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TRAIN TOOTS
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Anything else, Mrs Christie?
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No. Thank you so much.
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Oh, thank you very much.
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Oh, here they are.
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Good morning. Good morning.
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Good morning.
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That's funny,
I have one of hers with me, too.
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Here.
Oh, yes, that's a good one.
10
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But I guessed the ending.
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This is her new one. She must be
worth a small fortune by now.
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If she's got anything left.
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SHE CHUCKLES
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How do you mean?
I hear she drinks like a fish.
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AGATHA LAUGHS
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WHISTLE BLOWS
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TRAIN TOOTS
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Agatha Christie recounted this story
in an interview in 1970,
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and I love what it tells us
about her.
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She was stupendously famous,
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yet she was able to slip
beneath the radar.
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They thought that she was a drinker
but in fact she was teetotal.
23
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And I think that this story
is key to understanding
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who Agatha Christie had become
in later life.
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At the height of her fame
and success,
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she revelled in being mysterious.
27
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The greatest mystery that Agatha
Christie ever created was herself.
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I've been fascinated by Agatha
Christie since I was a child
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and I think there's much more
to this enigmatic
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and elusive novelist
than meets the eye.
31
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She subverts what we think we want
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and gives us something
so much more interesting.
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I'm investigating the mysterious
case of Agatha Christie.
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How did this woman,
who grew up a Victorian,
35
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challenge the expectations
of her age?
36
00:02:19,163 --> 00:02:21,723
The doctor, the judge, the general -
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these people, they're just
not who you think they are.
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Let's go.
39
00:02:27,203 --> 00:02:32,483
How did her own dark psychology,
her anxieties and experiences,
40
00:02:32,483 --> 00:02:34,323
fuel her writing?
41
00:02:35,323 --> 00:02:39,803
What made this woman the
best-selling novelist in the world?
42
00:02:39,803 --> 00:02:44,563
In this series, I want to uncover
the true Agatha Christie.
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I want to explore how the changes
of her lifetime
44
00:02:48,403 --> 00:02:50,563
affected her writing.
45
00:02:50,563 --> 00:02:54,203
And I want to show you
that she was a pioneering,
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radical writer and woman.
47
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In the spring of 1930,
Agatha Christie travelled alone
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to visit ancient sites
in the Middle East.
49
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Aged 40, she was an internationally
successful novelist,
50
00:03:25,083 --> 00:03:30,563
but she was also emerging from
a tumultuous few years.
51
00:03:33,083 --> 00:03:38,523
The death of her mother and a
divorce from her unfaithful husband
52
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had led to a personal crisis
played out in public.
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The trip abroad was an escape.
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An opportunity to take stock and
rebuild far from press intrusion.
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She joined a dig being run
by a British couple -
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Leonard and Katharine Woolley.
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00:04:03,563 --> 00:04:07,563
Agatha knew that travelling
would help her to escape
58
00:04:07,563 --> 00:04:09,403
from her problems at home.
59
00:04:09,403 --> 00:04:14,083
What she didn't know was the
completely transformational effect
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00:04:14,083 --> 00:04:17,083
that the Arab world
would have on her life.
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00:04:18,083 --> 00:04:22,963
Partly this was the culture shock
of being a single woman from Devon
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in an environment like this.
63
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But on top of that
there was the actual activity
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the Woolleys were here for.
65
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There was something about
an archaeological dig
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that lit Agatha's fire.
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The Woolleys' dig was in Iraq.
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This one in Egypt is led by mother
and daughter team Elena Pischikova
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and Katherine Blakeney, who've been
working here for over 15 years.
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00:05:02,083 --> 00:05:04,483
Ah, this is your site? Yes.
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Hi, Lucy. I'm Elena.
Thank you. Thank you.
72
00:05:07,723 --> 00:05:10,083
Thank you for having me.
It's lovely to meet you.
73
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May I take a tour? Absolutely.
