An author’s investigation into a series of mysterious deaths leads him to a village coven that claims to kill by supernatural means.
After witnessing a violent altercation between two women, writer and sculptor Mark Easterbrook (Colin Buchanan) is drawn into a bizarre mystery when one of them is murdered. A list of names found on the victim’s body seems to connect a number of recent deaths, all of which have been attributed to natural causes. With the police, led by Inspector Lejeune (Trevor Byfield) and Sergeant Corrigan (Andy Serkis), making little progress, Mark begins his own investigation. His search leads him to the village of Much Deeping and to The Pale Horse, an inn run by three strange women, headed by the sinister Thyrza Grey (Jean Marsh). The women are reputed to be witches, capable of committing murder for hire through black magic, forcing Mark to confront a seemingly rational plot cloaked in occult terror.
This feature-length adaptation of one of Agatha Christie’s most unsettling novels successfully translates the book’s macabre atmosphere to the screen. The production eschews the gentler feel of many Christie adaptations, opting instead for a tone of genuine paranoia and creeping dread. The teleplay by Alma Cullen preserves the novel’s central conceit: a seemingly supernatural murder-for-hire business that serves as an ingenious cover for a chillingly plausible criminal enterprise. Shot on film, the production makes effective use of its rural English locations to build a sense of insidious evil lurking beneath a picturesque surface. Jean Marsh gives a memorable performance as the coven’s unnerving matriarch.
Broadcast: ITV – Anglia, 1 Episode, 23 December 1997
Adapted by: Alma Cullen
From the novel by: Agatha Christie
Director: Charles Beeson
Producers: Adrian Bate, Liz Bunton
Music: Colin Towns
Main Cast: Colin Buchanan (Mark Easterbrook), Jayne Ashbourne (Kate Mercer), Hermione Norris (Hermia Redcliffe), Leslie Phillips (Lincoln Bradley), Jean Marsh (Thyrza Grey), Ruth Madoc (Sybil Stamfordis), Michael Byrne (Venables), Trevor Byfield (Inspector Lejeune), Andy Serkis (Sergeant Corrigan)
