From the Granada International website:
ITV today announced that Julia McKenzie has taken over the iconic role of Miss Marple. Julia will begin filming A Pocketful Of Rye at the end of this month.Read the rest of the press release here.
Geraldine McEwan, the last actress to take on the nation's favourite spinster sleuth, retired last month after three hugely successful series. The hugely popular Emmy Award nominated ITV films have been sold to over 100 territories worldwide and peaked in the ratings at 10 million viewers.
Star of stage and screen, Julia McKenzie most recently appeared in Cranford as Mrs Forrester and the critically acclaimed Notes On A Scandal. Earlier credits include Fresh Fields, Bright Young Things and Blott On The Landscape. On stage Julia recently starred in The Philadelphia Story at the Old Vic, and has many award wins and nominations to her name, both on Broadway and in the West End. She won an Olivier for her performance as Mrs Lovett in the National Theatre production of Sweeney Todd.
Julia McKenzie said: "I'm very excited but also slightly daunted by the enormous responsibility that comes with taking on such an iconic role. Just about everybody in the world knows about Miss Marple and has an opinion of what she should be like, so I'm under no illusions about the size of the task ahead. And I suppose I'll have to remind myself how to knit!"
I'm not sure she is my idea of Miss Marple - not quite fluffy enough, but then we've had some strange ones over the years
ReplyDeleteGreat actress - but will she survive the dire scripts and plots which they now see fit to throw into Miss Marple?!
ReplyDeleteBy the by, whereabouts in Worcestershire are you? I grew up in Eckington, near Pershore.
I'm looking forward to seeing JM as Marple. I didn't really warm to GM.
ReplyDeleteThough from East Anglia, I've lived in Redditch for 10 years :-). It's not as bad as the 'press' makes out!
I'm sure she is a very nice person, but I do miss Joan Hickson. She was the best. Hopefully they won't tamper with the stories so much this time.
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