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As a 'greatest hits' compilation, this set soars, but hardcore fans will hardly need to re-invest....
Acorn Media / 960 Minutes / 1989-2010 / Unrated / Street Date: January 29, 2013
Mystery fans can't possibly resist this leviathan of a TV-on-DVD box set. It's not definitive, nor is it representative in terms of the continuum of either Poirot's or Miss Marple's recent on-screen skills, but Agatha Christie's Poirot and Marple: Fan Favorites Collection nevertheless delivers what its moniker promises: some of these iconic detectives' finest programming hours.
The question, though, is whether this standard-def box set is worth the investment. Poirot has already seen a handful of high-def releases, so this DVD set is already significantly a step down. And if you've been a hardcore fan of either series (for the record, both Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie pop up as the eponymous Marple), you may already have a few of these mysteries on your DVD shelf already. Long story short - it may not be the most logical TV-on-DVD set in the world, but the dramas it contains are still excellent.
Episodes included:
Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express (2010), Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1995), The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1990), The ABC Murders (1992), The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb (1993), and Four and Twenty Blackbirds (1989).
Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (2004), A Murder Is Announced (2005), At Bertram's Hotel (2007), A Pocket Full of Rye (2008), and The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side (2010).