NARRATOR: THERE IS NO MORE QUINTESSENTIALLY ENGLISH WRITER THAN AGATHA CHRISTIE.
THROUGH HER SENSATIONAL MURDER MYSTERIES, SHE CREATED A LITERARY UNIVERSE THAT CAPTURED OUR NATIONAL SPIRIT LIKE NO ONE BEFORE OR SINCE.
WOMAN: I THINK SHE LOVED HER COUNTRY VERY, VERY MUCH.
NARRATOR: BUT THE MAGICAL WORLDS WHERE SHE SET HER STORIES ARE IN FACT DRAWN FROM REAL PLACES.
FROM LOST VICTORIAN SEASIDE RESORTS TO ARISTOCRATIC ESTATES... MAN: THIS IS THE HOUSE WE BELIEVE WHERE AGATHA AND ARCHIE MET.
NARRATOR: LUXURY HOTELS TO THE ASTONISHING DEVON LANDSCAPE OF HER CHILDHOOD, WE REVEAL THE PLACES ACROSS ENGLAND THAT INSPIRED AGATHA CHRISTIE... WOMAN: I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY DOUBT WHATSOEVER ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF MISS MARPLE.
NARRATOR: AND UNCOVER THE SECRET ORIGINS OF HER MOST FAMOUS WORKS... WOMAN 2: PLACES SHE LIVED IN WERE VITAL TO HER.
NARRATOR: WITH ACCESS TO HER PRIVATE HOMES, THOSE WHO LIVED WITH HER, AND HER FAMILY.
IT JUST GAVE HER ROOTS.
IT GAVE HER A SENSE OF CONNECTION WITH THIS AREA.
NARRATOR: THIS IS THE STORY OF "AGATHA CHRISTIE'S ENGLAND."
NARRATOR: AGATHA CLARISSA MILLER WAS BORN ON SEPTEMBER THE 15TH, 1890, IN THE DEVON TOWN OF TORQUAY.
THE YOUNGEST OF 3 CHILDREN, SHE LIVED A CHARMED LIFE, THANKS TO HER AMERICAN FATHER'S LARGE INHERITANCE.
WOMAN: AGATHA'S FAMILY HAD A COOK WHOM AGATHA LIKED TO SPEND TIME WITH, A WELL-STOCKED LIBRARY, AND A NURSERY, LARGE MEALS, AND GENERALLY IT ALL SEEMED VERY COMFORTABLE AND SALUBRIOUS.
NARRATOR: AROUND 1900, TORQUAY WAS ONE OF ENGLAND'S MOST DESIRABLE HOLIDAY SPOTS.
THE CREAM OF SOCIETY, FROM EUROPE AND BEYOND, WERE DRAWN TO THE RESTORATIVE POWERS OF THE TOWN SEA AIR.
WOMAN: IT WAS WHERE YOU WENT TO CONVALESCE, AND IT WAS WHAT WAS CALLED A WATERING PLACE.
NARRATOR: AGATHA'S FAMILY LIVED ON THE EDGE OF THE TOWN IN A LARGE VICTORIAN MANSION CALLED ASHFIELD.
AGATHA CHRISTIE: ALTHOUGH I WAS GLORIOUSLY IDLE, IN THOSE DAYS, CHILDREN HAD TO DO GOOD MANY THINGS FOR THEMSELVES.
I FOUND MYSELF MAKING UP STORIES AND ACTING THE DIFFERENT PARTS.
IT WAS THE MOST GLORIOUS PLACE FOR HER IMAGINATION TO RUN RIOT.
SHE COULD TURN THE GARDEN INTO A MAGICAL FOREST.
SHE COULD PLAY WITH A HOOP AND PRETEND THAT IT WAS A WHITE HORSE.
NARRATOR: WHILE THE ISOLATION OF THE FAMILY HOME TRIGGERED HER IMAGINATION, THE TOWN OF TORQUAY, TOO, PROVIDED EARLY INSPIRATION FOR THE YOUNG AGATHA, WITH ITS MELTING POT OF HOLIDAY MAKERS AND ENTERTAINERS.
MAN: SO, SHE WAS SURVEYING PEOPLE, LOOKING AT PEOPLE, TAKING NOTE OF WHAT THEY WERE DOING, LOOKING AT CHARACTERISTICS, LOOKING HOW PEOPLE SPOKE TO EACH OTHER IN RELATIONSHIPS.
AGATHA REALLY WAS A BIT OF A MAGPIE.
NARRATOR: THE TORQUAY OF AGATHA'S CHILDHOOD, WHICH PROVIDED THE FIRST SPARKS OF HER BURNING CREATIVITY, IS NOW LARGELY GONE.
ONLY A BLUE PLAQUE REMAINS OF HER CHILDHOOD HOME.
CHRISTIE: ONCE, UP IN THE COUNTRYSIDE OF TORQUAY WHEN I WAS A CHILD, WHERE I USED TO GO AND LOOK AT THE LITTLE LAMBS IN SPRINGS, NOW IT WAS A MASS OF SMALL HOUSES EVERYWHERE.
MAN: SHE CAME TO KIND OF ACCEPT THAT THAT PERIOD'S OVER.
ASHFIELD STILL EXISTS IN HER MEMORIES.
IT STILL EXISTS IN HER BECAUSE IT SHAPED HER.
MORGAN: SO THIS VERY DEEP EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT TO A PLACE REMAINED WITH AGATHA ALL HER LIFE.
SHE LIKED HOUSES, SHE LIKED PLACES, AND WAS NOSTALGIC ABOUT THEM WHEN SHE LEFT THEM.
NARRATOR: ALTHOUGH AGATHA WOULDN'T RECOGNIZE MUCH OF TODAY'S TORQUAY, POCKETS OF HER CHILDHOOD WORLD CAN STILL BE FOUND.
SHE USED TO BATH IN BEACON COVE, A SMALL, PEBBLY BEACH HIDDEN FROM THE TOWN CENTER.
IN THE LATE VICTORIAN PERIOD, IT WAS A LADIES-ONLY SWIMMING SPOT.
MAN: FOR YOUNG LADIES, WHERE THE ROLES OF SOCIETY WERE SO STRICT, HERE IN THE WATER, THERE MUST HAVE BEEN THAT GREATER FREEDOM.
NARRATOR: LOCAL HISTORIAN JOHN RISDON HAS RESEARCHED THIS AREA'S UNIQUE ROLE IN TORQUAY'S HISTORY.
RISDON: IF YOU WALKED DOWN HERE IN 1900, YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN WHAT WERE CALLED BATHING MACHINES LINED UP ON THE SHINGLE.
NOW, EACH MACHINE WOULD THEN BE USED BY AN INDIVIDUAL LADY TO CHANGE INTO HER BATHING DRESS.
NARRATOR: IN 1903, BEACON COVE BECAME A MIXED BATHING BEACH.
AROUND THE SAME TIME, AGATHA WOULD EXPERIENCE NOT ONLY THE PLEASURES, BUT ALSO THE GREAT DANGERS OF THE SEA DURING A SWIM WITH HER NEPHEW WHICH TOOK A DARK TURN.
RISDON: AS THEY WERE MAKING THEIR WAY OUT, HE BEGAN TO FLOUNDER AND GO UNDER.
AGATHA TRIED TO HELP HIM, AND HE DRAGGED HER UNDER.
THE ELDERLY MAN WHOSE JOB IT WAS TO LOOK AFTER THE BATHING MACHINES HAD COME OUT VERY RAPIDLY IN A SMALL ROWING BOAT AND HAD GRABBED HOLD OF THEM, HEAVED THEM OUT OF THE WATER.
I'M QUITE SURE IT MUST HAVE BEEN TRAUMATIC FOR BOTH OF THEM.
