Miss Marple star Julia McKenzie faced her own mystery on the latest of the big ITV dramas where’s the blooming nice weather gone?
The lavish new episode this week is A Caribbean Mystery.
Sun-kissed South Africa stood in as the filming location and Julia says she packed summery clothes and plenty of suntan cream.
But the crew arrived to find the weather worse than they’d left back home!
“We’d had such a rotten summer in the UK and I was expecting to see some sun but sadly there wasn’t much,” sighs Julia.
“We began filming in September and we only had three days of sunshine, which is really unusual for that time of year. It was cold and wet.”
The inclement conditions meant the ITV crew had to work harder than expected to make it look like the tropical island of St Honore.
The Agatha Christie novel had Miss Marple sent there by her caring nephew to recuperate in the sunshine from a bad bout of pneumonia. But although she’s far from the genteel surroundings of St Mary Mead, as usual she isn’t far from murder.
The screen adaptation comes from comedian and actor Charlie Higson, who crops up as a birdwatcher called James Bond.
“The script was a real treat,” admits Julia, 72. “It has lightness despite characters being killed, and you get to see Miss Marple in a different world.
“Rather than engaging with her village characters, filming the story abroad gave me something else to play which the audience hasn’t seen before.
“On the night Charlie filmed his cameo it was raining heavily so we were inside. We got to have a little natter and he’s a very sweet and intelligent man.
“I think he was slightly taken aback as he said, ‘I can’t believe all these terrific actors are saying my words’.”
There’s a queue of famous faces keen to appear, with this cast including Robert Webb, Hermione Norris and Monarch Of The Glen star Alastair Mackenzie.
There are three new mysteries in this series and Julia has made the part her own, having taken over from Geraldine McEwan.
“I love playing the character so I was delighted to return,” adds Julia.
“In the beginning I think I threw too much energy at the character.
“But I’ve since taken more time over her and I feel much more confident and comfortable.”
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