Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime - Tommy & Tuppence, Set 1

Director: John A. Davis (II), Tony Wharmby
Studio: Acorn Media
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford show up rarely in Agatha Christie's books, but when they do, one thing's for certain: both they and the readers will have a good time. The same is true, for the most part, in this set introducing the adventure-seeking couple who take over a London detective agency. Oddly, Tommy and Tuppence made their television debut before Christie's better-known crime solvers, Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. The video quality of the second two tapes (whose four episodes take place chronologically after the first tape, but were produced earlier) betrays a low budget, and the acting occasionally verges on farce--especially when it comes to Tuppence's obsession with hats. But then, the couple were always a lighthearted counterpoint to the more serious sleuthing of Poirot and Miss Marple. The lovely Francesca Annis (seen more recently in Wives and Daughters) is disarming as Tuppence, masking her shrewd eye with dippy charm; she may get the bellboy's name wrong every time, but she can spot the criminal faster than her straight-man husband. As Tommy, James Warwick expertly melds dinner-party suavity with bumbling boy-next-door charm. The pair are at their best in the two-hour feature "The Secret Adversary," which comprises the first tape. This tale of kidnapping and political intrigue reunites the childhood friends, thus beginning their life as Partners in Crime. --Larisa Lomacky Moore

Customer Reviews:

British TV prodcutions from the 1980s with style, style, style.......2007-07-06

In 1916, Agatha Christie almost idly mentioned to her older sister that she would like to write a novel. The sister bet her that she couldn't do it. The result was Christie's first novel, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," which introduced Hercule Poirot into the world. After collecting a handful of rejection slips, the book was published in 1920 and achieved sufficient success (although Christie earned only a meager 25 pounds from its first edition) for her publisher to request a second book.

That book, featuring Tommy and Tuppence was published in 1922. The first book had been a classic mystery, one heavily influenced by the Sherlock Holmes series. Poirot, himself, might almost be regarded as the Anti-Holmes, while Captain Hastings was very much in the mold of Watson as Poirot's chronicler and, incidently, the complete fool that Watson never was. The second book, "The Secret Adversary," was a thriller of the E. Phillips Oppenheim type, although with comic touches. Christie, being Christie, tossed in some elements of mystery, too.

Prior to the beginning of "The Secret Adversary," handsome and dashing young army officer Tommy Beresford had been wounded during the Great War. He had woken up in hospital to find himself under the care of an absolutely spiffing young woman named Prudence Cowley (who preferred to be called "Tuppence.") Shortly after War's end, so presumably in 1919, they meet again, both now in civilian life, unemployed and fast running out of money. Tommy and Tuppence are true creatures of the 1920s, "bright young things" who might have gone clubbing after an opening night with Noel and Gertie or enjoyed a weekend at Blandings Castle while on a mission from the Drones Club or joined with Leonard and Virginia Woolf in some pointless prank. In "The Secret Adversary," almost before you can say Bob's your uncle, they're on the British government payroll (sort of) and in hot pursuit of an international master criminal.

Now consider Archie and Agatha Christie. Agatha had married a handsome and dashing young army captain who had transferred to the Air Force during the war and had come out as a colonel. During the war, while Archie was away, Agatha had worked at a hospital. Archie and Agatha were bright young things at the beginning of the 1920s, but not at all well-supplied for money. Agatha wrote a letter to a friend at about this time in which she moaned about being so short of funds that she and Archie could only afford two servants(!)

I think that Tuppence is a caricature of Agatha Christie herself, the kind of bright, outgoing young woman that the bright, perpetually shy Agatha might have wished herself to be. Tommy is Archie, but less successful in his military career (because of his wounds, of course) in order to justify his taking up life as an adventurer instead of following Archie's course and disappearing into stuffy Business in the City.

A few years later, Archie proved to be a bounder as far as Agatha was concerned and their marriage collapsed--spectacularly, but that's another story. Tommy persisted, always I think, as the man that Archie Christie should have been.

Christie never abandoned the Beresfords. During World War II, the middle-aged pair got involved with counter intelligence operations and with more domestic adventures in the post-War era. Christie's very last and posthumously published novel featured the Beresfords in a mystery.

These dramatizations feature the astonishingly beautiful Francesca Annis as Tuppence and lightweight but dashing James Warwick as Tommy. True to their printed sources, there is precious little substance in them but practically endless amounts of style in which the costume department is almost as important as the two stars. A running gag throughout the series is that every time the Beresfords journey out of London, there is a gigantic pile of leather suitcases lashed down in the back of their car.