THAT MOMENT WHERE TIME SEEMS TO SUDDENLY STOP WITHIN YOU.
THOMPSON: I THINK IT STAYED WITH HER.
AND OF COURSE, THERE ARE INCIDENTS OF DROWNING IN HER DETECTIVE FICTION.
THE MOST FAMOUS IS "AND THEN THERE WERE NONE."
NARRATOR: PUBLISHED IN 1939, "AND THEN THERE WERE NONE," FEATURES A DISTRESSING EPISODE IN WHICH A YOUNG NANNY LETS THE BOY IN HER CHARGE DROWN.
CYRIL!
CYRIL, NO!
NO!
NARRATOR: ON A HILL ABOVE BEACON COVE STANDS A TORQUAY LANDMARK WHICH PLAYED A STRONG ROLE IN AGATHA'S LIFE-- THE IMPERIAL HOTEL.
RISDON: IT BECAME ONE OF THE MOST EXCLUSIVE HOTELS IN THE WHOLE OF TORBAY.
THE IMPERIAL APPEALED TO HER.
HERE, SHE FELT AT EASE.
NARRATOR: AGATHA RECREATED THE IMPERIAL AS THE MAJESTIC HOTEL IN "PERIL AT END HOUSE," PUBLISHED IN 1932.
RISDON: "WE WERE SITTING ON ONE OF THE TERRACES OF THE MAJESTIC HOTEL.
"THE GARDENS OF THE HOTEL LAY BELOW US "FREELY INTERSPERSED WITH PALM TREES.
"THE SEA WAS OF A DEEP AND LOVELY BLUE.
"THERE WAS A VIGOROUS HUMMING OF BEES, "A PLEASANT SOUND, AND ALTOGETHER NOTHING COULD HAVE BEEN MORE IDEAL."
NARRATOR: ALTHOUGH BORN AND RAISED IN TORQUAY, AGATHA HAD FAMILY BEYOND DEVON.
AS A YOUNG GIRL, SHE PAID EXTENDED VISITS TO HER GREAT AUNT IN EALING, ON THE EDGE OF LONDON.
KNOWN AT THE TIME AS THE QUEEN OF SUBURBS, IT WAS TYPICAL OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS ARISING ON THE EDGE OF ENGLAND'S CITIES AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY.
THOMPSON: AGATHA DESCRIBED IT AS IT HAD ALL THE ROMANCE OF GOING TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY.
NARRATOR: THESE VISITS WOULD GO ON TO INSPIRE ONE OF HER GREATEST LITERARY CREATIONS.
AGATHA'S EYES WOULD BE OPENED TO A NEW ADULT WORLD AS SHE WATCHED HER GREAT AUNT RECEIVE GUESTS.
MORGAN: AGATHA WOULD BE LISTENING TO THE CONVERSATION AND THE WAY WHEN THINGS BECAME RATHER SCANDALOUS, THE OLDER PEOPLE DROPPED THEIR VOICES AND TALKED SLIGHTLY IN CODE.
ONE OF THE ENTERTAINMENTS FOR THE ELDERLY WAS TO READ ALOUD THE GHASTLY MURDERS REPORTED IN THE NEWSPAPERS, THOUGH CAREFULLY, BECAUSE OF THE PRESENCE OF THE SMALL GIRL.
NARRATOR: A REMARKABLY RECEPTIVE YOUNG GIRL, AGATHA WOULD HAVE HEARD THE GRUESOME DETAILS OF THE ERA'S HIGHLY PUBLICIZED MURDER TRIALS.
IT STARTED HER LIFELONG OBSESSION WITH REAL-LIFE CRIME STORIES, MANY OF WHICH WOULD REAPPEAR IN HER BOOKS.
IN PARTICULAR, THE NOTORIOUS CASE OF DR. CRIPPEN, WHO KILLED HIS WIFE AND FLED WITH HIS MISTRESS TO AMERICA, FASCINATED AGATHA.
THOMPSON: THEY'RE THE KIND OF REAL-LIFE MURDERS THAT SHE IS REPLICATING WITH HER DETECTIVE FICTION.
WHAT'S REALLY INTERESTING IS NOT THE MURDER BUT THE MOTIVE, AND THAT'S HER THING.
NARRATOR: IN 1930, MANY YEARS AFTER THE VISITS TO EALING, AGATHA INTRODUCED THE WORLD TO MISS MARPLE WHEN SHE PUBLISHED "THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE."
AGATHA'S GREAT AUNT, AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN TO HER AS GRANNY, WAS ONE OF THE INSPIRATIONS FOR THIS HIGHLY-OBSERVANT AMATEUR DETECTIVE.
CHRISTIE: SHE HAD THIS IN COMMON WITH MY GRANDMOTHER.
BUT ALTHOUGH A COMPLETELY CHEERFUL PERSON, SHE ALWAYS EXPECTED THE WORST OF ANYONE AND EVERYTHING, AND WITH ALMOST FRIGHTENING ACCURACY, USUALLY PROVED RIGHT.
NARRATOR: THE SPIRIT OF AGATHA'S EALING, WHERE EVERYONE KNEW EVERYONE ELSE'S BUSINESS, IS STILL ALIVE TODAY.
AWAY FROM THE RUSHING COMMUTERS AND PACKED STREETS, THE LOCAL WOMEN'S INSTITUTE IS THRIVING.
I DO FEEL LIKE MISS MARPLE WOULD FIT RIGHT IN AT THE W.I.
I THINK SO.
WOMAN: YES.
WE DON'T WANT ANY MURDERS, THOUGH.
NO.
OH!
DON'T WE, KAREN?
[LAUGHTER] I THINK WHAT SHE SAYS ABOUT GOSSIP IS VERY INTERESTING.
TITTLE-TATTLE SHE CALLS IT, DOESN'T SHE?
YEAH.
YOU WOULD CALL IT A KIND OF INTUITION ABOUT PEOPLE, BUT AS AGATHA SAYS, VERY WISELY, I THINK, WHAT WE CALL INTUITION IS IN FACT BASED UPON COUNTLESS LITTLE SIGNS THAT YOU'RE ALMOST NOT EVEN AWARE OF.
SHE SAYS "MY HOBBY IS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN HUMAN NATURE, "SO VARIED AND SO VERY FASCINATING.
"AND OF COURSE IN A SMALL VILLAGE "WITH NOTHING TO DISTRACT ONE, "ONE HAS SUCH AMPLE OPPORTUNITY FOR BECOMING WHAT I MIGHT CALL PROFICIENT IN ONE'S STUDY."
NARRATOR: LIKE AGATHA'S GREAT AUNT, MISS MARPLE LIVED IN A WORLD OF TEA, GOSSIP, AND SCANDAL.
THE VILLAGE AGATHA CREATED FOR HER, ST. MARY MEAD, WAS THE PERFECT HOME FOR AN AMATEUR DETECTIVE WITH AN EYE FOR THE DARKER SIDE OF CHOCOLATE BOX ENGLAND.
BUT WHERE EXACTLY IN ENGLAND WAS ST. MARY MEAD?
THOMPSON: NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHERE IT IS, BUT WHAT'S REALLY INTERESTING IS SHE NEVER LIVED IN A VILLAGE, AND SHE UNDERSTOOD THAT VILLAGE MENTALITY SO BRILLIANTLY.
IT'S ALMOST AS THOUGH THE EALING MENTALITY TAKES ON A KIND OF PHYSICAL EXPRESSION IN THE FORM OF ST. MARY MEAD.
NARRATOR: AGATHA CHRISTIE USED HER CHILDHOOD TO CREATE A UNIQUE LITERARY WORLD, BUT AS SHE MOVED INTO ADULTHOOD AND THE WORLD AROUND HER CHANGED, SHE WOULD FIND INSPIRATION FOR ANOTHER ICONIC CREATION IN THE MOST UNEXPECTED OF PLACES.
