Akhnaton - a play by Agatha Christie

As you might expect from the striking front cover and title, this is something a bit different. In fact, I'd probably never read it if it wasn't for Agatha-Christie-devouring completeness.

It's a historical play (so not a murder mystery) set in Ancient Egypt. It's never been properly performed however (though she must have liked it to want it published), and has 'little commercial value', apparently. Which I read as code for being 'utterly boring'.

But whilst it's not boring, it is a bit dry. You don't need too much background knowledge when reading it - entry level Egyptology will suffice' - but the play concerns the reign of the pharoah Akhnaton (whose wife Neferiti was probably more famous, as was his successor Tutankhamun), and his subsequent downfall. The play wobbles between historical background and research (names of gods, practices, lineage and castes, especially apparent in long speeches) with typical human drama and emotion (idle talk between townsfolk, many of the characters' conversations). It's melodramatic, and more highbrow than your usual fare.

But altogether, it hangs together quite nicely. For its big scale and subject matter (there's many sets and costumes, and always talk of far off rebellion) it wrings every bit of human drama out of the royal court, with the mad king (which felt a bit Shakespearean, but it works), his right-hand-man, and plots against him by priests and saboteurs. He was the king who shook off using multiple religious gods, instead reverting to one, represented by the sun. Agatha paints him as young, artistic and peace loving, ambitious but weak and misguided, and ultimately very very mad. So that's fairly hard to warm to, when your main character goes off on one at the end of the scene.

Whilst it's nowhere near the usual Agatha Christie in subject matter (despite her referring to history and archaeology many times), somehow in places characters end up talking very much like Agatha Christie characters, circa 1937 when it was written (seriously, the discussions about the nature of art could come straight from Five Little Pigs or The Hollow).

Its main feat is creating an actual readable (or performable) play out of such a sparse, yet rich, strain of history. It's worth noting that, as it was written in 1937, much of the historical 'accuracy' has been disproved by now, or even by 1973 when the book was published. It was only written fifteen years after Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun's tomb. However, given the historically dry subject matter, to experts and non-experts alike, her later Ancient Egyptian murder mystery Death Comes As The End is probably a safer, more mainstream choice.

Merlin - a retrospective

In a land of myth and a time of magic, the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young boy/man... his name, Merlin!

Today's news - Merlin's been axed. Well, that's not strictly true. It's the announcement that this series will be the last, and that the creators are ending the show properly. And it's definitely the right time to do it.

The creators have had a plan, and they've stuck to it. Unlike most shows, which could run and run and run, albeit with a change in cast, you have to admire the ambition of this one. The principal, what, five cast members have been there since the first episode - Tony Head naturally dropped out, he had to eventually. Because whilst this series isn't defined by the Arthurian myths and legends that's inspired it (they're a bit of a contradictory bag anyway, and Merlin being the same age as Arthur is a big change anyway), it's a series that sticks to the overall legend that we know.

Right from the start, Merlin is given a destiny - to help Camelot become great and Arthur become king. And whilst the series premise hasn't changed too much since then - there's still monsters and plots and keeping magic secret - one of the most appealing things is how much the show delivers. We've seen Arthur become king, and more controversially, Gwen (a humble serving girl) becoming queen. The knights of the round table have been gradually formed together, bolstering the supporting cast, and a Dragon has been freed (the wonderful John Hurt imprinting himself onto a new audience), and another born. Morgana's turned evil and we've even seen an artificially aged Merlin, the one we know of legend. How's this going to tie itself up? You just know that the creators have something big and special planned for this last ever adventure.

Old Merlin. Who really has to be seen to be believed - he's hilarious

But the series itself has changed. This series has seen a 'darker' tone (well, they've been saying that every year!) and a later timeslot - and we've had spooky hauntings and ghosts, alongside epic quests and fiendish villians - perhaps more so than usual. Even if the encompassing legend could sustain itself for another 13 episodes, the timeslot would be approaching post-watershed at this rate! It's a far cry from the first series, where the scariest things were griffins or powerful sorcerers - but it has a feel of its own, sowing seeds like Lancelot and Mordred and Morgana, but mainly in the cosy world of Camelot and the young cast.

