Welcome back to our series on adaptation, where we use the Miss Marple murder mysteries to understand keys to adaptive success. Our current focus is The Body in the Library, the second book in the Miss Marple series (and arguably the first “true” Miss Marple). The Body in the Library was adapted for the BBC in 1984, and then again for iTV in 2004. These adaptations allow us to understand how adapters tackle the same work, and compare and contrast their adaptation choices.
Because this novel in particular is focused on human insights, we will reflect on character adaptation this week. Last time, we reviewed the four main groups of characters in the novel – the villagers, the Jefferson family, the outsider, and the investigators – and broke down their narrative and thematic roles. Each group has a specific set of functions in the story that, when combined, establish three major messages:
- Family expands beyond bloodlines – but that status must be continuously earned, not simply given once
- The status quo is most threatened by chance mishaps, left unaddressed (rather than social climbers, modern moral fads, or other existential risks)
- Women and men have distinct ways of exploring and understanding the world, with men leaning methodical and women leaning intuitive. In experienced hands, the intuitive approach can lead to accurate, fast conclusions – but can also lead one astray more quickly.
How do we assess successful character adaptation?
These themes are communicated not explicitly, but rather via the attitudes and actions of the characters. When adapting such a story, therefore, an adapter must tread carefully with character changes. While changes are almost always necessary when adapting a novel for screen, the wrong edits could upend the thematic core. Potentially worse would be edits that create thematic confusion, introducing tension between the plot and the characterization.
As always, we’ll explore this idea via the two TV adaptations of The Body in the Library: the three-part BBC one starring Joan Hickson, and the more recent one starring Geraldine McEwan. Both are reasonably plot-accurate, and follow the same major story beats (with a couple of notable exceptions). However, the two series take different approaches to adapting the main character groups in the story. Contrasting the two will let us explore how characters impact narrative themes – not just in adaptation, but in all writing.
The BBC version (1984): death by a thousand character changes
We’ll start with the BBC adaptation, which spans three episodes. This 1984 adaptation is reasonably accurate from a sheer plot perspective: the same people do the same things, in approximately the same order. However, many of the characters have slightly different personalities. When combined, these character changes create to a thematically and morally confused story.
The villagers
The changes start with the villagers: in this adaptation, the characters of Dolly and Arthur Bantry are subtly different. Instead of portraying Dolly as the active member of the couple, with Arthur retreating into himself, the BBC version has Arthur as the more active partner. He suggests calling Miss Marple in, and is notably angry at the intrusion on his life and home. The adapters also included a full flashback of Arthur’s testimony, and cut to his life in St. Mary Mead intermittently. This shifts Arthur from a more gentle, retreating character to a blustering, engaged one. This version of Arthur is less likable, if a little more in tune with my assumptions about an ex-Colonel in the 1930s.
This may not matter if it didn’t also impact Dolly’s character. Dolly here is a retreating, sensitive woman, who needs a ton of emotional support. Instead of the plucky, energetic character from the novel, we get a bit of a milksop who’s hard for a modern / feminist viewer to engage with. She’s just as focused on Arthur, but she demonstrates it by worrying a lot, rather than taking real action. This version of Dolly can’t serve as an investigative foil to Miss Marple – she doesn’t truly pursue an investigation. Miss Marple becomes an exceptional woman because of her natural curiosity – not the combination of her curiosity and her intelligence.
With these small character changes, the adapters completely change how attractive the status quo seems. Instead of representing an earnest way of life, the status quo emphasizes the worst elements of a patriarchal, classist society. It’s hard to sympathize with the Colonel and Dolly, or to truly root for things to go well for them. Instead, one finds oneself rooting for the outsiders – and it’s a little sad when they “lose.”
The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons in this adaptation also live up to the worst of their class stereotypes. The adaptation goes out of its way to show Conway Jefferson behaving abominably – he shouts and flings furniture. Contrast this with the novel’s “Jeff”, whose primary mode of control is guilt and sympathy for this tragedy, and who even admits his own wrongdoing in the denouement. The BBC version of Conway Jefferson is a controlling villain – you almost want him dead in the trap scene.
Where the novel wraps up the stories of the Jeffersons neatly (the police arrest Mark, Jefferson provides for Addie and Peter), the BBC adaptation excises this conclusion. As a result, we lose the reward of “earned family”: even if a viewer assumes Mark gets punished, there’s no sense that Addie’s devotion pays off. This also contradicts the broader pattern of Miss Marple stories, which are as much about the surviving cast as murderer. Throughout all her stories, Christie emphasizes the importance of establishing guilt to ensure the innocent can lead fulfilling lives. Excluding the end of Addie’s story removes this messaging and refocuses the emphasis solely on the murder investigation.