NARRATOR: BY FOLLOWING AGATHA CHRISTIE'S OWN FOOTSTEPS ACROSS ENGLAND, IT'S POSSIBLE TO DISCOVER THE PLACES WHICH SHAPED THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLDS OF HER FICTION.
TOWARDS THE END OF HER TEENS, ENGLAND WAS MOVING OUT OF THE EDWARDIAN AGE AND STARTING TO BECOME THE MODERN NATION WE KNOW TODAY.
AS TORQUAY, THE TOWN OF HER CHILDHOOD, LOST ITS 19TH-CENTURY GLAMOUR, AGATHA'S ATTENTION MOVED TOWARDS THE SOCIAL LIFE HELD IN THE GREAT HOMES OF THE SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE.
THOMPSON: SHE WOULD GO TO WEEKEND PARTIES, GOODWOOD FOR THE RACING, FANCY DRESS BALLS, THAT KIND OF THING.
SHE WAS THE KIND OF GIRL WHO WOULD GET INVITED TO THINGS.
NARRATOR: IN 1912, THE THEN AGATHA MILLER ATTENDED A DANCE AT UGBROOKE HOUSE, AN 18TH-CENTURY STATELY HOME IN DEVON THAT WOULD BE THE SETTING OF A LIFE-CHANGING ENCOUNTER.
THE HOUSE IS NOW RUN BY ALEXANDER CLIFFORD.
HIS ANCESTORS, LORD LEWIS AND LADY MABEL CLIFFORD, ORGANIZED WEEKEND-LONG PARTIES FOR LOCAL GIRLS TO MEET POTENTIAL HUSBANDS.
THIS IS THE VISITORS' BOOK, AND IF YOU SEE HERE, WE HAVE AN "A. CHRISTIE" IN OCTOBER 1912.
NARRATOR: THIS WAS THE SIGNATURE OF ARCHIE CHRISTIE, A YOUNG PILOT ATTENDING A DANCE AT UGBROOKE HOUSE, WHERE HE WOULD SOON CATCH THE EYE OF THE 21-YEAR-OLD AGATHA.
WELL, THIS IS THE DINING ROOM.
IT WASN'T ALWAYS THAT WAY.
IT WAS ONE OF THE GREAT ENTERTAINING ROOMS OF THE HOUSE, AND THE ONE THAT WE BELIEVE AGATHA AND ARCHIE MET.
THIS EVENT WAS PRETTY MUCH LIKE SPEED DATING.
IN 1912, YOU DIDN'T HAVE A PHONE TO SWIPE LEFT OR SWIPE RIGHT.
YOU HAD A LIST OF NAMES OF WHO TO DANCE WITH.
AND WHEN ARCHIE WAS WITH AGATHA, HE TOOK THE LIST OF NAMES FROM HER AND SAID, "NO, NO, NO, YOU DON'T WANT TO DANCE WITH HIM, VERY BORING, NOT WITH HIM, NOT WITH HIM," AND I THINK AGATHA LIKED THAT STYLE.
THOMPSON: AND SHE WAS ABSOLUTELY SWEPT AWAY.
NARRATOR: ARCHIE AND AGATHA WERE MARRIED ON CHRISTMAS EVE, 1914.
BUT WORLD WAR I SPLIT THEM APART.
TWO DAYS AFTER THE WEDDING, ARCHIE LEFT FOR FRANCE, WHERE HE SERVED AS A PILOT IN THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS WHILE SHE REMAINED IN DEVON AND WORKED AS A NURSE AND PHARMACIST.
STAYING AT HOME AS THE WAR PROGRESSED, AGATHA SAW THE POPULATION OF TORQUAY CHANGE, AND WITH IT CAME FRESH INSPIRATION.
MORGAN: AS THE GERMANS MOVED TOWARDS BELGIUM, BELGIUM REFUGEES BEGAN TO COME TO THE SOUTH COAST OF ENGLAND, AND THE LOCALS WERE VERY WELCOMING.
NARRATOR: EXPELLED FROM THEIR HOMELAND BY THE GERMAN ARMY, 250,000 BELGIANS FLOODED INTO BRITAIN FROM 1914.
IT WAS THE LARGEST INFLUX OF REFUGEES IN BRITISH HISTORY.
ALDRIDGE: IT CLEARLY HAD A STRONG IMPACT ON HER, BECAUSE WHEN SHE WAS THINKING ABOUT WHO HER FIRST DETECTIVE COULD BE, SHE KNEW IT HAD TO BE A STRONG, INTERESTING FIGURE.
SHE WAS THINKING ABOUT THINGS LIKE A SCHOOLBOY OR A SCIENTIST, BUT IN THE END, DECIDED THAT ONE OF THESE BELGIAN REFUGEES MIGHT HAVE AN INTERESTING STORY TO TELL.
NARRATOR: IN 1920, AGATHA PUBLISHED HER DEBUT NOVEL, "THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES."
THE LEAD CHARACTER WAS THE NOW-ICONIC BELGIAN DETECTIVE HERCULE POIROT.
MORGAN: I IMAGINE THE BELGIANS COMING FOR REFUGE WEREN'T WEARING BEAUTIFUL SPATS AND SILVER TOPPED CANES AND TWIDDLY MOUSTACHES.
POIROT IS AN OUTSIDER LOOKING IN AND, THEREFORE, CAN PERCEIVE THINGS THAT THE INSIDERS, THE ENGLISH, WHO WERE BUSY MURDERING EACH OTHER IN COUNTRY HOUSES, DON'T PERCEIVE ABOUT THEMSELVES.
NARRATOR: MORE THAN 60 YEARS AFTER THE FIRST POIROT BOOK WAS PUBLISHED, A NEW GENERATION WAS INTRODUCED TO THE CHARACTER THROUGH A HUGELY SUCCESSFUL TV ADAPTATION.
IT IS SATISFYING, IS IT NOT, CHIEF INSPECTOR, IN A CASE WHEN AT LAST ONE KNOWS EVERYTHING.
I THOUGHT YOU KNEW EVERYTHING ANYWAY, POIROT.
WELL.
ALDRIDGE: POIROT IS SEEN BY SOME AS A BIT OF A FIGURE OF FUN.
HE'S NOT NECESSARILY TAKEN THAT SERIOUSLY, AND THIS OF COURSE, IS THE GREAT DYNAMIC THAT WE AS A READER CAN ENJOY, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THESE PEOPLE HAVE UNDERESTIMATED HERCULE POIROT.
NARRATOR: WHILE THE SOUTH COAST PROVIDED AGATHA WITH MATERIAL FOR ONE OF HER MOST POPULAR CHARACTERS, SHE HAD TO JOURNEY FURTHER NORTH TO THE GREAT STATELY HOMES OF RURAL ENGLAND TO FIND THE PERFECT LOCATIONS FOR HER GRIPPING PLOTS.
HER SISTER MADGE HAD MARRIED THE OWNER OF ABNEY HALL, A GRAND VICTORIAN ESTATE OUTSIDE MANCHESTER, AND AGATHA HAD BEEN A REGULAR VISITOR SINCE A YOUNG GIRL.
THOMPSON: IT WAS A FABULOUS PLACE, VERY DARK, LOTS OF ALCOVES AND LITTLE STAIRCASES, AND THERE WAS A TUNNEL UNDER THE GARDEN.
I MEAN, IT SOUNDS FANTASTIC.
AGATHA WAS PRETTY RIVETED BY IT BECAUSE IT HAD THE QUALITY OF MYSTERY, WHICH OF COURSE, SHE ADORED.
