In July of 2009, A&E released the Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple DVD set that included all of those included in this new Great Detectives Anthology. The difference between this set and that 2009 release is the addition of 5 Sherlock Holmes mysteries (featuring Peter Cushing), the omission of 7 Poirot mysteries one Marple mystery. Exactly why this change in the old set was made is hard to say, but the set definitely benefits from the addition of Sherlock Holmes to the mix, it immediately makes the set more palatable to a wider audience who may not have foreknowledge of the two comparatively lesser known detectives who headlined the first set.
The Sherlock Holmes mysteries included in the set are “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, “A Study in Scarlet”, “The Boscombe Valley Mystery”, “The Sign of Four” and “The Blue Carbuncle”.
Just like with the original Poirot & Marple set, they’re oddly out of order, most notably because they’ve placed “A Study in Scarlet” second, despite being the first story to ever feature Holmes. On the other hand, it leads off with “The Hound of the Baskervilles” which may be the most famous Sherlock story of all time. Peter Cushing’s portrayal of Holmes runs second only to Basil Rathbone’s but still delivers a solid characterization each and every time.
The Marple mysteries included in the set are “A Caribbean Mystery”, “The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side”, “Sleeping Murder”, “4:50 from Paddington”, “The Moving Finger”, “At Bertram's Hotel”, “Murder at the Vicarage”, and “Nemesis”.
The Poirot mysteries included in the set are “Death on the Nile”, “The Mystery of the Blue Train”, “Taken at the Flood”, “After the Funeral”, “Cards on the Table”.
While the Holmes mysteries in the set make perfect sense, the set’s Poirot and Marple features still suffer from being overly random in their selection. Before they dropped the 7 entries from the Poirot selection, the set represented four seasons of the mystery serial – now it’s woefully incomplete. In stark contrast, the Marple set’s loss of one lone episode doesn’t really confuse anything; it was scatterbrained with large holes separating the selection. Why a specific portion of the Marple timeline wasn’t included is unknown, but dropping one episode only makes the gap wider.
Perhaps what matters most though, is you now have an anthology that features three of the most well-known fictional detectives of all time, as written by two of the most compelling storytellers of all time: Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Agatha Christie gifted the world with a series of mysteries so intricate and well-conceived that her name has a legendary aura in the world of mystery literature. With so much source material in the Agatha Christie library it really should come as no surprise that Agatha Christie: Poirot and Agatha Christie Marple, brilliant adaptations of two of her most famous detectives, feature compelling stories for viewers who find the offerings of the small and silver screens sorely lacking in good whodunits. David Suchet and Joan Hickson embody the characters with such familiarity and comfortable style that make each installment a feature-film quality presentation. Then you have Peter Cushing, who plays a stiffer version of Holmes than Rathbone, but with a more wily certainty that makes his personification feel different and new. Both authors knew how to weave intricate mysteries, and accordingly this set is jam-packed with some of the best mysteries ever to grace a page converted into compelling features every mystery fan ought to see.
DVD Bonus Features
Beyond the drier extras including written biographies of Poirot actor David Suchet and author Agatha Christie and indices of Christie’s stories, there’s a lone documentary “Sherlock Holmes: The Great Detective” which is actually quite interesting, but noticeably singular in its quality in this set.
Should you buy this set or the 2009 release? It depends on whether you’re a Sherlock fan. If so, the five mysteries are solid Holmes tales and warrant favoring the new set over the old; but if Agatha Christie is your bag, most importantly Marple (since most of Poirot got axed), then stay with the old set.
"The Great Detectives Anthology" is on sale October 5, 2010 and is not rated. Mystery. Directed by Various. Written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie. Starring David Suchet, Joan Hickson, Peter Cushing.