First shown in 2008, you probably wouldn't think the series would have run for five years solid (even Doctor Who had to have a break). Whilst I suppose its predecessor Robin Hood was filmed in Hungary (and that only lasted 3 seasons, just - similarly going a bit darker towards the end), a series carefully filmed in both France and Wales seems ambitious. Add to that there being sixty five episodes of Merlin, the series still going as strong as ever (the ratings are as high and steady as ever), it is a tribute to the inventiveness of the crew and the chemistry of the regular cast that it's lasted this far.

Of course, before I get lost in the rhetoric, there's been a few bumps along the way. Whilst in recent times the show has changed its status quo, things became slightly predictable when, every episode, Arthur completely fails to notice Merlin has saved the day. Or that certain characters barely get a line in some weeks. Or the slightly warped geography of Camelot's lands, which take half an episode to traverse. And how many times has Morgana come back from the brink with an even more ludicrous plan (and hairdo)?

You'd think she would have smartened herself up before trying to kill the king, honestly.

 You can look at the series either as a serious drama, or simply as forty five minutes of adventure on Saturdays - and if you do the latter, you'll find it far more enjoyable. You might even laugh at some of the deliberately comedy episodes ('filler' or not) - I particularly like Sarah Parish's outlandish troll two-parter, but it left some viewers a little disheartened, to say the least. There's plenty of 'epics' though - battles and wars and storming of the castle have become the norm for series openers and finales, often spearheaded by Morgana and her ally of the season - some notable guest stars, including Emilia Fox, and also Tom Ellis with long hair - go figure. (I must say, the finales and two parters do merge into one in my memory - but they're always epic).

Each week, if you paid attention online, you'll typically find people (the fan appeal of Merlin is getting broader and broader by the series) claiming the latest episode to be the best yet, or utterly cliché, or silly, or too scary, or any number of opinions - just like Doctor Who, in fact! Despite this, it's still a shame that the series will actually end - this Christmas! But you know that they'll go out their way to end the show on a high (no pressure, folks!)

So farewell, soon, to the show that gave us myths and legends; ghost stories and love stories; topless knights and Puzzlewood; the most phenomenal lead actor with the best English accent to come out of Northern Ireland; and not one scene of Richard Wilson saying 'I don't believe it!'. (Quick - recommission it, for that alone!)

The Novels of Agatha Christie

About four years ago, I decided to read some Agatha Christie. I'm not entirely sure why - I'd not seen any on the telly, so it was probably because of Doctor Who. I started with the perennial 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd', and then 'Death on the Nile', and before I knew it I had made a pledge to consume the entire back catalogue, through the help of my local libraries. All eighty or so books!

So in this post, I'm going to guide you through the highlights and highpoints - mostly the classics you might have heard of, but they're classics for good reason. This is probably a list of some of the best things she's written - unlike Sherlock Holmes, say, her novels are far better than the short stories.

The novels broadly divide themselves into three categories - the ones starring Poirot, the Miss Marple mysteries - her two most prolific detectives - and the 'other' category, of which there are many. Not all of these are murder mysteries - there's also some brilliant thrillers, as well as delving into the romantic and supernatural,

A word of advice if you're picking books off the shelf - broadly speaking, 'vintage' Christie tends to be stories written around 1930 (her early twenties work take a while to hit their peak) to 1950 (in the novels of the late 60s and into the 70s, written in the last years of her life, the standard of writing and plotting has noticeably slipped). And if you remember the TV (or film) adaptations beforehand then, in most cases, don't bother reading! Honestly, you'll enjoy them far, far more if you don't know what's going to happen next.

The Hercule Poirot novels

In my opinion, the best of the bunch - I prefer Poirot stories to Marple, if only because they contain some of her most ingenious set-ups. Poirot was the first detective she came up with - and, together with friend and narrator Captain Hastings - is basically Sherlock Holmes... but Belgian! Whilst early stories deal with many Holmesian ideas - Inspector Japp takes on the beleagured police role, there's a wife for Hastings, even an Irene Adler figure - he soon grows out of his trappings into something much greater. So - which are my favourites?

The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Her first novel, written as a bet, and designed to be surprising and unsolvable, yet all the clues are before us. You could do a lot worse than this, a fine country house mystery. (Poirot returns to the house of Styles in his last (chronologically) story, 'Curtain'. But that's a whole other novel.)