NARRATOR: IT WAS IN THE SPRAWLING CORRIDORS AND STATELY ROOMS OF ABNEY THAT AGATHA WOULD DISCOVER HER MOST ENDURING LITERARY TEMPLATE, THE COUNTRY HOUSE MURDER MYSTERY.
MORGAN: GEOGRAPHY IS A VERY HELPFUL ASPECT OF A PLOT.
WHAT IS THE LAYOUT OF THE ROOMS?
HOW MANY FLOORS ARE THERE?
ARE THERE ANNEXES?
WHERE ARE THE DOORS?
WHERE ARE THE WINDOWS?
WHAT MIGHT BE SEEN FROM ONE PLACE THAT COULDN'T BE SEEN FROM ANOTHER PLACE?
THOMPSON: A COUNTRY HOUSE IS, I SUPPOSE YOU WOULD SAY PEOPLED WITH WHAT ONE MIGHT CALL STEREOTYPES-- COLONELS AND PEOPLE SITTING AROUND HAVING TEA AND A VICAR AND A RENEGADE SON.
BUT WHAT I LOVE ABOUT HER IS THE WAY SHE WILL SUBVERT A STEREOTYPE.
A DOCTOR, FOR EXAMPLE, WILL QUITE OFTEN BE AN EVIL PERSON, OR A WOMAN WHO APPEARS TO BE A COMPLETE FEMME FATALE, IN FACT, SHE IS THE PREY.
NARRATOR: JUST 10 MILES FROM ABNEY HALL, BURIED IN THE HEART OF THE PEAK DISTRICT, WAS UPPER HOUSE, A STATELY HOME ALSO OWNED BY AGATHA'S SISTER AND HER HUSBAND.
UPPER HOUSE BECAME ONE OF AGATHA'S REGULAR WRITING RETREATS, WHERE SHE DREW INSPIRATION FROM THE WILD LANDSCAPES OF THE NORTH OF ENGLAND.
WOMAN: IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY, SHE DOES TALK ABOUT HOW SHE CREATED HER NOVELS, AND IT WAS BY TALKING TO HERSELF WHILE WALKING.
SO OBVIOUSLY SHE COULD MUTTER AWAY TO HER HEART'S CONTENT.
THEY HAD 6,000 ACRES OF THE SURROUNDING MOORLAND.
SHE NO DOUBT CREATED WORKS IN HER HEAD HERE AND USED THE PLACES AROUND HERE FOR CHARACTER NAMES YOU CAN RECOGNIZE IN HER WORK.
NARRATOR: THERE WAS ONE NAME IN PARTICULAR THAT PLANTED ITSELF IN HER MIND.
DURING ONE OF HER TRIPS NORTH, AGATHA VISITED THE SLEEPY VILLAGE OF MARPLE.
IN A LETTER OF 1968, SHE CONFIRMED THAT THE NAME FOR HER MUCH-LOVED ELDERLY DETECTIVE, JANE MARPLE, WAS TAKEN FROM THIS SMALL RIVERSIDE TOWN.
I MEAN, IT'S PERFECT, BECAUSE SHE IS BRILLIANT AT NAMES.
IT'S REALLY THRILLING WHEN YOU SEE THOSE LITTLE THINGS.
SHE SAID, "I CAN'T DO IT UNTIL THE NAMES FIT."
NARRATOR: EVER OBSERVANT, AGATHA'S LONG STAYS AT UPPER HOUSE GAVE HER COUNTLESS CHANCES TO COLLECT DETAILS FROM UPPER CLASS RURAL LIFE.
SO THIS IS AGATHA CHRISTIE'S BEDROOM AT UPPER HOUSE.
IT'S THE ONLY ONE THAT FACES INTO THE COURTYARD OF THE BUILDING, WHICH MEANS THAT SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SEE PEOPLE COMING BACK FROM THE MOORLANDS AFTER A DAY'S SHOOTING, THE STAFF COMING AND GOING AS THEY SET UP THE GREAT HALL FOR THE EVENING'S ENTERTAINMENTS.
SHE WOULD HAVE HAD A SENSE OF WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE HOUSE FROM HERE.
NARRATOR: TO GET TO HER SISTER'S COUNTRY ESTATE IN THE 1920S, AGATHA TRAVELED OVER 200 MILES BY TRAIN FROM LONDON.
THIS CUTTING-EDGE MODE OF TRANSPORT WOULD GO ON TO FUEL HER CREATIVITY.
MAN: IT WAS THE GOLDEN AGE OF RAIL, WITH MORE PEOPLE GOING TO MORE PLACES FASTER AND IN GREATER COMFORT THAN EVER BEFORE.
NARRATOR: AGATHA FOUND TRAINS AND THE NEW EXPERIENCES THEY OFFERED ENDLESSLY INSPIRING.
CALDER: FOR A WRITER LIKE AGATHA CHRISTIE, THE TRAIN WAS A MARVEL BECAUSE THEY ARE SO REDOLENT OF NEW ARRIVALS, OF MEETING STRANGERS, OF ODD CONNECTIONS, OF BASICALLY JUST ALLOWING ANYTHING TO HAPPEN, AND MY GOODNESS ME, IN HER BOOKS IT CERTAINLY DID.
IN THE "4:50 FROM PADDINGTON," SHE CREATED AN ENTIRE PLOT BASED ON THE COINCIDENTAL TIMING OF TWO TRAINS... WITH THE WOMAN WHO SEES A MURDER BEING COMMITTED ON A PARALLEL TRAIN.
NARRATOR: IN 2017, ONE OF AGATHA'S MOST FAMOUS STORIES, "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS," WAS ADAPTED FOR THE SCREEN.
IT RETAINED THE CLAUSTROPHOBIA OF THE ORIGINAL NOVEL, WHEREBY 13 SUSPECTS WERE TRAPPED ON A TRAIN STUCK IN THE SNOW.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I HAVE UNDERSTOOD IN THIS CASE THAT THE SCALES OF JUSTICE CANNOT ALWAYS BE EVENLY WEIGHED.
CALDER: "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" PUT ONE OF THE MOST GLAMOROUS TRAINS IN EUROPE FIRMLY ON THE LITERARY MAP, AND THAT HAS RESONATED EVER SINCE.
NARRATOR: BY THE MID TWENTIES, AGATHA AND ARCHIE WERE TIRING OF LONDON.
WITH THE BIRTH OF DAUGHTER ROSALIND JUST AFTER WORLD WAR I, THEY WERE NOW A FAMILY IN NEED OF MORE SPACE.
THEY MOVED TO SUNNINGDALE, A COMMUTER TOWN IN BERKSHIRE.
THOMPSON: THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT AGATHA AND ARCHIE MOVED INTO IN EARLY 1926.
QUANTITIES OF BATHROOMS, AS SHE SAID, A BASIN IN EVERY ROOM, ALL THE MODERN AMENITIES.
THEIR LIFE SEEMED SET FAIR REALLY, IN EVERY EXTERNAL WAY, BUT THINGS WERE NOT GREAT UNDER THE SURFACE.
NARRATOR: THE TOWN HAD TWO EXTENSIVE GOLF COURSES, AND ARCHIE, WHO HAD FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THE GAME, INDULGED HIS HOBBY IN EVERY SPARE MOMENT.
THOMPSON: ARCHIE ABSOLUTELY ADORED PLAYING GOLF.
AGATHA WASN'T SO KEEN ON THAT KIND OF LIFE.
I MEAN, SHE CALLS HERSELF A GOLF WIDOW.
NARRATOR: AS SHE GREW APART FROM ARCHIE, AGATHA BECAME UNHAPPY AT SUNNINGDALE.
BUT DESPITE THIS, HER TIME THERE WAS INCREDIBLY PRODUCTIVE, PROFESSIONALLY AND COMMERCIALLY.
WITH NEW FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE, SHE BOUGHT HERSELF A CAR, A MORRIS COWLEY.
