On this day, fifty years ago, Agatha Christie passed away.
From Wikipedia:
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), was an English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers, particularly in the mystery genre.
A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime"—a nickname now trademarked by her estate—or the "Queen of Mystery". She wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery “The Mousetrap”, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.
In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. She is the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
Christie's first published book, “The Mysterious Affair at Styles”, was released in 1920 and introduced the detective Hercule Poirot, who appeared in 33 of her novels and more than 50 short stories.
Over the years, Christie grew tired of Poirot, much as Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes. By the end of the 1930s, Christie wrote in her diary that she was finding Poirot "insufferable", and by the 1960s she felt he was "an egocentric creep".
Thompson believes Christie's occasional antipathy to her creation is overstated, and points out that "in later life she sought to protect him against misrepresentation as powerfully as if he were her own flesh and blood". Unlike Doyle, she resisted the temptation to kill her detective off while he was still popular. She married off Poirot's "Watson", Captain Arthur Hastings, in an attempt to trim her cast commitments.
Miss Jane Marple was introduced in a series of short stories that began publication in December 1927 and were subsequently collected under the title “The Thirteen Problems.” Marple was a genteel, elderly spinster who solved crimes using analogies to English village life.
Christie said, "Miss Marple was not in any way a picture of my grandmother; she was far more fussy and spinsterish than my grandmother ever was", but her autobiography establishes a firm connection between the fictional character and Christie's step-grandmother Margaret Miller ("Auntie-Grannie") and her "Ealing cronies". Both Marple and Miller "always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and were, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right".
Marple appeared in 12 novels and 20 stories.
Christie had a heart attack and a serious fall in 1974, after which she was unable to write.
Christie never wrote a novel or short story featuring both Poirot and Miss Marple. In a recording discovered and released in 2008, Christie revealed the reason for this: "Hercule Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady. Hercule Poirot – a professional sleuth – would not be at home at all in Miss Marple's world."
O’Bservation:
Toobworld Central does accept the photo of David Suchet and Joan Hickson as Poirot and Miss Marple to be part of the main Toobworld, just an adventure never seen by the audience in the Trueniverse.
In addition to Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, Christie also created amateur detectives Thomas (Tommy) Beresford and his wife, Prudence "Tuppence" Beresford (née Cowley), who appear in four novels and one collection of short stories published between 1922 and 1974. Unlike her other sleuths, the Beresfords were only in their early twenties when introduced in “The Secret Adversary,” and were allowed to age alongside their creator. She treated their stories with a lighter touch, giving them a "dash and verve" which was not universally admired by critics. Their last adventure, “Postern of Fate, was Christie's last novel.
The television adaptation “Agatha Christie's Poirot” (1989–2013), with David Suchet in the title role, ran for 70 episodes over 13 series. It received nine BAFTA award nominations and won four BAFTA awards in 1990–1992. The television series “Miss Marple” (1984–1992), with Joan Hickson as "the BBC's peerless Miss Marple", adapted all 12 Marple novels. The French television series “Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie” (2009–2012, 2013–2020), adapted 36 of Christie's stories.
There have been at least fourteen incarnations of Hercule Poirot in the Great Mosaic of the Television Universe, including in the Tooniverse, Skitlandia, a Cineverse Borderland, and of course in the main Toobworld, Earth Prime-Time, with David Suchet being accepted as the primary Poirot due to the number of episodes to his credit.
As for Miss Marple, she can be found in at least eight Toobworlds, including the Tooniverse and Skitlandia. For Earth Prime-Time, Joan Hickson is recognized as the premiere Jane Marple.
Other Christie staples, like Tommy and Tuppence Beresford plus “Bundle” Brent, can be found in several alternate Toobworlds as well.
And so, on the anniversary of her passing, Toobworld Central recognizes Dame Agatha’s contributions to the expansion of the TV Universe as a Creator.