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Controversial, ingenious, and probably not the best choice for a first dip into Christie - although it is one of her very best. I'll say no more!

Murder on the Orient Express
Infamous, especially the ending - but if, like me, you don't know who did it, it's a perfect chance to dip into Poirot's most famous adventure. There's lots of atmosphere created by the isolated setting of the train, and the investigation is methodical and ever intriguing...

The ABC Murders
Another downright classic, probably my absolute favourite Poirot - if only because it's such a different style to the others. A serial killer is working his way up and down the country, and through the alphabet, going from Andover to Bexhill, to Churston... thrilling and satisfying!

Cards on the Table
A slightly contrived, but enjoyable murder here - four criminals playing bridge, and any one of them could have killed the man in the corner whilst they played... With a very narrow list of suspects, and hardly any evidence, this takes a more psychological approach, but is handled very well indeed. And of course, I must mention one of Agatha's most delightful creations: Mrs Ariadne Oliver, a writer of murder mysteries who provides a comedic counterpoint to Poirot on many later occasions.

Death on the Nile
Solid - that's the word I'd use. Whilst most of the books on this list are utterly ingenious, this one ties everything up rather most succinctly than most, and provides clues and suspects galore, which is probably why it's so popular. On a gloriously exotic and expensive river cruise in Egypt, passions come to a head, and a wealthy heiress is murdered...

Hercule Poirot's Christmas
You might not expect anything from that title - but don't be fooled. This is a bloody and fiendish locked room mystery, involving - naturally, for the time of year - a family who hate each other! This theme of bickering relatives is done many a time, but never as good as this one.

The Hollow
A later one, this - but it's on the list because it's very well written. At a weekend in a country house, a doctor is found shot in the swimming pool... Poirot has to sort through tangled relationships and a wealth of baffling evidence to catch the murderer...

Taken at the Flood
Another late one, which took me by surprise - and I've tried to come up with a range here. Whilst many themes are common, this one is set in the shadow of the Blitz and the War (something rarely acknowledged in these books, especially during the War itself, rightfully), and it has a thrilling solution. A young girl has found herself a widow and, much to the anger of the rest of the family, inheritor of a large fortune. But when a man arrives claiming that her marriage was invalid, things come to a head...

Also of note - because I'm restricting myself to only a few! - Five Little Pigs, Lord Edgware Dies, Peril at End House, Three Act Tragedy, etc, etc...

The Miss Marple novels

There's less of these ones, but she's still very popular. Whereas Hercule Poirot is a bossy private detective, Miss Marple is the opposite: a village spinster, with an equal eye on human nature! Perhaps it's this charming side of her character, and the stories themselves, that have made these so popular.


Murder at the Vicarage
This one's the first Marple, and probably the most famous. What I love about it is the characters. Whilst the murder and solution itself isn't one of Christie's best, the story is a real treat, as is the humour and liveliness of St Mary Mead. (And also, like so many others, the TV movie has a fab cast!)

A Murder is Announced
Probably the most enjoyable Marple there is. Not only have you got the village life that made the above so wonderful (also the setting for quite a few of these - not enough of them, I say), but also a gripping whodunit. When an advert in the local newspaper says a murder will take place at a local house, everybody is puzzled... until the hour comes, and a body appears! Very well written.

A Pocket Full of Rye
With this one, I saw it on the telly first, which made the book rather a chore. Which was a shame - as it's rather fine. Christie bases a few stories around nursery rhymes, but this one's rather more blatant (and therefore, surreal!) as there's suspicious murders involving a businessman, his wife and the maid...

Also of note: The Body in the Library, The Moving Finger, The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side.

The rest

It feels a bit wrong to sideline everything else into one category - here you have other returning characters, as well as stories with no detectives in them at all. Exotic thrillers, psychological dramas, crazy politics and spies...

And Then There Were None
The pinnacle. And her best selling novel, with good reason. The plot - ten people are invited to an abandoned island, but each of them has a secret past. When the island becomes cut off, and people start getting murdered, it is evident that one of them must be a homicidal maniac... A very suspenseful, utterly gripping story, the basis for which has been used many times since. And it's not as contrived as I've made it sound, honest.