"The Secret Adversary" was shot as a feature-length production, on film and often on location. True to the book, it is set in 1919 or 1920, as can be seen from the automobiles and even more clearly from Tuppence's various outfits. The film of the novel clearly served as a pilot for the series, which dramatized the short stories.

The dramatized short stories, collectively known by the series name, "Partners in Crime," commence almost immediately after the novel and should therefore be set in 1920. However, the TV episodes were shifted into the mid-1920s (thus matching their initial publication dates.) This change allows them to take on an Art Deco look and for Annis to wear some eye-popping proto-flapper styles. And hats! Tuppence's hats start at astonishing and then go wild. They make Myrna Loy's giddy lids in the Thin Man series look positively conservative by comparison.

The 1980s vintage of these episodes exerts a distinct effect on their appearance. They preserve the peculiar English television production habit of shooing exteriors on 16mm film, but interiors on videotape. With the sharp images available from DVDs, the transitions from film to tape and back to film are almost painfully obvious and simply must be accepted as a given. Also, the fashion of the time was to build interior sets, which seemed adequately convincing at the time but now seem wonderfully stage-bound.

Equally stage-bound are the scripts and performances. For those accustomed to the more recent British series featuring Morse or Frost or even Miss Marple, "Partners in Crime" will seem highly artificial. To those accustomed to live performance in a theater, "Partners in Crime" will seem bursting with energy and intensity seldom to be found on the screen.

This is a superb set which is unfortunately marred by some sound problems. On viewing a set a couple of years ago, I had complaints about the sound that match those outlined in previous reviews. On the other hand, another set that I watched recently on different equipment seemed perfectly satisfactory.

I give "Partners in Crime" five well-deserved stars--less one for the necessary buyer beware warning.

"Jolly Good Show!".......2007-01-16

Tommy and Tuppence are certainly my favorite Agatha Christie crime stoppers, and Francesca Annis and James Warwick give wonderful portrayals of the fun and brilliant pair.

Amatuer to Professional.......2006-07-21

I watched this series on PBS originally and had fun watching in again. This set includes the pilot for the series and I had not seen it before. It gave a nice introduction to the two title charactors. The series starts out with the two taking over a defunct detective agency to help the British government catch a war criminal. They find after this case is cleared up that they enjoy the detecting business and the series goes on from there. Tommy and Tuppence handle each new challenge with verve and penache.

Agatha Christie's.......2006-07-01

The 3 DVD's from Agatha CVhristie have all the same problems:
NO SUBTITLES!!!!!!
For older people like me the subtitles are indispensable.
This are the first DVD I bought from AMAZON, without subtitles
and I am really disapointed.
I talk about:
Tommy & Tuppence
Death on the Nile
7 Dials Mystery

Tommy & Tuppence are the best!.......2006-06-09

I watched Tommy & Tuppence in 1984 when I was 14. Now, a bit older, but still a huge fan of Francisca Annis,I enjoy them once again on DVD. As far as I am concerned, television doesn't get much better than this. Thanks not only to the lovely Francisca Annis, but also to just how all comes together and makes this work out so well. The actors, the decors, the music, the plots, this is exactly the kind of British mysteries we miss so much these days.
Also the theatrical way of acting, and the parody Tommy & Tuppence make of the detective business gives this series the kind of playful fun that makes it one of the most enjoyble tv series ever.

I secretly hoped Francisca could be almost Miss Marple by now, picking up the series from her predecessor who passed away in 1998, but I heard that despite that she is in her 60s now she still has the same good looks that make her the only actress alive that could rival Audrey Hepburn in style.
All I can say is: BBC, please film all the other Agatha Christie novels with this couple again!

Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime - Tommy & Tuppence, Set 2

Average customer rating:

An enjoyable romp through the swinging 1920s' London.
Partners in Crime-The Dame's Sense of Humor
bottom end of the Christie quality scale
More adventures of Tommy & Tuppence
Not quite as good as Poirot but fine on its own terms

Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime - Tommy & Tuppence, Set 2
Director: John A. Davis (II) , and Tony Wharmby
Manufacturer: Acorn Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime - Tommy & Tuppence, Set 1
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Agatha Christie's Miss Marple - The Classic Mysteries Collection