The outsiders
The BBC adaptation takes a much more sympathetic view to the outsiders, as exemplified by the treatment of Basil Blake. The novel’s Basil is unrepentantly mischievous, requiring Miss Marple (and an arrest) to bring him “to heel”. The BBC team makes Basil a more honorable character – when he sees the other villagers isolating Arthur, he feels guilty and confesses his wrongdoing to Dinah.
This slight tweak reduces the impact of Miss Marple’s intervention later in the story. In the novel, Miss Marple acts as a confessor, forcing Basil to confront the truth in front of Dinah. This moment breaks the tension between the country status quo and the modern threat, in favor of country life. In the BBC adaptation, because Basil has already confessed to Dinah, the symbolic victory of the status quo is replaced by a sense that the modern approach has been wrongly maligned by the village.
There’s similar sympathy with the treatment of Raymond Starr, who’s rather rudely snubbed by Mark (who turns out to be the upper-class murderer). The police also dismiss Malcom (an invented “village idiot” character) when he reports Pamela’s body. The overall adaptation is much more sympathetic to the outsider characters – regardless of whether or not they’ve “earned” it.
The investigators
The novel features four investigators, who together create a male, official investigative foil for Miss Marple. The BBC team kept three of the four, eliminating Superintendent Harper and folding his role into Colonel Melchett and Sir Henry Clithering. Overall, this works pretty smoothly, with Melchett and Sir Henry serving as effective “bridges” for Miss Marple into the official investigation.
The bigger change in the investigative team is the expanded role for Inspector Slack, whose screen-time as expande. The hapless and annoying Inspector, unfortunately, both kills the pace and the tension – any character he’s interested in is likely not the culprit. Where Christie wisely reduced his role almost to a cameo, highlighting his methodical evidence-collection, the BBC adapters spotlight his incompetence. Unfortunately, spending so much time with Inspector Slack reduces the impression of competence of the investigative team. This is particularly frustrating when the Christie novel makes a point to call out that the police team is perfectly competent.
Instead of contrasting equally intelligent male and female investigators, this adaptation juxtaposes curious, intuitive Miss Marple with ham-fisted, blustering Slack. This results in a sense that Miss Marple is simply paying attention, where the police are, instead, navel-going dum-dums. As Peter tells Sir Henry in the novel, “Making fun of the police is very old-fashioned” – it’s unfortunate that the BBC team didn’t pay attention.
Thematic tensions
Overall, the BBC ’s character changes result in an adaptation that 1) is more sympathetic to the outsider characters, and 2) portrays men as generally incompetent. While I can’t read the adapters’ minds, I’d assume that these changes came from a desire to inject more modern perspectives on class and gender into the story. Unfortunately, the attempt fails, with the character changes in direct tension with the story beats.
This may have worked better if the adapters changed the ending to match – a tragic ending for Addie, for example. Alternately, the adapters could have emphasized the elements of the written characters that align with modern values – the women’s fight for agency, Arthur’s willingness to take a back seat, the ability of the lead investigators to recognize and respect Miss Marple’s intellect. Instead, the adapters end up with modern characters traversing old story beats – and excising the more interesting pieces of both.
The iTV version (2004): one big change to a thematically consistent work
The iTV adaptation took a very different approach to their adaptation of The Body in the Library. This version is shorter, tighter, and introduces a major character and plot change relative to the book. Yet, it’s able to capture the themes of the novel remarkably well. This success lies in the character choices – where the team maintains accuracy, and how they introduce changes to create tension. Their approach illustrates how important character choices are for successful adaptation.
The villagers
Miss Marple and the Bantrys appear fairly close to their novel counterparts. Arthur is quiet and retiring, per spec. Dolly is energetic and enthused to investigate the murder, serving as a foil to the quiet, observant Miss Marple. While there are slight deviations (most notably, Dolly confesses to a lapse in her trust of Arthur), overall, the characters share the same spirit as the novel. The villagers establish clearly the values of the status quo: honesty, fidelity, and agency.
The Jeffersons
The iTV team keep the Jeffersons largely the same as the characters in the novel – right until they don’t. Conway is friendly, Mark is reasonably sympathetic, and Addie is shy and obsessed with Peter. Only someone already swear of the story would notice the foreshadowing of the largest change in this adaptation – it is Addie, not Mark, who loves Josie and who orchestrates Ruby’s murder.
This is a potentially huge change, but it has surprisingly little impact on the themes of the work. To some degree, it undermines the idea that blood relations are the most important indicator of family – the Addie in the novel would never take a risk that could adversely impact Peter. Yet this version also emphasizes how family is earned – in the denouement, Mark picks up Peter’s care.
The adapters use this change to add a theme – the idea that “When you’re in love, you think you’re invincible… it blinds you, and you don’t seem to care.” This is the first tie to Miss Marple’s romantic backstory (which I hated in The Murder at the Vicarage). Here, it lands a little more smoothly, and feels less out of place as an oblique reference. By adding tragedy to Addie and Josie’s story, the adapters remind viewers that the 1940s were oppressive to outsiders.