The Secret Adversary
This book deserves a mention, as it's the best out of the five that star Tommy and Tuppence, a pair of young investigators who get imbroiled into a political mystery. Uniquely, they age the same rate as the books - unlike Miss Marple, who's a pensioner for about fifty years, they grow old together, whilst still having adventures naturally! In this one, they're up against an international spy ring in a pretty barmy, but well written and lively thriller.

Towards Zero
Probably the only 'proper' murder mystery on this last list. It could take pride of place in any Poirot or Marple collection, but instead features Superintendant Battle (who features in a few books, including Avengers style crossover Cards on the Table) - and he's not in it too much. A tennis player turns up to a seaside party, and where both his wife and ex-wife are staying. And then their host is murdered...
 

Death Comes as the End
Agatha wrote some odd books in her time (I particularly like the bonkers conspiracy thriller Destination Unknown, and there's also the baffling James Bond style The Big Four) but this one shows real flair. Whilst a few books are set around archeological sites, and in far eastern places, this goes one further... it's a murder mystery set in ancient Egypt! It works far better than you think, and contains all the usual charactering and intrigue.

Endless Night
A very late book, but very well written. It's told through the first person of a young man who falls in love, but dark events follow...

Also of note: Crooked House, Ordeal by Innocence.

So that's that - a quick guide to the best of the best of Agatha Christie. Of course, by this list I'm not saying the rest of the books are bad (well, not all of them, at least!). I'd advise any new readers to check them out, though. I know I've read eighty-odd, but I love her work to bits.

Coming soon: a (much briefer) guide to her short stories.

Pride and Prejudice

Slightly daunting, this article. What can I say about a book that's often quoted as the 'best loved', a book that's spawned hundreds of adaptations, and caught the hearts and minds of millions? Elizabeth Bennet meets Mr Darcy, they hate each other, and then gradually are drawn together through fate and events... yeah, I knew the basics, although not the ending. (And wasn't there a famous scene with Darcy coming out of a lake?) Well, I can say that I'd never read it, nor watched it, until now.

It's a good story, isn't it? I was rather overwhelmed by the length of the book - it's about 150,000 words, which is more than a 'light read', and probably took me about two or three weeks as I kept dipping in and out of it.

But the main thing that struck me was - it's written 200 years ago, and yet it's lovely to read. Out of the 19th Century books I've read (relatively few), I gave up on Frankenstein, and the others are much later, nearer 1900. So it was a surprise that a book which celebrates its bicentenary in a few months would be so readable. I have to admit, the cover being plastered with quotes extolling the humour, saying it's the 'funniest book ever written'... uh, no, it isn't. Not for today's audiences mind you, but I bet the Georgians were chuckling at the wry humour of Elizabeth's parents.

That's not to say the book is dated. Whilst the trappings of the story, the world in which the characters live, is firmly in the 1800s - things like daughters not being allowed to inherit, or the ettiquette of dancing at balls, or the scandals of class and marriage - the characters are utterly realistic, the scenario so timeless, that the book speaks for itself, and probably hits a chord in all of us. The reader is swept along by the inner feelings of Elizabeth Bennet, her passionate views and noble character. And that at the heart of the story, our heroine marries for love, despite her class and money, is a very modern angle, I think, and a very happy one. No wonder then that this is a much loved book, with a joyous ending, despite the drama of the journey.

Jane Austen has quite a few connections around the city of Bath, but I was still surprised to see it mentioned in the novel. On the second-to-last page, naturally. (And that lake scene? Never shows up, unfortunately, only on TV. And that looks like a fine adaptation to watch)

Safety Not Guaranteed

Today I went to see a film. A preview of the upcoming American indie film Safety Not Guaranteed, at Bath Film Festival to be exact. (It comes out after Christmas, so I hear) And it's good.

A bit of background. It's a film I hadn't heard of before, made by people I hadn't heard of, and starring people I've never seen before (well, other than someone in a cameo near the end). But the blurb interested me.

It's the story behind an advert (inspired by the real life advert), placed by a man who is looking for somebody to travel back in time with him. 'Safety not guaranteed' it says, along with 'must bring own weapons'. The film's central character Darius (Aubrey Plaza) goes on the search for the story behind it, to try and find out the truth - is the man deluded, or can he really time travel?