You want to see the tomb?
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I do want to see the tomb.
Thank you. Follow us.
75
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I've always wondered why Agatha,
the crime writer,
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was so drawn to archaeology,
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and I think I've come to
the right place to find out.
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I understand that you are
Agatha Christie fans.
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Am I right? Huge. Huge!
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LAUGHTER
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What draws you to Agatha?
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She's a brilliant writer.
Brilliant writer.
83
00:05:42,723 --> 00:05:46,083
And her approach to everything
is very archaeological.
84
00:05:46,083 --> 00:05:49,963
She treats every object
as an incredible find, actually.
85
00:05:49,963 --> 00:05:55,123
You like Agatha Christie
because she treats objects, clues,
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things as important in the way that
an archaeologist does? Exactly.
87
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Yes, she goes into this really
poetic description of a dagger
88
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being discovered and the glint
of gold and it's very romantic.
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00:06:05,843 --> 00:06:08,803
Every person, every clue,
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00:06:08,803 --> 00:06:12,083
absolutely everything
is celebrated by Christie,
91
00:06:12,083 --> 00:06:14,963
and that's what I call
an archaeological mind.
92
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And that's what I admire
about Christie.
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00:06:25,083 --> 00:06:29,483
But in the deserts of Iraq,
Agatha's passion for archaeology
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00:06:29,483 --> 00:06:33,323
would offer her more than
just literary inspiration.
95
00:06:37,563 --> 00:06:41,083
On one dig with the Woolleys
in 1930,
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she spotted a curious person.
97
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She described this person
as a thin, dark, young man.
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00:06:49,083 --> 00:06:52,083
He was quite quiet
but very perceptive.
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00:06:52,083 --> 00:06:57,083
Agatha's thin, dark young man
was called Max Mallowan.
100
00:07:01,563 --> 00:07:06,323
Max was a 25-year-old archaeologist
from England.
101
00:07:07,323 --> 00:07:11,323
Katharine Woolley called Max
the perfect assistant.
102
00:07:14,323 --> 00:07:17,803
And now she had the perfect job
for him -
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00:07:17,803 --> 00:07:22,843
chaperoning Agatha around
the sites of ancient Mesopotamia.
104
00:07:26,563 --> 00:07:30,083
As they set off on their road trip
across the desert,
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they must have seemed an odd couple.
106
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The young archaeologist
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and the famous novelist
14 years his senior.
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But on that trip, they got to know
each other and something clicked.
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00:07:56,803 --> 00:08:00,723
Of course, this wasn't at all
a romantic relationship.
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00:08:00,723 --> 00:08:04,803
There was the age gap
and they were so different.
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00:08:06,723 --> 00:08:08,803
But then, boom,
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just months after meeting her,
Max asked Agatha to be his wife.
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She was thrown into turmoil.
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Max was lovely.
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She'd been able to relax with him
and he was offering her a life
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00:08:23,563 --> 00:08:28,163
of travel and adventure
and his passion for archaeology.
117
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But her demons were never far away.
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Her first husband, Archie,
had betrayed her,
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leading to a painful divorce.
120
00:08:39,083 --> 00:08:41,603
The memories were still raw.
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00:08:42,603 --> 00:08:46,403
Something of her feelings
enters into her writing.
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Here's Murder In Mesopotamia.
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This book draws heavily
on her experience of archaeology
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in the Arab world,
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but I think she also gives us
a glimpse into her own heart.
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She has one character,
who's lost her husband, say this...
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"Lots of people wanted to marry me
128
00:09:07,563 --> 00:09:10,483
"but I always refused.
129
00:09:10,483 --> 00:09:13,323
"I'd had too bad a shock.
130
00:09:13,323 --> 00:09:19,083
"I didn't feel I could ever
trust anyone again."
