History Series / MissMarple1984

* AdaptationalNameChange: In "A Murder is Announced", the foreign housekeeper at Little Paddocks, who plays an important part in the story, is named Hannah. Her counterpart in the book is Mitzi.

** In the second season, [[spoiler:in "Murder at the Vicarage" the murderer, Ann Protheroe, kills herself before the police can arrest her. The suicide note states it was out of remorse. Miss Marple suspects it was partly to protect her accomplice Mr Redding]].

** In the original novel of ''Literature/TheMurderAtTheVicarage'', [[spoiler:the murderer, Ann Protheroe, and her accomplice are both arrested]]. In the show's "Murder at the Vicarage", [[spoiler:Ann dies by suicide before she can be arrested, leaving a note that expresses remorse. Miss Marple suspects this was partly an (unsuccessful) attempt to shield her accomplice]].

** In "Murder at the Vicarage", Ann Protheroe and Lawrence Redding, who are having an affair, independently confess to murdering Ann's husband Colonel Protheroe. It swiftly becomes clear that neither story can be true and each has confessed to protect the other, believing their lover risks arrest for killing the Colonel. After alibis establish that neither is a plausible suspect, they retract the confessions. [[spoiler:All of which is a double-bluff, as they'd worked together to kill the Colonel, using a plan far sneakier than anything in the confessions]].

** In the second season's [[spoiler:"Murder at the Vicarage", Ann Protheroe [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled dies by suicide]] before the police can arrest her. The suicide note claims she killed herself out of remorse, but Miss Marple suspects it was also an attempt to shield her accomplice, who was her lover]].

** In the second season's "Murder at the Vicarage", Ann Protheroe seems a very likely suspect for her loathed husband's murder. Her lover even makes a FalseConfession to protect her (and Ann, in turn, makes a false confession to protect him). It's not until Miss Marple is able to verify TheAlibi for them that the police investigation looks elsewhere. [[spoiler:Eventually, Miss Marple establishes that the alibis were clever misdirection - Ann was the killer after all]].

** In the made-for-TV movie [[spoiler:"The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side", the killer seemingly takes a lethal overdose as the police start to close in. Subverted at the end, when Miss Marple theorises that it was actually a MercyKill by her husband. He doesn't deny it; Miss Marple doesn't tell the police]].

** In the made-for-TV movie [[spoiler:"The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side", Ella reacts to Heather Badcock's murder by anonymously phoning the most likely suspects and claiming she knows they're guilty, hoping to start a blackmail scheme if they believe her. The killer, who recognises her voice, simply [[MedicationTampering poisons her]] instead]].

** In the made-for-TV movie [[spoiler:"They Do It with Mirrors", the typewritten note found with Christian Gulbrandsen's body is tampered with by his killer. It claims that there's a plot to poison Carrie Louise, which is an invention to throw the police off the track - Christian was killed because HeKnowsTooMuch, but about an entirely different crime]].

** In the made-for-TV movie [[spoiler:"A Caribbean Mystery", the third victim, Lucky Dyson, is murdered by drowning after the killer initially mistakes her for their intended victim, Molly Kendal, due to the dark. Once she's seen the killer, [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]]].

** In the made-for-TV movie [[spoiler:"4:50 From Paddington", Dr Quimper is secretly engaged to Emma Crackenthorpe, and hopes to inherit some of her family's wealth. However, he needs to kill his own estranged wife, who won't grant him a divorce, before he can marry Emma]].
** In the made-for-TV movie [[spoiler:"A Caribbean Mystery", Tim Kendal tries to murder his wife so that he can remarry for money. Major Palgrave believes he also killed at least two previous wives]].
** A variation in the made-for-TV movie [[spoiler:"The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side", with the final reveal that murderer Marina Gregg's overdose was administered by her husband, not [[SelfDisposingVillain accident or suicide]]. Miss Marple views it as a MercyKill and opts not to tell the police]].

* TotallyNotACriminalFront: In the second season's [[spoiler:"At Bertram's Hotel", the titular hotel, loved by Miss Marple in her youth, is now the front for Bess Sedgwick's criminal organisation]]. Unusually, the police are already closing in on it before Miss Marple gets involved.

* LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub: In the second season's [[spoiler:"At Bertram's Hotel", the titular hotel, loved by Miss Marple in her youth, is now the front for Bess Sedgwick's criminal organisation]]. Unusually, the police are already closing in on it before Miss Marple gets involved.

** In the second season's "At Bertram's Hotel", not only is the titular hotel, which Miss Marple loved in her youth, [[spoiler:now a well-established [[LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub front for a criminal gang]]]], but her stay coincides with the point that [[spoiler:the whole thing spirals into murder due to a particular combination of people]].

* ''Literature/{{Nemesis}}'' (#6-7)

** In the original novel ''Literature/{{Nemesis}}'', Michael Rafiel was jailed for Verity Hunt's murder, and is still in prison at the start of the story. In the series he was never convicted and is now living on the streets of London - and working as an advocate for the homeless.

* AgeLift: In the book of ''Literature/{{Nemesis}}'', Miss Barrow and Miss Cooke are said to be "middle-aged". In the adaptation they're bikers aged around thirty.

** Miss Marple's godson Lionel Peel is staying with her at the start of "Nemesis", having been thrown out by his wife. Lionel accompanies Miss Marple throughout the story and helps with the investigation. No such character appears in ''Literature/{{Nemesis}}'' or any of the other books.

** In "4:50 from Paddington", the titular murder on a train is witnessed by someone who just happens to he on her way to visit Miss Marple.

* AnimatedCreditsOpening: A very subtle version. The credits use paintings of idyllic English village life (initially almost entirely in black and white, with just a faint hint of colour), zooming in to show a hidden corpse and malicious expressions. It's only at the end that it's animated, with curtains moving and a garden seen through a gate shifting as the camera pans past.