ALDRIDGE: THE CAR UNDOUBTEDLY SYMBOLIZED FREEDOM.
IT MEANT THAT SHE COULD LIVE THE LIFE THAT SHE WANTED TO LIVE.
SHE WASN'T SOMEBODY WHO WAS EVER GOING TO BE HAPPY JUST STAYING IN ONE LOCATION.
NARRATOR: THE FREEDOM SYMBOLIZED BY THE CAR ONLY EXACERBATED AGATHA'S SENSE OF BEING TRAPPED IN SUNNINGDALE.
FOR SOMEONE OF HER CREATIVE TEMPERAMENT, THE WORLD OF AN ENGLISH COMMUTER TOWN WAS STIFLING.
SHE RETREATED INTO HER IMAGINATION AND HER WORK, BUT TOWARDS THE END OF 1926, HER LIFE WOULD TAKE A TURN AS OUTLANDISH AND DRAMATIC AS ANYTHING IN HER BOOKS.
NARRATOR: ON THE MORNING OF SATURDAY, DECEMBER THE 4TH, 1926, AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MORRIS COWLEY CAR WAS FOUND ABANDONED NEAR THE BEAUTY SPOT OF NEWLANDS CORNER IN SURREY, 30 MILES FROM HER HOME.
AGATHA WAS SOON DECLARED MISSING, AND THE PRESS DESCENDED ON THE SURREY HILLS.
SIMON CALDER'S GRANDFATHER, RITCHIE CALDER.
WAS ONE OF THE FIRST JOURNALISTS TO REPORT ON THE STORY.
CALDER: IT WAS LIKE THE OPENING PAGE OF AN AGATHA CHRISTIE STORY.
AGATHA HAD LAST BEEN SEEN ON THE FRIDAY.
HER CAR WAS DISCOVERED ABANDONED ON THE SATURDAY.
MY GRANDFATHER'S REPORT ON THE TUESDAY, IT WAS HEADED "£100 REWARD."
600 HUNDRED PEOPLE SUPPORTED BY TWO AIRPLANES, WHICH WERE VERY RARE IN THOSE DAYS, AND VOLUNTEERS ON HORSEBACK, THEY WERE ALL OUT LOOKING ACROSS THE SURREY HILLS FOR ANY TRACE OF POOR MRS. CHRISTIE.
MORGAN: IT WAS A SENSATION.
BLOODHOUNDS, PRIVATE AIRPLANES, CLAIRVOYANTS, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.
IT WAS A STORY.
CALDER: WE HAVE SOMETHING HEADED "FOUL PLAY THEORY," AND THE POSSIBILITY THAT EITHER MRS. CHRISTIE HAD TAKEN HER LIFE OR MET WITH FOUL PLAY.
NARRATOR: AS THE STORY UNFOLDED, REPORTERS TURNED THEIR ATTENTION TOWARDS THE MOVEMENTS OF AGATHA'S HUSBAND ARCHIE ON THE NIGHT OF HER DISAPPEARANCE.
COLONEL CHRISTIE SPENT THE WEEKEND WITH FRIENDS ABOUT 6 MILES FROM THE SPOT WHERE HIS WIFE'S CAR WAS FOUND.
NARRATOR: REPORTERS SOON DISCOVERED THAT ARCHIE HAD BEEN HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH A YOUNGER WOMAN CALLED NANCY NEIL.
MORGAN: AGATHA WAS A VERY INTERESTING, COMPLICATED WOMAN, AND MAYBE NANCY WASN'T, AND MAYBE THAT'S WHAT ARCHIE WANTED.
NARRATOR: THE POLICE LEARNED THAT NANCY WAS AMONGST THE FRIENDS ARCHIE WAS VISITING THAT WEEKEND.
THIS WAS A PSYCHODRAMA THAT WAS UNFOLDING.
YOU HAD AGATHA CHRISTIE DRIVING 15 OR 20 MILES SOUTH FROM HER HOME TO THIS REMOTE BEAUTY SPOT BECAUSE IT WAS ACTUALLY VERY CLOSE TO GODALMING, WHERE SHE KNEW HER HUSBAND WAS SPENDING THE WEEKEND WITH HIS MISTRESS.
NARRATOR: AGATHA HAD MADE A CAREER FROM STORIES MORE GRIPPING AND PUZZLING THAN ANYTHING IN THE CRIME PAGES OF THE TABLOIDS, BUT NOW SHE HAD THE NATION TRANSFIXED WITH THE UNFOLDING DRAMA OF HER OWN LIFE.
11 DAYS AFTER SHE DISAPPEARED, AGATHA WAS FOUND.
SHE HAD BEEN SPOTTED AT A SPA HOTEL IN HARROGATE BY ANOTHER GUEST.
FOR NEARLY TWO WEEKS, NEITHER THE POLICE NOR THE PRESS HAD THOUGHT TO LOOK FOR HER IN YORKSHIRE.
THOMPSON: THE FACT IS, THEY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN WHERE SHE WAS BECAUSE SHE HAD WRITTEN A LETTER TO HER BROTHER-IN-LAW.
SHE SAID, "I AM GOING TO A SPA TOWN UP NORTH."
THAT LETTER SHOULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN MUCH MORE SERIOUSLY.
THEY WERE PRETTY HIGH ON THE IDEA THAT SHE WAS DEAD.
MORGAN: ONE CAN BE SO MUCH THE PRISONER OF A HYPOTHESIS THAT ONE ACTUALLY DISREGARDS PLAIN EVIDENCE WHICH IS PUT IN FRONT OF ONE'S NOSE.
NARRATOR: IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH, ARCHIE AND THE OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS TOLD THE PRESS THAT AGATHA HAD LOST HER MEMORY AND HAD NO EXPLANATION AS TO WHY SHE HAD GONE TO HARROGATE.
SPECULATION HAS RAGED EVER SINCE OVER AGATHA'S TRUE MOTIVES.
CALDER: RITCHIE'S THEORY, I BELIEVE, WAS THAT SHE HAD ACTUALLY DRIVEN TO NEWLANDS CORNER WITH THE INTENTION OF KILLING HERSELF, BUT THEN HAD HAD SECOND THOUGHTS.
THOMPSON: WHEN SHE DROVE OUT INTO THE NIGHT, I WOULD GUESS SHE WAS IN A STATE OF UTTER DESPAIR.
IN A BOOK CALLED "DESTINATION UNKNOWN," THE CENTRAL CHARACTER, HILARY, WHO'S LOST HER HUSBAND TO ANOTHER WOMAN, FEELS THERE'S NOTHING TO GO ON FOR AND HAS REACHED A KIND OF BLANKNESS, IF YOU LIKE.
"THERE WAS NOTHING MORE TO BE DONE.
"SHE WOULD SWALLOW THE PILLS, "LIE DOWN ON HER BED AND SLEEP.
"FROM THAT SLEEP, SHE WOULD NOT WAKE.
"SHE WAS ONCE AGAIN A TRAVELER "WAITING TO DEPART FROM UNKNOWN DESTINATION.
"ALREADY THE PAST WAS CUT AWAY FROM HER.
"THE LONG ACHING MISERY THAT HAD DRAGGED HER DOWN "IN HER WAKING HOURS WAS GONE.
"YES, LIGHT, FREE, UNENCUMBERED, READY TO START ON HER JOURNEY."
NARRATOR: AGATHA DIVORCED FROM ARCHIE SOON AFTER THE DISAPPEARANCE.
REELING FROM THE TRAUMA OF THIS EPISODE, SHE RETREATED FROM PUBLIC LIFE.
THOMPSON: IT REALLY DID DIVIDE INTO HER LIFE, BUT HER LIFE AFTER 1926 WAS A DIFFERENT THING.
SHE HAD TO REMAKE IT.