ASIN: B000199JJS
Release Date: 2004-03-30

Amazon.com

Tommy and Tuppence stars James Warwick and Francesca Annis as Agatha Christie's husband-and-wife team of detectives. Together they zoom around 1920's England in a very posh car and solve all kinds of high-society crimes, from forgery at an exclusive nightclub to the mysterious disappearance of an Arctic explorer's fiancée. The show benefits from two charming lead performances and some wonderful period details--Annis seems to change her hat and her dress every 30 seconds--but it is at best only moderately entertaining. The years have not been kind to this type of mystery, in which murder is the equivalent of an especially tricky crossword puzzle, offering the amateur sleuths an opportunity to avoid boredom and have a terribly thrilling time. Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple survive, both in print and on film, because the central characters are interesting enough to make us forgive weak plotting and a lack of depth, but Tommy and Tuppence don't have the staying power of Christie's more famous creations. Their adventures are fun in small doses, and if you're in the mood for some witty repartee, but otherwise this series is little more than a quaint relic of a bygone age. --Simon Leake

Description

Created in the 1920s by Agatha Christie, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford were the first to prove that two attractive and clever heads are better than one when it comes to solving mysteries. Fun-loving and flirtatious, they'd rather be working together on a tough case than doing almost anything else.

Francesca Annis (RECKLESS) stars as Tuppence, in stunning period outfits created especially for the series, with James Warwick (LILLIE) as the dry-witted and dapper Tommy. In this collection of six episodes from the popular TV series PARTNER IN CRIME, the stylish pair ply their trade as proprietors of Blunt's Detective Agency.

Customer Reviews:

An enjoyable romp through the swinging 1920s' London........2006-08-31

"The Secret Adversary" and the short story collection "Partners in Crime" (both from 1922) were Agatha Christie's second and third-ever book, but their quirky protagonists, Tommy and "Tuppence" (Prudence) Beresford, were not to share the eventful career of their colleague Hercule Poirot, who had debuted two years earlier with "The Mysterious Affair at Styles;" nor that of Christie's almost equally well-loved (and personal favorite) village sleuth Miss Marple, whose first adventure ("Murder at the Vicarage") would not be published until 1930. Christie only authored three more Beresford mysteries: 1941's "N or M?" (a WWII spy thriller set in a coastal guesthouse), 1968's "By the Pricking of My Thumbs" (where a visit to a nursing home prompts them to track down the real-life object of a painting, only to find themselves hunting for a child murderer) and "Postern of Fate" (1973), the last book written by Christie (although not the last one published); more a postscript to the superior earlier stories.

Not as eccentric as Poirot and Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence are nevertheless immediately likeable, and perfectly cast in this 1980 - 1982 TV series with Francesca Annis and James Warwick, reprising their successful collaboration from the 1980 realization of Christie's "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" Taking its title from the second entry in the Beresford cycle, originally only the short stories contained in "Partners in Crime" were developed for television; "The Secret Adversary," although set earlier in the literary originals' sequence and providing critical background information on the couple's friendship, was only adapted as a feature film two years later. (The original order is restored in this video and DVD release, which features the couple's first and longest adventure as part of Set 1.)

Although "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" had already proved Christie to be a writer of exceptional talent, her first Tommy and Tuppence adventures - penned for financial reasons as much as out of a desire to write - still show her style as a work in progress, sometimes lacking certainty as to what exactly works in terms of characterization and storylines. While she succeeds, like in the first Poirot mystery, to immediately draw in her audience, and the Beresfords are presented in as much detail as the little Belgian with the many gray cells, the plotlines sometimes stretch credibility and have a whiff of the kind of story that Arthur Conan Doyle could get away with 20 years earlier, but which Christie herself (wisely) only took up infrequently later (and generally with more solidly constructed plotlines and often with Poirot as the main character). Thus, if the televised versions of these early Tommy and Tuppence stories appear somewhat less convincing than the subsequent, more acclaimed adaptations of Christie's Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries, this is at least partly owing to the literary originals themselves: The creators of the TV series reproduced the mysteries' "swinging Twenties" setting successfully and with a fine eye for detail; and Francesca Annis and James Warwick give terriffic performances as the vivacious, hat-loving Tuppence and her (almost) equally witty, slightly more settled husband.

Tommy and Tuppence's boisterous young assistant Alfred is portrayed by Reece Dinsdale (best known, since, as Guildenstern in Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" and D.I. Scott in the mid-1990s British cop show "Thief Takers"); and there are recurrent appearances by British TV regular Arthur Cox as Detective Inspector Marriott, in the televised version chiefly responsible for establishing the couple as owners of Blunt's International Detective Agency (in the books, the agency is a cover for the Beresfords' spy activities), who informally continues to consult them whenever he feels that Scotland Yard's official capacities have reached their limits.

