Towards Zero - episode 1
Mar. 7th, 2025 08:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessSorry, that should be Agatha Christie’s Towards Zero...
I don’t think I’ve read this (or does the book have another title), not that that means anything, because I never remember Christie’s books until possibly by the time of the denouement. Fine, start with a voiceover that’s also an address to characters we don’t know yet, in which you argue that the murder is the ending and justify starting 8 months earlier, but the opening sections were really disconnected until finally, finally, we had everyone in the same bit of Devon. The set-up was a divorce case involving the Stranges – excellent use of the surname. He! Was a tennis player and a devoted husband, except The First Mrs Strange (Audrey, blonde) was pushing for a divorce on the grounds of adultery, which looked plausible in the vignetty flashbacks of evidence submitted. And then Kay/Lucky (brunette) turned up at his flat grumbling (as the First Mrs Strange trounced her on the grounds of what they wore at court.) Their interaction was far more persuasive of and adulterous relationship. So he admitted to guilt and the divorce was granted.
The court scene was enlivened by gasps as the phrase ‘gold-digger’, it was almost campy. The three parties were very posey in the court scene. We also learned that Strange’s lawyer was voiceover man. Strange also took on Macdonald as a servant, having been impressed by his ability to headbutt a reporter.
We were also introduced to the Grand Dame and the setting as Proper Star Anjelica Huston turned up as Lady Tressilian, a bedbound widow who was obsessed with the pleasure hotel just over the creek – she had a telescope. In fairness, the fact that a guest had drowned because they’d got caught in a rip tide when swimming was bad. And I imagine that the fact that they were setting off fireworks in the daylight would be annoying. So she called the police and we met Inspector Leach as played by Matthew Rhys looking haggard. He popped into the hotel for a whisky instead of to issue a scolding, repelling a would-be fixer (it looked like a fairly seedy establishment from the goings-on.)
We met her paid companion, Mary, who was enjoying a secret correspondence with Thomas, who would just like her to put in a good word with his auntie. She tried, but Auntie wasn’t having it or agreeing to take on extra staff for the big houseparty that was brewing, so she told him to come anyway.
The houseparty would involve the First Mrs Strange, and after they just happened to bump into each other, Mr Strange, giving up his beloved tennis, and the Second Mrs Strange, who got talked into giving up her ideal honeymoon for it. Clearly from one moment in the court case, Neville and his first wife were in on something together.
Also coming was the family lawyer, who would be staying at the hotel...with his fourteen year old ward who seemed to be a kleptomaniac with added disturbed tendencies. But she stayed at the hotel for the first dinner, which kept involving the guests being summoned upstairs to meet Lady T. (She’d taken to bed after her husband died in a boat in the creek, meaning that all boating other than in the ferry was verboten. The second Mrs Strange tried to insist on her rights, but by the time she’d admitted she’d married for love, she did seem to be a patsy. But I'd give her the edge over Audrey on what they wore on holiday!
Oh, and when Thomas turned up, Mary began to suspect she’d been used a bit (ya think?) but we learned his aunt was set against him because he’d accused Neville of lying that one time, and was now begging for a fair hearing, presumably of what he had against Neville. So! A tense dinner party was on...
...but on the other side of the creek, young klepto Sylvia had been indulging in a bit of stealing from the other guests. The Inspector, despite drinking away, had seen her. He got booted out for drunkeness, she followed him outside, and saw him very close to the edge. We ended with her screaming, and it looked as if it was because he’d jumped...
It is fine as far as these things go, period detail to enjoy, some big stars. I think the script could have been smoother, with less creaking involved in setting everything in train.
I don’t think I’ve read this (or does the book have another title), not that that means anything, because I never remember Christie’s books until possibly by the time of the denouement. Fine, start with a voiceover that’s also an address to characters we don’t know yet, in which you argue that the murder is the ending and justify starting 8 months earlier, but the opening sections were really disconnected until finally, finally, we had everyone in the same bit of Devon. The set-up was a divorce case involving the Stranges – excellent use of the surname. He! Was a tennis player and a devoted husband, except The First Mrs Strange (Audrey, blonde) was pushing for a divorce on the grounds of adultery, which looked plausible in the vignetty flashbacks of evidence submitted. And then Kay/Lucky (brunette) turned up at his flat grumbling (as the First Mrs Strange trounced her on the grounds of what they wore at court.) Their interaction was far more persuasive of and adulterous relationship. So he admitted to guilt and the divorce was granted.
The court scene was enlivened by gasps as the phrase ‘gold-digger’, it was almost campy. The three parties were very posey in the court scene. We also learned that Strange’s lawyer was voiceover man. Strange also took on Macdonald as a servant, having been impressed by his ability to headbutt a reporter.
We were also introduced to the Grand Dame and the setting as Proper Star Anjelica Huston turned up as Lady Tressilian, a bedbound widow who was obsessed with the pleasure hotel just over the creek – she had a telescope. In fairness, the fact that a guest had drowned because they’d got caught in a rip tide when swimming was bad. And I imagine that the fact that they were setting off fireworks in the daylight would be annoying. So she called the police and we met Inspector Leach as played by Matthew Rhys looking haggard. He popped into the hotel for a whisky instead of to issue a scolding, repelling a would-be fixer (it looked like a fairly seedy establishment from the goings-on.)
We met her paid companion, Mary, who was enjoying a secret correspondence with Thomas, who would just like her to put in a good word with his auntie. She tried, but Auntie wasn’t having it or agreeing to take on extra staff for the big houseparty that was brewing, so she told him to come anyway.
The houseparty would involve the First Mrs Strange, and after they just happened to bump into each other, Mr Strange, giving up his beloved tennis, and the Second Mrs Strange, who got talked into giving up her ideal honeymoon for it. Clearly from one moment in the court case, Neville and his first wife were in on something together.
Also coming was the family lawyer, who would be staying at the hotel...with his fourteen year old ward who seemed to be a kleptomaniac with added disturbed tendencies. But she stayed at the hotel for the first dinner, which kept involving the guests being summoned upstairs to meet Lady T. (She’d taken to bed after her husband died in a boat in the creek, meaning that all boating other than in the ferry was verboten. The second Mrs Strange tried to insist on her rights, but by the time she’d admitted she’d married for love, she did seem to be a patsy. But I'd give her the edge over Audrey on what they wore on holiday!
Oh, and when Thomas turned up, Mary began to suspect she’d been used a bit (ya think?) but we learned his aunt was set against him because he’d accused Neville of lying that one time, and was now begging for a fair hearing, presumably of what he had against Neville. So! A tense dinner party was on...
...but on the other side of the creek, young klepto Sylvia had been indulging in a bit of stealing from the other guests. The Inspector, despite drinking away, had seen her. He got booted out for drunkeness, she followed him outside, and saw him very close to the edge. We ended with her screaming, and it looked as if it was because he’d jumped...
It is fine as far as these things go, period detail to enjoy, some big stars. I think the script could have been smoother, with less creaking involved in setting everything in train.
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Date: 2025-03-07 08:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-08 07:39 am (UTC)