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00:09:30,803 --> 00:09:34,083
It took Agatha months
to make up her mind
132
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but, at last, her feelings
for Max won out,
133
00:09:38,083 --> 00:09:43,083
and in September 1930,
just six months after they'd met,
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they got married.
135
00:09:49,083 --> 00:09:51,403
This is a letter
that she wrote to him
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on Christmas Eve of that same year.
I love this letter.
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Christmas Eve had been the date
of Agatha's first wedding to Archie,
138
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so the anniversary of that,
as she says here,
139
00:10:03,483 --> 00:10:08,203
"It's always been a sad day for me
but not this year.
140
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"I feel so happy and safe and loved.
141
00:10:13,803 --> 00:10:16,803
"Bless you, my darling,
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00:10:16,803 --> 00:10:22,403
"for all that you've done for me
and given back to me."
143
00:10:25,803 --> 00:10:31,083
This new-found happiness had a
profound effect on Agatha's work
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00:10:31,083 --> 00:10:34,803
and ushered in a golden age
for her writing.
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In the next nine years,
she would go on to write
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00:10:38,323 --> 00:10:41,803
an incredible 17 full-length novels.
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And in that time, every year,
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the happy couple returned
to digs abroad.
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00:11:01,483 --> 00:11:05,723
Agatha and Max's shared passion
for archaeology
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00:11:05,723 --> 00:11:08,283
was never far from her thoughts.
151
00:11:08,283 --> 00:11:12,083
In one book, she even has
the great Poirot
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refer back to that case
he cracked in Mesopotamia
153
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and she has him draw a parallel
between the work
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00:11:18,323 --> 00:11:21,563
of the archaeologist
and the work of the detective.
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They do the same thing, he says.
156
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"You take away the loose earth,
157
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"you scrape here and there
with a knife,
158
00:11:29,843 --> 00:11:34,083
"removing the extraneous matter
so that we can see the truth,
159
00:11:34,083 --> 00:11:37,323
"the naked, shining truth."
160
00:11:38,563 --> 00:11:42,083
But this book wasn't set
on an archaeological dig.
161
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It wasn't even set in Iraq.
162
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It's the story of
a Death On The Nile.
163
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In 1931, Agatha and Max
went to Egypt.
164
00:11:57,803 --> 00:12:00,803
They became friends
with Howard Carter
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00:12:00,803 --> 00:12:05,083
and visited the tomb of Tutankhamun
he'd discovered.
166
00:12:10,083 --> 00:12:13,563
And they came here
to the Temple of Karnak...
167
00:12:16,563 --> 00:12:20,803
..which Agatha described as one
of the great beauties of Egypt.
168
00:12:27,083 --> 00:12:31,563
In the early 1930s, Egypt had
become a popular destination
169
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for British travellers.
170
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Tourists like Agatha
flocked to the ancient ruins,
171
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which meant Egypt offered her the
perfect setting for her new book -
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one she knew would resonate
with her readers.
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In Death On The Nile,
Agatha would develop
174
00:12:50,723 --> 00:12:54,963
one of her favourite plot devices -
the closed circle.
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You know, when she seals all the
suspects into a particular place.
176
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It has to be one of them.
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00:13:00,163 --> 00:13:03,563
She used this way
back in her first book,
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The Mysterious Affair At Styles,
when it had been the country house.
179
00:13:07,803 --> 00:13:12,083
In Murder On The Orient Express,
it had been the train.
180
00:13:12,083 --> 00:13:16,483
And now she'd pick a setting
that to most of her readers
181
00:13:16,483 --> 00:13:20,163
would have seemed exotic
and glamorous.
182
00:13:26,803 --> 00:13:31,803
This time, her closed circle would
be a luxurious paddle steamer
183
00:13:31,803 --> 00:13:33,563
on the Nile.
184
00:13:35,563 --> 00:13:40,243
Agatha and Max boarded
this very boat in 1933.