Although not quite on the level of Christie's more famous mysteries and their recent TV adaptations, this series is an enjoyable romp through the the swinging 1920s' London. And who knows - maybe 20+ years after its initial airing we'll see a realization of one of Tommy and Tuppence's later adventures? Annis and Warwick might be about the right age for "N or M" now ... or even better, "By the Pricking of My Thumbs," which unlike the earlier mysteries easily stands up with the best of Christie's other works!

Partners in Crime-The Dame's Sense of Humor.......2006-07-21

I remember watching this series originally on PBS and enjoying it very much. I enjoyed very much watching it again. The chemistry between Tommy and Tuppence and their interplay is very entertaining. The Dame wrote this seried in a much more light-hearted vein than her usual books and the dramatization carries that humor through. The mysteries are a bit shallow but it's fun to watch these two amatuer turned professional detectives.

bottom end of the Christie quality scale.......2006-03-25

The married couple solve crimes by blundering onto the solutions. You should be able to get the solution to several of them within one minute of hearing the initial clues.

Once that is understood, the acting and sets are first rate. If you are into cultural anthropology, you will like the series. If you are into crime detection, you will be disappointed.

More adventures of Tommy & Tuppence.......2006-01-09

Sunningdale Mystery

Pure deduction

After the Grate World War, Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and Tuppence (Francesca Annis) are out of work and form a partnership in a detective agency. They eventually marry and continue their detection business. On the surface they look like they are stumbling into the answer of each mystery they solve. But upon further observance they are cunning and resourceful.

In this "The Sunningdale Mystery" story by Agatha Christie and screen play adapted by Jonathan Hales, the international Detective Agency is not finding enough clients so they go out to solve a mystery found in the paper.

In this mystery part of the Tommy and Tuppence, "partners in crime" series, Tommy and Tuppence actually go to the scene of the crime, do their deductions in Hercule Poirot fission using the little gray cells. It is unique in the fact that they do not interview any suspects.
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The Ambassador's Boots

Solve a crime and have fun to boot

After the Grate World War, Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and Tuppence (Francesca Annis) are out of work and form a partnership in a detective agency. They eventually marry and continue their detection business. On the surface they look like they are stumbling into the answer of each mystery they solve. But upon further observance they are cunning and resourceful.

In this "The Ambassador's Boots" A story by Agatha Christie and screen play adaptation by Paul Annett, Tommy and Tuppence have just saves someone from an international kidnapping. So at an exclusive party they are introduced to the ambassador from the United States.

Later the Ambassador tells them of a mystery where his bag got mixed up with another. You may have guessed that his bag contained his boots. Even though it seems trivial Tommy and Tuppence are determined to get to the bottom of why the bags were swapped and then the other party denies it ever happened.

For some reason you get the feeling that they are just acting and everyone is just going thru the motions. Do not get discourages as it is part of the plot to get to the bottom of the mystery. You will find that the Partners in Crime" are more cunning and coordinated than they look.
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The Case of the Missing Lady
You will want to get the real skinny on this one

Agatha Christie's "The Case of the Missing Lady" adapted by Jonathan Hale.

The Scene opens with a moaning lady; hovering over her is a brute assistant Muldoon to what looks like a mad doctor and his Brunhilda looking assistant. To make matters worse there is the biggest hypodermic syringe ever conserved by man. It is half full of green glop.

Gabriel Stovington just returned from a two year stint in the artic and is getting the runaround while trying to find his fiancé. He is in need of a detective agency.

After the Great War Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and wife/ assistant Tuppence (Francesca Annis) buy the Blunt International Detective agency. And with out any background become detectives. By the time you get to this episode they are getting good at it (maybe).

The acting at first make you thing that you are sitting in the front row of a Bernard Shaw play.

Of course it is an obvious secret message. However being clever they figure that the message is some sort of rendezvous. It is to take part at the Three Arts Ball (costume ball) where one of the sleuths gets to dress up as Sherlock Homes and the other as Dr. Watson. One guess as to who gets to be homes.

After the ball is over, like most of the revelers, they go to xxx to have a drink an early breakfast. There they notice a man costumed as the local paper entering a private booth with a woman and coming out alone. We are way ahead of them on the plot

As with most of the "Partners in Crime" series we are fare ahead of them on the whom. The fun is to watch them figure out not only the whom but the other details. This story is a period piece of just after The Great War.

Made for TV and fairly transparent, this film still has all the ambiance of a BBC Agatha Christy production. It is a period piece and employs many major English actors. Detective Inspector Marriott (Arthur Cox) played the newspaper reporter Salcombe Hardy in Dorothy L. Sayers' Have His Carcase (1987).
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The Crackler

"I promise to pay"

After the Grate World War, Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and Tuppence (Francesca Annis) are out of work and form a partnership in a detective agency. They eventually marry and continue their detection business. On the surface they look like they are stumbling into the answer of each mystery they solve. But upon further observance they are cunning and resourceful.