It's a sort of romantic comedy. It's independent, it's (relatively) cheap. It's true to life. It's probably a 'hipster' movie (people with little-to-no jobs, nice style, good soundtrack... a zither). The write-up said it was 'heart-warming and side-splitting' which I thought was a bit of a contradiction, but I'd said it passes on both accounts really.

However, it's not science-fiction.

Perhaps my expectations were high, I dunno. I'm probably not the target audience. My problem with the film, really, is the ending - and without giving too much away, I kinda wanted the film to be longer, or more complicated. Sure, it has all the character development, and the drama, and the witty lines, and even punch-the-air scenes, but... maybe I misjudged where it was going, that's all.

I'd recommend it though, I think. It's great, and has some good jokes, sweet characters and nice messages too.

To my Future Partner

I'm sorry. I'm saying this in advance, because it's something that you should probably be aware of - in the unlikely event that you are reading this - rather than anything I'm to blame for. Cos I really can't help it.

I'm sorry for when you suddenly awake in the night, bleary eyed and wondering what the hell is going on. Because, let's face it, I sleepwalk. Or talk. Well, shouting, so I'm told.

 That's not me. As if I'd use two pillows.

It started when I was much younger, and has somehow still continued. Talking in my sleep is hard to measure - I sleep alone, and in another room, so it's rare that it's loud enough for anybody to hear. And strangely, I can't hear myself when I'm asleep. But walking's different.

At the moment, certainly over the last few weeks, I've half-dreamt trying to find my way around a strange room in the dark, with an unfamiliar layout, perhaps trying to look for an exit or a light-switch. And then when I wake up, I realise that it was my bedroom - of course it is! And yet it felt very odd when I was asleep. And I'm standing up.
I don't know doing it once it's put the thought into my head now - but it's getting slightly annoying after the fifth time. And I don't always wake up in the same part of the room, either!

When I was living back home with my parents, the most common happenings used to be going to the toilet! Or rather, opening the bedroom door, walking down the stairs (or in some cases, almost falling) and then stopped by my dad, ever present and awake, to tell me to go back to bed. One time, apparently I was running quite violently towards the front door. And on more than one occasion, even a few years ago, I've been screaming my head off whilst hardly knowing a thing.

And then there's been more trivial cases - aside from the odd feeling of waking up perfectly asleep but at the other end of the bed. In my last house, I remember being engrossed in some action fantasy (okay, I'd been to see a film that evening) and suddenly awoke, to find myself in the hallway, having unlocked my bedroom door, and with my awoken flatmate looking as bemused as I was.
In a later incident, I found myself knocking frantically on his bedroom door, before, as he answered, suddenly finding myself awak. Yeah, thanks subconscious! Apparently I blathered on about some maths problem. (Still, could have been worse - I dimly recall that by some twisted logic, I was going to wake the whole house up!) This is probably how very drunk people act. I think he found it funny. I hope he wasn't scarred for life, anyway.

The thing that's even more scary than what I might be doing when you're asleep... is that I have little way of knowing. It's become such an occurance, that I have to prompt my parents about it the morning after. "Did I wake up in the night?" I ask, half recalling what seemed like more-than-a-dream from the night before. It doesn't affect anything, but I'd like to know.

A small piece on Hunted

Okay, the series isn't over yet, so I'll keep it short. Hunted is a rare UK/US co-production currently airing on BBC One, in this country at least. Helmed in part by prolific production company Kudos - and created by one of the writers behind the X-Files - it's an action show involving spies and conspiracies and intrigue, which has lead to comparisons to Spooks.

Now, I love Spooks - and this isn't it. It's a different style of show entirely - for starters, it's less of an episodic mission-of-the-week series, and more about an ongoing investigation. Secondly, the spies aren't working for the government, they're in private security (ooh - modern and edgy!). And also, there's a definite main character, in the form of Melissa George playing Sam - and she doesn't do too badly, either.

The series is well made, very expensive - especially a first episode involving exotic locations and jaw dropping scenery (the whole show, in fact, looks gorgeous) as well as being deliberately slow and unusually paced. From then on, however, it becomes your standard conspiracy/undercover drama. The cast is reasonable, the script is reasonable... but then we come to the characters.