185
00:13:41,243 --> 00:13:47,723
The SS Sudan was built in 1885
for Egypt's royal family
186
00:13:47,723 --> 00:13:52,083
and later converted into
a cruise ship for wealthy tourists.
187
00:13:53,083 --> 00:13:58,083
On the surface, Death On The Nile
is classic Christie.
188
00:13:58,083 --> 00:14:01,563
A rich cast of characters
is trapped on the boat
189
00:14:01,563 --> 00:14:03,403
and, when a murder occurs,
190
00:14:03,403 --> 00:14:06,323
Hercule Poirot is on board
to solve the case.
191
00:14:07,323 --> 00:14:09,563
But it's more than that.
192
00:14:09,563 --> 00:14:15,163
In this book, Agatha uses her own
observations of love, marriage
193
00:14:15,163 --> 00:14:18,323
and betrayal as the engine
of the story.
194
00:14:24,563 --> 00:14:28,083
I've been reading the book again
and I've noticed it's also got
195
00:14:28,083 --> 00:14:33,083
another one of Agatha's favourite
devices in it - the hidden couple.
196
00:14:34,523 --> 00:14:36,163
To explain how this works,
197
00:14:36,163 --> 00:14:38,523
I'm going to have to do
a bit of plot spoiling.
198
00:14:38,523 --> 00:14:42,563
The story starts
with Jackie and Simon,
199
00:14:42,563 --> 00:14:45,083
who are in love.
200
00:14:45,083 --> 00:14:47,283
But they're very poor.
201
00:14:47,283 --> 00:14:49,083
Jackie has a plan, though.
202
00:14:49,083 --> 00:14:52,323
She asks her friend Linnet,
a rich American,
203
00:14:52,323 --> 00:14:54,323
to give Simon a job.
204
00:14:54,323 --> 00:14:56,483
Linnet says, "Absolutely!"
205
00:14:56,483 --> 00:14:58,803
Everything is going very well.
206
00:14:58,803 --> 00:15:01,323
Fast-forward three months...
207
00:15:01,323 --> 00:15:03,803
..and Simon, the cad,
208
00:15:03,803 --> 00:15:09,083
he leaves Jackie and goes off
with rich Linnet instead.
209
00:15:09,083 --> 00:15:12,963
They get married.
They go on their honeymoon to Egypt.
210
00:15:12,963 --> 00:15:17,563
But who should turn up
like the ghost at the feast?
211
00:15:17,563 --> 00:15:22,763
It's the jilted, troubled Jackie,
who follows in their footsteps.
212
00:15:22,763 --> 00:15:26,323
Everywhere they go,
she seems to be there, too.
213
00:15:26,323 --> 00:15:29,523
There's definitely
going to be trouble.
214
00:15:36,243 --> 00:15:38,803
Linnet asks for Poirot's help
215
00:15:38,803 --> 00:15:43,083
and he agrees to talk to Jackie
to tell her to back off.
216
00:15:44,323 --> 00:15:47,323
"Mademoiselle",
Poirot says to Jackie.
217
00:15:47,323 --> 00:15:49,203
"I speak as a friend.
218
00:15:49,203 --> 00:15:51,083
"Give up the past.
219
00:15:51,083 --> 00:15:52,923
"Turn to the future.
220
00:15:52,923 --> 00:15:54,803
"What's done is done.
221
00:15:54,803 --> 00:15:57,643
"Bitterness will not undo it.
222
00:15:57,643 --> 00:16:01,723
"You are young, you have brains -
the world is before you."
223
00:16:01,723 --> 00:16:06,563
Poirot might almost be
talking to...
224
00:16:06,563 --> 00:16:08,803
..a younger Agatha here
225
00:16:08,803 --> 00:16:13,083
after she'd been betrayed
by her first husband, Archie,
226
00:16:13,083 --> 00:16:16,723
and bitterness had entered
her heart.
227
00:16:16,723 --> 00:16:19,323
Poirot goes on to say to Jackie...