In this "The Crackler" A story by Agatha Christie and screen play adaptation by Gerald Savory, Tommy and Tuppence are approached by inspector Marriott (Arthur Cox). He has a problem with funny money and needs someone with class to do a little snooping in the hoity-toity crowd to find the culprit(s). The inspector suspects it is a gang.

The partners in crime will be forced to go night clubbing and dancing. There are many suspects and they need to be narrowed down. They are aided by the third detective young Albert (Reece Dinsdale).

While they seem to be lead around by the nose we may be able to figure the plot but are the duo that naive or the cat's meow.
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The Man in the Mist

Do they have a ghost of a chance?

After the Grate World War, Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and Tuppence (Francesca Annis) are out of work and form a partnership in a detective agency. They eventually marry and continue their detection business. On the surface they look like they are stumbling into the answer of each mystery they solve. But upon further observance they are cunning and resourceful.

In this "The Man in the Mist" A story by Agatha Christie and screen play adaptation by Gerald Savory, Tommy and Tuppence are just finished with a mystery that they almost solved. They just happened to guess wrong.

Mean time Tommy is still in his disguise as Father Brown when a new mystery falls into their lap. A well known actress seems to be in some sort of trouble and asks Tommy for his help. Naturally it is too late.

This must have been a longer story because when it got pared down too many details are missing Also all the things that we can not stand in a murder mystery are found here; there are too many read herrings just for the viewer (Not observed by the Partners in Crime). And the last person suspected will be found out by sleuthing not present to the viewers.

Still it is fun to watch and speculate. Also you get to learn a little of the period.
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The Unbreakable Alibi

Now you see her, now you don't

Agatha Christie's "The Unbreakable Alibi" adapted by David Butler.

After the Great War Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) and wife/ assistant Tuppence (Francesca Annis) buy the Blunt International Detective agency. And along with Albert, of whom they picked up on their first attempts at sleuthing are now in business.

Unfortunately, due to lack of crimes, things are going so slow that Tommy is doing the crossword puzzles; Tuppence is learning to be the perfect secretary by practicing sitting on Tommie's knee. Albert is reading detective comics.

Finally a client Mr. Montgomery Jones with a unique problem. It turns out that he bet an Australian woman Unna Frek that he could see through any alibi; she says not. The bet is on if he wins they marry. If not She disappears from his life. Looks Like he is in need of a good detective agency which guarantees 24 hr results.

She give two stories of being in tow places at the same time and he must fined out which one is true and which one is false.

The "Partners in crime" can not turn down the challenge.

During the investigation, Mr. Blunt (Tommy) passes off Tuppence as Miss Robinson, his sister so every man they come across makes advances.

Investigation both stories they find both to be true. The 24 hours are just about up.

This is a great series that grows on you. The have it has that British series feel with background music. It is similar to the Dorothy L. Sayers "Peter Whimsy" series.

Not quite as good as Poirot but fine on its own terms.......2002-03-25

Thank goodness for Acorn Media, which has given us the Wimsey mysteries on tapes and DVD, the longer Poirots on DVD and the shorter ones on tape. With the arrival of "Partners in Crime" (AMP 5017), there lacks only the 12th boxed set of Poirots to more or less complete the Christie cycle as it exists on this label. (It is A&E who has begun to issue the Marple mysteries on DVD and a few of the more recent Poirots.)

The best thing about this "Tommy & Tuppence: Partners in Crime" series is the outrageous costumes Francesca Annis gets to wear, the most spectacular appearing in the last episode in this boxed set. Now this is featherlight Agatha Christie, so do not expect the complex kind of case that Wimsey always--and Poirot often--has to solve. The inside joke of the T&T novels is that in each one they emulate the techniques of a famous fictional detective. For example, in one episode Tommy (James Warwick) is dressed as Father Brown and the last mystery is described by the team as a real Edgar Wallace case.

"The Case of the Missing Lady" is probably the silliest of them all, and even Tuppence is required to do a comic turn that is frankly embarrassing. "The Unbreakable Alibi" has a solution that is utterly predictable, while the same could be said about the culprit in "The Man in the Mist." "The Crackler" is probably the most satisfactory.

Product Description

Contains the following episodes: The Case of the Missing Lady; The Breakable Alibi; The Crackler

DVD:

DVD

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