The show is cold - even with the odd joke here and there, its tone is serious, but it's not just that. I know it takes a while to warm to any characters - it probably took me half a season to love Ruth and Zoe and Adam and co in Spooks - but this series seems to be going out of its way to make everyone shifty and uninviting. The main character, Sam, is deliberately messed up - her past is shown to us via frenetic flashbacks, so we have to wait six weeks to discover the whole picture, unfortunately. The rest of the team are either bland or mysterious or underwritten - honestly, some characters have literally nothing to do apart from explain the plot - and the tantalising subplot about one of them being a mole means that we care very little. Everybody outside the team is either about to discover Sam's really a spy, or going to be killed a few weeks down the line.

Yes, there's some violence - done in a typically modern, extremely fast cutting, ruthless fashion. It's realistic, but sometimes gratiutious. There's also an impressive stunt or two, particularly a big explosion, and some cars. And there's also a very deliberately scary man who injects people through their eyes...

It's a very masculine show, despite the main character's gender - perhaps as a result of the American side of things. There's not that many female characters, with the antagonists being cockney business people (Patrick Malahide is enjoying himself though, and manages to pull off a pretty ludicrous character), and of those that are female, half of them seem to have got their clothes off. Hmm.

Overall? It's not a series to love, but it's expensive and watchable. Better than Torchwood's Miracle Day, for sure. Whether it's going somewhere, who the hell knows?

Flashback: the David Jones comic series

In the first of probably a series of posts, I'll be advertising alerting people to a few choice things I've done creatively. And what better to start off with, than this...

Go on! Click it - it's got words and pictures, what more do you want?

To set the scene - I was making Doctor Who comics, with toy action figures, and posting them onto a Doctor Who figures fan site (still going - just!). It's not an original idea, but I rather liked it - writing a script (or in the early days, making it up as you went along), taking the photos, and editing it together on the computer. But by the end of 2008, I realised these were mostly unconnected, seemingly random stories released as and when. What I needed was a series!

 

Sorry, Doctor and River - a Christmas special in the TARDIS isn't gonna be enough...

I came up with something quite unusual - something with Doctor Who characters in, obviously, but there were just enough humans to allow me to make my own ones up. Instead of travels in space and time, now there was a main character who was an alien in disguise (taking on the bland name of David Jones - better than John Smith!), helping the Earth!

 

C'mon, how can you resist a whopping great picture of a Cyberman?

Well, it's complicated - there's monsters, UNIT, betrayal, a former girlfriend, the works. And there's a lot of things I'd do a lot differently if I was given the chance now - but, as a series of comics, I think they stand up pretty well indeed. An adventure in the Antarctic with Cybermen! Weevils from Torchwood in the sewers! Slitheen! The Doctor popping up! Yes, I had fun doing it. (My favourite's probably The Brethren's Curse... or the 'Christmas' special!)
In a way, it's a personal project - I'm predominantly making something that I'd like to see, and it's something I've invested a lot of ideas in myself. (Perhaps it's also because, unlike Youtube, there's no comments section from strangers - although the attached forum's quite enthusiastic - no like button, no easily accessible view count to watch steadily increase...)

Admittedly, the thing that ultimately has killed it off is the scale. I'm aiming high with this - no idea too small, nothing that cannot be realised with a spot of liberal photoshop editing, from customising figures (Evil Patrick Troughton clone Salamander! Alien hybrids! A masterly Vinvocci!) to creating spaceships or enhancing bits of cardboard. Huge stories cluttered my head, typed out as film-scripts, and photographed with glee. The style is less of a comic and more like a storyboard with speech bubbles - but hey. A turnaround of a comic every month shortly became two months, then six months, then about a year...

Still, ten episodes is a good run so far, considering. But it's not cancelled - it's still alive! In fact, I valiantly shot the remaining episodes I'd written, up to end of the 'series' (in my own made-up rules) back last year. But boy, it's a slog to edit a hundred-odd pages.

And so it goes on the back burner. Whilst my head fills up with new ideas, new plots, new characters. It's a sad life, making these. But it's been a lot of fun.