228
00:16:19,323 --> 00:16:23,323
"Do not open your heart to evil
229
00:16:23,323 --> 00:16:27,563
"because if you do,
evil will come."
230
00:16:30,563 --> 00:16:34,763
But, this being Christie,
evil is never far away.
231
00:16:34,763 --> 00:16:36,563
GUNSHOT
232
00:16:36,563 --> 00:16:39,563
Linnet is murdered in her sleep.
233
00:16:41,083 --> 00:16:46,563
Jackie is the obvious suspect,
but she has a watertight alibi.
234
00:16:46,563 --> 00:16:52,363
So does Simon, Linnet's husband,
who stands to inherit her fortune.
235
00:16:53,363 --> 00:16:58,243
Finally, though, Poirot is able
to unmask the villain.
236
00:17:03,483 --> 00:17:05,803
Or villains,
237
00:17:05,803 --> 00:17:12,403
because, secretly, Simon and Jackie
have been in cahoots all along.
238
00:17:12,403 --> 00:17:15,563
Simon had only pretended
to fall in love with Linnet.
239
00:17:15,563 --> 00:17:18,083
He married her so that
when she was dead,
240
00:17:18,083 --> 00:17:21,323
he could inherit the money
and share it with Jackie.
241
00:17:22,323 --> 00:17:27,083
Agatha is so clever at the way
she misdirects us.
242
00:17:27,083 --> 00:17:32,883
She makes us feel sympathy for poor,
lonely Jackie, jilted at the altar.
243
00:17:32,883 --> 00:17:35,523
She makes us feel sympathy
for Simon,
244
00:17:35,523 --> 00:17:38,363
whose lovely young wife
has been killed,
245
00:17:38,363 --> 00:17:43,043
when all along, these two
have been the villains.
246
00:17:45,803 --> 00:17:48,083
Death On The Nile has it all -
247
00:17:48,083 --> 00:17:52,963
the glamorous romantic setting,
the stunning plot twist.
248
00:17:52,963 --> 00:17:57,083
But I think its success
is down to the personal experience
249
00:17:57,083 --> 00:18:01,083
Agatha brings to it,
which resonates through the novel.
250
00:18:02,563 --> 00:18:06,483
It's great to think of Agatha
walking around that boat,
251
00:18:06,483 --> 00:18:10,083
checking it out,
making sure the plot worked.
252
00:18:10,083 --> 00:18:14,563
But on top of that,
it's a bit sad to think of her
253
00:18:14,563 --> 00:18:16,883
perhaps thinking about her own past.
254
00:18:16,883 --> 00:18:22,083
That story definitely has the
emotional charge that it carries...
255
00:18:23,083 --> 00:18:26,083
..because of her own experience
of betrayal...
256
00:18:27,083 --> 00:18:31,483
..and of the destructive power
of romantic love.
257
00:18:35,563 --> 00:18:41,323
Agatha and Max loved Egypt and Iraq,
but they made their home in England.
258
00:18:44,323 --> 00:18:46,083
BELL CHIMES
259
00:18:47,563 --> 00:18:52,563
Its towns and villages
shaped so many of her novels.
260
00:18:52,563 --> 00:18:56,323
For Agatha, the county of Devon
in particular
261
00:18:56,323 --> 00:18:58,803
exerted a gravitational pull.
262
00:19:00,323 --> 00:19:04,563
Agatha still owned
her old family home of Ashfield
263
00:19:04,563 --> 00:19:09,083
but, somehow, going back didn't
feel right for her and Max.
264
00:19:09,083 --> 00:19:12,203
It was too bound up
in the trauma of her youth,
265
00:19:12,203 --> 00:19:16,483
the death of her father,
the family's financial uncertainty
266
00:19:16,483 --> 00:19:19,083
and the oppressive grief
of her mother.
