disarming. I find it stimulating watching how her insights into human nature can unlock big complex mysteries. I'm delighted to be back."

As Christie did not write all that many Miss Marple mysteries, the producers have taken to adapting her other crime novels and incorporating the character of Miss Marple in some way. Of the three novel adaptations announced today by ITV, only one — A Caribbean Mystery — originally featured Miss Marple. Endless Night, published in 1967, is a stand-alone while The Seven Dials Mystery, one of her earliest works, published in 1929, features the recurring character of Superintendent Battle.

(Source: Press release.)