* TheBluebeard: In "A Caribbean Mystery", Major Palgrave mentions two deaths where a wife's suicide seemed suspicious, and a photo connecting one person to both cases. The major believes the photo reveals a killer, but doesn't show anyone the photo before he's murdered and it's stolen. The initial assumption is that a murderous husband was killing his wives, but the Major's reference to [[UsefulNotes/TheBorgias Lucrezia Borgia]] makes Miss Marple wonder if the killer was a woman. [[spoiler:That turns out to be a RedHerring, as the killer is Tim Kendal, who's now planning to kill his latest wife Molly and then marry Esther Walters, a woman who stands to inherit a significant amount of money]].

* InternalReveal: In "A Caribbean Mystery", Jason Rafiel reports Miss Marple's theories to the Bermuda police, on the basis that they might pay more attention to him than to a little old lady. Inspector Weston studied under Marple's old friend Sir Henry Clithering, though - and when hears her name, he takes a minute to explain to Rafiel just who the little old lady is.

** A variation in the made-for-TV movie [[spoiler:"The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side", with the final reveal that murderer Marina Gregg's overdose was administered by her husband, not [[SelfDisposingVillain accident or suicide]]. Miss Marple views is as a MercyKill and opts not to tell the police]].

* MedicationTampering: In "A Murder is Announced", [[spoiler:Bunny is fatally poisoned after taking some of Letitia's painkillers, which have been tampered with]].

* ForgedMessage: In the second season story [[spoiler:"Sleeping Murder", the missing Helen Halliday sent two letters home after leaving her husband and vanishing. They were compared to samples of her handwriting, provided by her brother, and deemed to be genuine. Helen was actually murdered by her brother, and didn't write the letters. The handwriting matched because he'd also forged the document used for comparison]].

** In the books, Miss Marple's old friend Sir Henry Clithering is the godfather of Inspector Craddock. In the show, Sir Henry is broadly DemotedToExtra, only appearing in "The Body in the Library". When Craddock first appears in "A Murder is Announced", their connection is never mentioned (although Miss Marple still recognises Craddock for some reason, which seems to surprise him). Eventually, a {{Retcon}} makes Craddock [[RelatedInTheAdaptation Miss Marple's nephew]] instead.

* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In the original books, Inspector Craddock is the godson of Miss Marple's old friend Sir Henry Clithering. However, that's not mentioned when he first appears in "

* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: In the book ''Literature/FourFiftyFromPaddington", every adult male in Rutherford Hall hits on Lucy Eyelesbarrow. The adaptation confines this to her two main suitors, Cedric Crackenthorpe and Bryan Eastley.

** Miss Marple's old friend Sir Henry Clithering, introduced in "The Body in the Library", appears in some of the other novels, but plays no part in their adaptations. His connection to Inspector Craddock, his godson in the books, is also omitted.

* AlwaysMurder: As with [[Literature/MissMarple the original novels]], very story arc involves at least one murder (and [[NeverOneMurder usually more]]). In many cases, it's the murder that starts Miss Marple's investigation and gets the police involved. "The Moving Finger" and "At Bertram's Hotel" are notable exceptions, with other criminal activities getting Miss Marple's attention long before anyone dies. At the other end of the scale, "Nemesis" and "Sleeping Murder" are investigations into [[RevisitingTheColdCase unsolved murders from years ago]] [[spoiler:(although both lead to new killings when the murderers attempt to silence people they fear may [[HeKnowsTooMuch Know Too Much]])]].

Miss Marple is the only regular character, but there are a few recurring characters as well. Inspector Slack and Sergeant Lake get involved in multiple investigations, millionaire Jason Rafiel is key to two stories, and Dolly Bantry, Inspector Craddock and Miss Marple's nephew Raymond West appears more than once.

* MythologyGag: When Miss Marple gets a local taxi in the adaptations, she addresses the driver as Inch. This is a reference to the novels and short stories, in which the local taxi firm was originally owned by a Mr. Inch, but that it had changed hands and name several times since then. However, the locals always continued to refer to the taxi firm as "Inch's".

** In "Murder at the Vicarage", Slack thinks he's cleared and secured a murder scene St Mary Mead (Miss Marple's home village) when she steps out behind him and greets him by name. Slack doesn't even look round, but his expression and weary tone of voice make it ''very'' clear that he now knows how the case going to go.

** In "4:50 From Paddington", Slack calls off the initial search for a body after two days, deciding that this time Miss Marple's wrong, and pointedly tells her so. Not only does she locate the body he couldn't find, but Scotland Yard's Inspector Duckham, who's then sent to assist with the case, proves to be an old friend of hers. Duckham also ''insists'' that Miss Marple is involved at every step along the way. Slack's drained expression and "...right." signal just how much he's not looking forward to that.

** In the novel ''Literature/TheMirrorCrackdFromSideToSife'', [[spoiler:Marina Gregg's butler Giuseppe is killed after he [[BlackmailBackfire tries to blackmail]] Marina. In the show, he's not part of the blackmail plot and the police are only investigating two murders. However, he plays no further part in the story after gathering the household when the police arrive after the second murder]].

** While "The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side" is the only adaptation in which he appears, Marina Gregg's butler Giuseppe also survives, whereas the novel saw him [[spoiler: murdered by Marina for also trying to blackmail her. Due to his fate in the novel, however, he still [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse disappears from the episode with no explanation whatsoever.]]]]

** In "Nemesis", [[spoiler:Miss Marple herself is the bait. She waits in her room for the murderer, who believes Miss Marple's been poisoned, to visit snd confirm that she's succumbed. When they arrive to find Marple alive snd well, they're about to strangle her - until her hidden helpers step in and foil them]].