NARRATOR: WITH ARCHIE NO LONGER IN HER LIFE, AGATHA WAS EMBOLDENED BY A NEWFOUND FREEDOM.
SHE TRAVELED FAR AWAY FROM SUNNINGDALE AND HER OLD LIFE TO THE DESERTS OF IRAQ.
IT WAS HERE AS SHE INDULGED A LIFELONG PASSION FOR ARCHAEOLOGY THAT AGATHA FINALLY BURIED THE PAST.
SHE MET MAX MALLOWAN, AN ARCHAEOLOGIST 14 YEARS HER JUNIOR, AND A RELATIONSHIP SOON BLOSSOMED.
THEY WERE MARRIED IN 1930.
THOMPSON: HER SECOND HUSBAND WAS AN ARCHAEOLOGIST.
IT WAS ALMOST LIKE AN EXCAVATION TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF A VERY COMPLEX WOMAN.
NARRATOR: THE COUPLE ACQUIRED WINTERBROOK HOUSE IN OXFORDSHIRE IN 1934 AND GREENWAY IN DEVON SHORTLY AFTER.
BUT IN 1939, WHEN ENGLAND'S GREAT HOUSES WERE REQUISITIONED FOR THE WAR EFFORT, AGATHA WAS FORCED TO LEAVE GREENWAY TO THE U.S. ADMIRALTY.
MOVING INTO LONDON, AGATHA FOUND HERSELF FAR AWAY FROM THE COUNTRY HOUSE LIFE SHE WAS ACCUSTOMED TO.
RATIONING AND AIR RAIDS, RATHER THAN DANCES AND ROARING FIRES, BECAME HER DAILY EXISTENCE.
JUST AS SHE HAD DONE IN WORLD WAR I, SHE CONTRIBUTED TO THE WAR EFFORT BY WORKING AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL AS A DISPENSER, WHERE SHE COULD PUT HER KNOWLEDGE OF POISONS TO GOOD USE.
BUT EVEN AMIDST THE CHAOS OF WAR, AGATHA DISCOVERED TRACES OF THE WORLD SHE KNEW IN PEACETIME.
AS A REGULAR VISITOR TO BROWNS HOTEL IN MAYFAIR, SHE RETREATED INTO THE LUXURY AND COMFORT SHE HAD KNOWN SINCE HER YOUTH.
THOMPSON: ALL THE THINGS THAT SHE TREASURED ABOUT HER EDWARDIAN UPBRINGING, SHE WOULD HAVE FOUND IN THIS HOTEL, AND SHE WOULD HAVE REVELED IN THAT.
NARRATOR: OVER THE HOTEL'S AFTERNOON TEA, AGATHA COULD DISAPPEAR INTO ENGLAND'S RECENT PAST, A TIME BEFORE THE RAVAGES OF WAR.
WITH HER FAMILIAR LITERARY SETTINGS, THE COUNTRY HOUSES OF ENGLAND, NOW BEYOND HER REACH, AGATHA LOOKED TO THE HOTEL AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION.
THOMPSON: HOTELS ARE A MICROCOSM.
THEY'RE INTENSELY FASCINATING.
THAT CONSTANT TO AND FRO, CROWD OF ITINERANT PEOPLE WHO COME TOGETHER AND MOVE APART.
NARRATOR: AGATHA TOOK THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE HOTEL, WITH ITS RICH ARRAY OF CHARACTERS, AS THE BASIS FOR HER 1965 NOVEL "AT BERTRAM'S HOTEL."
IN THE BOOK, MISS MARPLE RETURNS TO BERTRAM'S HOTEL, WHERE SHE HAD STAYED AS A YOUNG GIRL, ONLY TO FIND IT LARGELY UNCHANGED.
ANYTHING FURTHER I CAN GET YOU, MILADY?
WE'RE SERVING VERY GOOD SEED CAKE TODAY.
SEED CAKE!
NARRATOR: IN THIS TV ADAPTATION, WE SEE MISS MARPLE RELISHING THE TRADITIONAL AFTERNOON TEA OF A BYGONE AGE.
IS IT REAL SEED CAKE?
OH, YES, MADAM.
THE COOK HAS HAD THE RECEIPT FOR YEARS.
PLEASE.
THOMPSON: AT "BERTRAM'S HOTEL" IS, ONE INFERS, AGATHA PLUNDERING HER OWN MEMORIES.
THE WONDERFUL SERVICE AND JUST THE SHEER EDWARDIAN LUXURY OF IT.
"THERE WERE LARGE CRESTED SILVER TRAYS "AND GEORGIAN SILVER TEAPOTS.
"THE CHINA, IF NOT ACTUALLY ROCKINGHAM "AND DAVENPORT, LOOKED LIKE IT.
"THE TEA WAS THE BEST INDIAN, "CEYLON, DARJEELING, LAPSANG, ET CETERA.
"AS FOR EATABLES, YOU COULD ASK FOR ANYTHING YOU LIKED AND GET IT."
NARRATOR: AT BROWN'S, AGATHA COULD TAKE SOLACE IN HER MEMORIES OF A LOST ENGLAND, BUT THIS REMEMBERED PAST WAS ALSO A POWERFUL SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR HER DURING WORLD WAR II.
FROM 1939 TO 1945, SHE PUBLISHED 13 NOVELS AND 6 BOOKS OF SHORT STORIES, TRANSPORTING HER READERS AWAY FROM THE UNCERTAINTIES OF WAR AND INTO A NOSTALGIC WORLD WHERE GOOD ALWAYS TRIUMPHS OVER EVIL.
BUT AS THE NATION RECOVERED AFTER 1945, THE ENGLAND THAT HAD INSPIRED HER SEEMED TO HAVE DISAPPEARED AMONGST THE RUBBLE AND ASHES.
CHRISTIE: WE SETTLED IN AND LIFE BEGAN AGAIN.
THERE WAS A THANKFULNESS, NO CERTAINTY IN THE FUTURE AT LEAST, OR INDEED OF THE FUTURE OF ANYTHING.
NARRATOR: AGATHA'S COUNTRY HAD BEEN CHANGED BY THE TURMOIL OF WAR, A NEW QUEEN, NEW TOWNS, NEW FASHIONS, AND NEW FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT.
ALDRIDGE: AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR, SHE KNOWS THAT THE OLD LIFE IS STARTING TO DISAPPEAR.
SHE KNEW THAT TIMES WERE CHANGING.
NARRATOR: IN THE FACE OF CHANGE, AGATHA CLUNG TO WHAT SHE KNEW BEST-- A TRADITIONAL ENGLAND OF SERVANTS, RETIRED COLONELS, AND THE WIRELESS.
IN 1952, SHE BROUGHT THESE ELEMENTS TO LONDON'S WEST END WITH THE PLAY "THE MOUSETRAP."
ANYTHING BY AGATHA WAS BIG NEWS, BUT WAS THE NEW ENGLAND STILL HUNGRY FOR HER NOSTALGIC VISION?
MAN: THIS IS AN EARLY REVIEW OF AFTER THE FIRST NIGHT, AND IT'S A VERY SHORT REVIEW, AND THE CRITIC SAYS, "IT CERTAINLY MYSTIFIED US."
HE ENDS THE REVIEW BY SAYING, "THE CLIMAX LEFT US MORE DAZED THAN EXCITED, AND DESPITE ITS GLIBNESS, I FELT FAINTLY CHEATED."
SO, THIS REVIEW IS A DECENT REVIEW, BUT NOT EXACTLY A RAVE.
NARRATOR: IN DEFIANCE OF THE INITIAL REVIEWS, "THE MOUSETRAP" WENT ON TO BE A SMASH HIT WITH AUDIENCES.
IN ITS FIFTH YEAR, IT BECAME THE LONGEST-RUNNING PLAY IN THE WEST END.
