As far as this series has gone, I liked "Murder is Announced", "Murder at the Vicarage" and in some ways "4.50 From Paddington" but was disappointed in "Sleeping Murder", "Nemesis", "Body in the Library" and especially "Sittaford Mystery". While not 100% perfect, "Moving Finger" is by far one of the better ITV Marple adaptations. While taking a few minor liberties, it does respect the book somewhat, and manages to be absorbing in terms of plot and stylish in terms of production values, as they were really delightful here. The acting is very, very good, Harry Enfield overdoes it just a tad as Symmington and I didn't care for Ken Russell very much as the vicar, but Frances DeLa Tour, Talullah Riley, Imogen Stubbs, Keith Allen and John Sessions all turn in solid work. Geraldine McEwan does give one of her better performances as Miss Marple, and as Joanna and Jerry Emilia Fox and James D'Arcy are appealing enough. The direction was decent and the pace is nice and skippy, but if I had any other complaints other than the occasional overacting of one or two members of the cast, the writers could have developed the script a tad. Other than that, this is a surprisingly good adaptation. 8/10 Bethany Cox
Review of The Moving Finger
