The final Rutherford Marple (unless you count a cameo in The Alphabet Murders) wasn't actually based on a Christie novel. Miss Marple joins a board of trustees, and at a meeting one of her colleagues promptly drops dead. To investigate, Marple winds up on board a ship – it’s really the same bunch of middle class suspects played by anonymous actors in that same Agatha Christie suspect style (including the one hot girl). There is another pompous foil for Rutherford – this time, Lionel Jefferies as the captain of the ship (he’s too young to try and romance her, though).
Rutherford climbs through a window, does a lot of poking around, sings ‘Rule Brittania’ and generally does her schtick – the highlight comes at the end where she fences the killer (this is fun). Jefferies is entertaining but the best performance is from the ever-cheerful young doctor. It’s a shame the ship spends all its time in port – it would have been more exciting and adventurous for them to go on a voyage.
This is really just like those crime dramas they’re always playing on UKTV (with English actors acting in English) – minimal production value, decent scripts, strong actors. What gives it its special tang is Rutherford and some of the supporting players. They include Miles Mellson and Derek Nimmo.
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