WHY "THE MOUSETRAP" RATHER THAN YOUR OTHER PLAYS TO HAVE ACHIEVED THIS RECORD?
I DON'T KNOW.
YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE.
NARRATOR: "THE MOUSETRAP" HAD MANY OF THE FAMILIAR AGATHA CHRISTIE ELEMENTS-- A CLOSED CIRCLE OF SUSPECTS, A TWISTING PLOT, AND A NOSTALGIC ATMOSPHERE-- FROM THE STAGE SET TO THE DIALOG, THE COSTUMES TO THE THEATER ITSELF.
IT'S THE PERFECT ENCAPSULATION OF AGATHA CHRISTIE'S TRADITIONAL ENGLISH AESTHETIC.
THIS PRODUCTION AND THIS PLAY ARE A VERY BESPOKE KIND OF BRITISHNESS.
IT'S VERY, VERY, VERY ENGLISH, AND I THINK THAT PROBABLY HAS A HUGE INTERNATIONAL APPEAL, BECAUSE A TOURIST WILL COME AND SEE THIS AND IDENTIFY WITH IT AS, "OH, THAT'S QUAINT AND ENGLISH."
BERNTHAL: SHE HAS RECOGNIZABLE CHARACTERS.
SHE HAS A BRILLIANT PLOT, A SHOCK ENDING, A CLOSED COMMUNITY.
EVERYTHING YOU COULD POSSIBLY ASK FOR FROM AN AGATHA CHRISTIE IS THERE IN "THE MOUSETRAP," ALONG WITH A WONDERFUL POST-WAR SETTING.
NARRATOR: YEAR AFTER YEAR, DECADE AFTER DECADE, AUDIENCES HAVE COME TO "THE MOUSETRAP" TO SEE AGATHA CHRISTIE'S VISION FOR ENGLAND TRANSPORTED TO THE STAGE.
"THE MOUSETRAP'S" SUCCESS PROPELLED AGATHA TO AN EVEN GREATER LEVEL OF FAME.
IT WAS AND STILL IS THE WORLD'S LONGEST-RUNNING PLAY.
BUT THE LIMELIGHT WASN'T SOMETHING THAT AGATHA COURTED.
IN FACT, AS SHE ENTERED OLD AGE, SHE RETURNED TO THE PLACE WHERE SHE'D ALWAYS BEEN HAPPIEST, HER CHILDHOOD PARADISE OF DEVON.
THOMPSON: THAT LANDSCAPE REALLY WAS IN HER SOUL.
NARRATOR: BY THE MIDDLE OF HER LIFE, AGATHA CHRISTIE HAD ALREADY ESTABLISHED HERSELF AS ARGUABLY THE BIGGEST WRITER OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
SHE HAD CONQUERED THE LONDON STAGE, AND SHE WOULD GO ON TO SELL MORE BOOKS THAN ANYONE OTHER THAN SHAKESPEARE AND THE BIBLE.
BUT AS SHE ENTERED HER TWILIGHT YEARS, THE WORLD AROUND HER WAS CHANGING.
THE FURNACE OF WORLD WAR II HAD FORGED ENGLAND INTO A NEW NATION.
AGATHA ABSOLUTELY OBSERVED THE LOSS OF EMPIRE, THE CHANGING ATTITUDES TO BRITISH DOMINANCE OVER THE WORLD, THIS BIG CHANGE IN SOCIAL VALUES, IN THE CLASS SYSTEM.
NARRATOR: SHE YEARNED MORE AND MORE FOR THE DEVON OF HER CHILDHOOD, AND WHEN SHE BOUGHT GREENWAY, A PALATIAL GEORGIAN HOUSE ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER DART, SHE WAS ABLE TO RECOVER THE PARADISE OF HER YOUTH.
CHRISTIE: VERY BEAUTIFUL IT WAS, WITH WOODS SWEEPING DOWN TO THE DART BELOW, LOTS OF VERY BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS AND SHRUBS.
THE PERFECT HOUSE, QUITE A DREAM HOUSE.
NARRATOR: AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR, AGATHA AND HER SECOND HUSBAND MAX SPENT AN INCREASING AMOUNT OF TIME IN SECLUSION AT GREENWAY.
THOMPSON: IT BECAME A RETREAT, WITH HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS SHE TRUSTED.
AND THEY WOULD, YOU KNOW, PLAY CROQUET AND PLAY CRICKET AND LOADS OF LOVELY DOGS AROUND.
NARRATOR: GREENWAY'S LUSH GARDEN AND IMPRESSIVE VIEWS MADE IT REMINISCENT OF AGATHA'S CHILDHOOD HOME, ASHFIELD.
MAN: GREENWAY DEFINITELY WAS A WAY OF RECAPTURING HER CHILDHOOD.
IT'S A PLACE THAT KIND OF ALMOST BEGETS CONTEMPLATION, AND I THINK SHE CAN'T HELP BUT HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT HER CHILDHOOD WHEN SHE WAS HERE.
NARRATOR: IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY, PUBLISHED POSTHUMOUSLY IN 1977, AGATHA LAMENTED THE LOSS OF HER CHILDHOOD HOME ASHFIELD IN TORQUAY.
PRICHARD: "BECAUSE ASHFIELD HAS MEANT SOMETHING TO ME "FOR SO MANY YEARS, IT HAS BEEN THERE, "MY BACKGROUND, MY SHELTER, "THE PLACE WHERE I TRULY BELONG.
"I HAVE NEVER SUFFERED FROM THE ABSENCE OF ROOTS.
"THOUGH TO HOLD ON TO IT MAY HAVE BEEN FOOLISH, "BUT SURELY FOR EVERYTHING YOU LOVE, YOU HAVE TO PAY SOME PRICE."
THOMPSON: NOTHING COULD EVER REALLY REPLACE ASHFIELD, BUT MY GOODNESS, GREENWAY, I THINK SHE WAS ALWAYS SLIGHTLY IN AWE OF IT.
NARRATOR: GREENWAY PROVIDED AGATHA WITH EVERYTHING SHE VALUED IN LIFE-- TIME WITH FAMILY, THE LANDSCAPE OF HER CHILDHOOD, AND THE ENGLISH TRADITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH RUNNING A LARGE HOUSE.
PRICHARD: DURING THE FORTIES AND FIFTIES, YOU HAD A LARGE STAFF.
THE SERVANTS IN HER BOOKS ALWAYS PLAYED QUITE AN INTERESTING ROLE.
THERE'S NEARLY ALWAYS SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT THAT THEY HAVE NOTICED OR BEEN A PART OF.
ALDRIDGE: SHE OFTEN USES MORE THAN ONCE IN HER MYSTERIES THAT PEOPLE SAY NOBODY WAS AROUND BUT ACTUALLY A SERVANT WAS, A MILKMAN OR A BUTCHER'S DELIVERY.
THESE PEOPLE WERE GOING UNDETECTED IN THE WORLD OF THE MIDDLE AND UPPER CLASSES, BUT AGATHA SAW THEM.
SHE WAS TAKING NOTICE OF THEM.
NARRATOR: LIFE AT GREENWAY RAN ACCORDING TO THE SAME RITUALS AGATHA HAD ENJOYED HER WHOLE LIFE.
PRICHARD: ONE OF THE THINGS I REMEMBER AS A CHILD HERE IS THE CONSTANT EATING.
YOU WOULD HAVE BREAKFAST, LUNCH, AND THEN AT ABOUT 4:00, BEFORE YOU'D EVEN DIGESTED YOUR LUNCH, SCONES AND CAKES WOULD BE PROVIDED.
QUITE HOW, YOU KNOW, YOU MANAGED YOUR WEIGHT IN THOSE DAYS, I HAVE NO IDEA.