The outsiders
The outsiders are generally similar to their novel counterparts, with a few slight exceptions. Josie is a little closer to the family – which makes sense given her role as Addie’s lover. Raymond also has a sordid sideline pleasuring the female guests at the hotel (in the novel, he’s offended by the suggestion).
These changes highlight the oppression felt by outsiders to English society, adding nuance while maintaining the moral core . Josie may be a wonderful caretaker – but she commits the ultimate betrayal, murder. Raymond may face unfair economic pressure that lead him to sex work, but he tries to take the “easy way out” by pursuing an uninterested Addie. (Contrast their actions to Mark, whose love for Peter and his ultimate faithfulness to the family redeem him.) This intensifies class tension present in the novel, while maintaining the reversion to the moral code. While we can sympathize with the outsiders, we also see that no ends justify the means.
The investigators
Here, the iTV team trip themselves up a little bit. As in the BBC adaptation, iTV cut the investigate team down from four to two – Colonel Melchett, and Superintendent Harper. This meant they needed to distribute both Inspector Slack’s characteristics (slight incompetence, massive confusion, high energy) and Sir Henry’s (massively respects Miss Marple, experienced and patient, highly observant) across both characters. Unfortunately, they chose to sprinkle the characteristics evenly between the two characters. This means both investigators:
- like Miss Marple,
- get frustrated by Miss Marple,
- want to include Miss Marple,
- want to ignore Miss Marple, and
- are frequently confused.
As you can imagine, they’re a bit less compelling to spend time with. When they’re stuck, it doesn’t seem like it reflects the difficulty of the case – just their relative competence.
This team also cut down on the exposition by showing Miss Marple and the investigators collect evidence in parallel. The adaptation cuts between the shots of each, almost explicitly pitting the villager team and the investigators against each other. Moreover, because Sir Henry is cut, Miss Marple has to more directly insert herself into the investigation. There’s less of the mutual respect and admiration that characterizes Miss Marple’s typical relationship with senior members of the police.
Thematic alignment
The iTV team adeptly walked the line between adaptation and invention, successfully introducing major changes to the story while maintaining the thematic core. Who knows what Dame Agatha would have thought of big twist? – but this adaptation felt like the novel, from start to finish.
The adaptation team started by maintaining a clear adherence to the likability of all the protagonists – the Bantrys, Conway Jefferson, and Miss Marple. This allowed them to recognize class tensions and intensify them, maintaining our sympathy for the victims and the moral themes. The team even introduced a new theme, used across the season, with some degree of success.
Their one point of failure was the investigators – by evenly distributing character traits across a slimmed-down cast, the team created an inept police team and diminished the impact of these investigative foils to Miss Marple. Yet overall, the adaptation was both engaging and accurate – in spirit, in not in letter.
How characters impact themes
So what can we learn from this tale of two adaptations? To me, this contrast makes it clear how important consistent character writing is for thematically consistent storytelling.
Some readers – even Christie fans – mention that her novels don’t feature much in the way of character. Per the traditional view, the novels focus on the intricacies of plot to land an interesting, surprising mystery. Yet The Body in the Library exhibits clear themes and areas of exploration. They’re simply conveyed in the actions and decisions of the characters throughout the course of the investigation. The ultimate success or failure of different characters sets up a moral framework for the novel. The Body in the Library is compelling not only because the mystery is fun, but because it establishes and reinforces the value of Miss Marple’s moral framework.
Changing the actions of different characters, then, changes the thematic messages of the story. When done poorly, it can muddy the message and make the story confusing. Specifically, tension is created when a character’s thematic function and personality conflict with each other. For example, the quieter Dolly Bantry in the BBC adaptation cannot serve as an investigative foil for Miss Marple if she does no investigating!
Writing specifics: ideals and foils
This is particularly important when developing the characters that serve as a moral or thematic “ideal”. The biggest flaw in the BBC adaptation is a failure to establish why viewers should care about Arthur or Dolly, beyond justice. In contrast, the iTV version creates a clear view of the benefits of the status quo, creating a more compelling reason to root for Miss Marple.
Character foils are a particularly important tool in establishing these themes and frameworks. The two versions of Dolly Bantry – the quiet, shy version in the BBC adaptation, and the more energetic, curious one in the iTV version – emphasize different elements of Miss Marple’s character. And the failures of both teams to successfully adapt the investigators – each falling into a different trap – reduces our understanding of Miss Marple’s skill and deductive powers.
Wrapping up – and what’s next?
In mysteries, at the very last, characters and their actions are critical to theme. It’s easy to underestimate the important of this alignment, but I most often put down a cozy mystery series when the characters’ professed values no longer align with what’s on the page. In her best works, Christie is a master of this alignment, and I’m excited to see where else we can dissect her character work as part of this series. Next time, we’ll be taking a look at The Moving Finger, a quick look at gossip and poison-pen letters. Until then – stay cozy, and stay curious!