SO, THIS IS THE DINING ROOM.
THIS WAS SUCH AN IMPORTANT PLACE FOR AGATHA AND HER FAMILY.
AGATHA LOVED HER FOOD.
SHE ALSO DRANK SINGLE CREAM WITH HER DINNERS, AND THERE IS A GLASS JUG POSITIONED ON THE TABLE THERE, WHICH IS WHAT AGATHA HAD HER CREAM IN.
NARRATOR: GREENWAY WAS A PASTORAL HAVEN THAT COCOONED AGATHA FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD, BUT THROUGHOUT HER WRITING, SHE BROUGHT THE DARKNESS OF THE REAL WORLD INTO THE PLACES SHE LOVED, AND GREENWAY WAS NO EXCEPTION.
IN "DEAD MAN'S FOLLY," A VICTIM'S BODY WAS FOUND IN A LOCATION CLEARLY BASED ON THE BOAT HOUSE AT GREENWAY.
PRICHARD: "A SHORT, STEEP SLOPE LED DOWN "TO THE DOOR OF THE BOAT HOUSE, "WHICH WAS BUILT OVER THE RIVER, "WITH A LITTLE WHARF AND A STORAGE PLACE FOR BOATS UNDERNEATH.
"MRS. OLIVER TOOK A KEY FROM A POCKET "CONCEALED AMONGST HER PURPLE FOLDS AND UNLOCKED THE DOOR.
"SHE FELT SLIGHTLY REMORSEFUL "AT HER UNJUST SUSPICIONS OF MARLINE'S LOYALTY, "FOR MARLENE, ARTISTICALLY ARRANGED AS THE BODY, "WAS PLAYING HER PART NOBLY, SPRAWLED ON THE FLOOR BY THE WINDOW."
NARRATOR: WHILE GREENWAY WAS HOME FOR AGATHA, SHE COULDN'T DEVOTE ALL HER TIME TO IT.
HER HUSBAND, MAX MALLOWAN, WAS A LEADING LIGHT OF THE ARCHAEOLOGY DEPARTMENT AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY.
HIS WORK REQUIRED HIM TO TAKE OFFICIAL RESIDENCE CLOSER TO OXFORD.
THEY BOUGHT WINTERBROOK HOUSE IN WALLINGFORD.
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HER LIFE, AGATHA FOUND HERSELF IN A BUSTLING MARKET TOWN.
WOMAN: I THINK PEOPLE ACCEPTED THE FACT THAT SHE WANTED PRIVACY, AND I THINK IT WAS THE PRIVACY THAT SHE VALUED.
CHRISTIE: WALLINGFORD IS A REALLY NICE PLACE, AND SURE ENOUGH, WE HAVE BEEN VERY HAPPY THERE FOR ABOUT 35 YEARS NOW, I SUPPOSE.
NARRATOR: AN INTENSELY PRIVATE WOMAN, WALLINGFORD ALLOWED AGATHA TO BUILD AN ORDINARY LIFE AWAY FROM THE INQUIRING GAZE OF HER READERS AND THE PRESS.
ALTHOUGH SHE TENDED NOT TO PUBLICLY ANALYZE HER CRAFT, SHE MADE AN EXCEPTION FOR ONE LUCKY WALLINGFORD RESIDENT.
DEWEY: THE ONE INTERVIEW THAT SHE EVER GAVE TO THE PRESS WAS TO A YOUNG LAD FOR THE SCHOOL MAGAZINE IN 1970, AND HE WENT AND JUST KNOCKED ON THE DOOR, WHICH NOBODY ELSE WOULD HAVE DARED TO DO.
"ARE YOUR CHARACTERS ENTIRELY FICTITIOUS, OR DO YOU BASE THEM ON PEOPLE YOU KNOW?"
AND SHE SAYS, "THEY ARE NORMALLY BASED ON SOMEBODY I SEE, "LIKE A FIERCE WOMAN IN A CAFÉ WITH A MEEK FAMILY, "OR I HEAR ABOUT A SCIENTIST "WHO HAS FALLEN DOWN THE STAIRS.
"I NORMALLY WRITE ON THINGS WITH WHICH I AM ALREADY ACQUAINTED, LIKE A CHEMIST SHOP, HOSPITALS, AND OTHER OCCUPATIONS."
NARRATOR: WALLINGFORD PROVIDED AGATHA WITH ENDLESS INSPIRATION.
EVERY RESIDENT WAS A POTENTIAL CHARACTER.
MAN: SOMEONE DID TELL ME THAT ONE OF THE VICARS, WHO WAS VICAR HERE IN THE 1960S, MAY WELL HAVE APPEARED IN ONE OF HER STORIES.
OF COURSE, VICARS COULD EITHER BE THE VICTIM OR THE MURDERER.
NARRATOR: WITH WINTERBROOK AS HER WRITING BASE, AGATHA CONTINUED TO PRODUCE NEW WORK AT AN ASTONISHING RATE IN THE FINAL YEARS OF HER LIFE.
FROM 1961 TO 1973, SHE PUBLISHED A BOOK EVERY SINGLE YEAR.
ON THE 12TH OF JANUARY, 1976, AGED 85, AGATHA CHRISTIE PASSED AWAY AT WINTERBROOK HOUSE.
PETIT: IT'S VERY FITTING THAT SHE'S BURIED HERE, BECAUSE SHE NOT ONLY LIVED IN THIS PARISH FOR 40 YEARS, SHE WAS ALSO A REGULAR WORSHIPPER IN THIS CHURCH, WHICH SHE KNEW AND LOVED.
NARRATOR: AGATHA'S FUNERAL DREW UPON BIBLICAL TEXTS.
THE MUCH-LOVED PSALM 23 WAS A PARTICULARLY POIGNANT READING.
"THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD.
"THEREFORE, CAN I LACK NOTHING.
"HE SHALL FEED ME IN A GREEN PASTURE "AND LEAD ME FORTH BESIDE THE WATERS OF COMFORT.
"HE SHALL CONVERT MY SOUL "AND BRING ME FORTH IN THE PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE."
PRICHARD: I THINK GREENWAY WAS CERTAINLY HER SPIRITUAL HOME.
IT'S VERY DIFFICULT NOT TO THINK OF AGATHA HERE BECAUSE SHE'S SUCH A PRESENCE HERE.
THOMPSON: YOU CAN'T OVERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF DEVON TO AGATHA.
IT ALWAYS FEELS LIKE HER SPIRIT IS THERE TO ME.
NARRATOR: AGATHA LEFT BEHIND HER A LITERARY LEGACY THAT HAS CAPTIVATED GENERATIONS OF READERS ACROSS THE WORLD.
THEY HAVE BEEN DRAWN TO HER EVOCATION OF A PARTICULAR VISION OF ENGLAND, OF COUNTRY HOUSES, TRADITION, AND OLD WORLD GRANDEUR.
AND TODAY ACROSS ENGLAND, WE CAN TRACE HER FOOTPRINTS IN THE PLACES SHE ADORED.
THOMPSON: I THINK SHE LOVED HER COUNTRY VERY, VERY MUCH.
MORGAN: WHERE IS HER ENGLAND?
OH, HER ENGLAND PERHAPS WAS IN CERTAIN GARDENS AND CERTAIN PEOPLE, CERTAIN RELATIONS SHE HAD WITH PEOPLE.
BERNTHAL: THE ENGLAND OF AGATHA CHRISTIE STILL EXISTS AS MUCH AS IT DID WHEN SHE WROTE ABOUT IT, AND IT'S IN THE SAME PLACE, IN THE PAGES OF HER BOOKS AND IN YOUR MIND WHEN YOU READ IT.
IT'S THAT RELATIONSHIP YOU HAVE WITH AGATHA CHRISTIE CREATES THAT WORLD FOR YOU.
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