267
00:19:20,923 --> 00:19:26,563
But then Agatha became aware of
a house for sale on the River Dart.
268
00:19:26,563 --> 00:19:30,323
Here's the advert
in Country Life magazine.
269
00:19:30,323 --> 00:19:31,803
It was huge.
270
00:19:31,803 --> 00:19:36,803
It has stabling for seven horses,
a billiard room,
271
00:19:36,803 --> 00:19:40,083
ten bedrooms,
six more bedrooms for staff,
272
00:19:40,083 --> 00:19:43,083
and it was advertised as being
"eminently suitable
273
00:19:43,083 --> 00:19:45,323
"as a first-class hotel."
274
00:19:45,323 --> 00:19:47,083
BELL RINGS
275
00:19:49,563 --> 00:19:51,843
May I come on? Please do.
276
00:19:52,843 --> 00:19:56,323
Thank you. Shall I go down there?
Yes, please. Lovely.
277
00:19:59,083 --> 00:20:02,403
It was a sign of the times.
278
00:20:02,403 --> 00:20:05,563
In the interwar years,
the English country house
279
00:20:05,563 --> 00:20:09,883
that had dominated so many of
Agatha's novels was in decline.
280
00:20:09,883 --> 00:20:15,723
Now they were more likely to
become hotels or boarding houses.
281
00:20:15,723 --> 00:20:20,083
Only a best-selling author could
afford to buy a house like this
282
00:20:20,083 --> 00:20:21,803
to live in it.
283
00:20:26,803 --> 00:20:32,083
I love the idea of Max and Agatha
arriving here at Greenway
284
00:20:32,083 --> 00:20:36,323
for the first time, getting
their first glimpse of the house.
285
00:20:38,803 --> 00:20:43,363
In the end, it was Max who said,
"Why don't you buy it?"
286
00:20:43,363 --> 00:20:48,003
Agatha knew that to do that
she'd have to sell Ashfield.
287
00:20:48,003 --> 00:20:52,723
But do you know what?
She didn't need Ashfield any more.
288
00:20:52,723 --> 00:20:56,083
Now she was happily married,
she could let go of the past,
289
00:20:56,083 --> 00:21:01,123
she could embrace the future,
so she got out her chequebook.
290
00:21:11,563 --> 00:21:16,083
Agatha and Max were putting down
their own roots in Devon
291
00:21:16,083 --> 00:21:20,083
and Agatha's writing that year
was directly inspired
292
00:21:20,083 --> 00:21:22,723
by the landscape
that surrounded them.
293
00:21:27,563 --> 00:21:31,083
In 1938, the year Agatha
bought Greenway,
294
00:21:31,083 --> 00:21:35,483
she wrote a new story
set on an island
295
00:21:35,483 --> 00:21:40,083
and the island was crowned with a
beautiful white house, she wrote.
296
00:21:40,083 --> 00:21:43,323
Now, this story is clearly
set in Devon.
297
00:21:43,323 --> 00:21:45,563
Plymouth is mentioned, so is Exeter.
298
00:21:45,563 --> 00:21:49,563
But could the island itself
be a real place, too?
299
00:21:49,563 --> 00:21:51,403
Well, here's a clue.
300
00:21:51,403 --> 00:21:54,963
That same year, she wrote another
story set on an island.
301
00:21:54,963 --> 00:21:58,163
This is her notebook, where
she was planning it all out,
302
00:21:58,163 --> 00:21:59,763
and she's written here,
303
00:21:59,763 --> 00:22:03,603
"Scene - hotel on island, Bigbury."
304
00:22:03,603 --> 00:22:06,563
Now, Bigbury is definitely
a real place.
305
00:22:06,563 --> 00:22:09,803
It's only 20 miles away from here.
306
00:22:09,803 --> 00:22:11,323
There it is.
307
00:22:11,323 --> 00:22:13,563
And guess what?
308
00:22:13,563 --> 00:22:16,083
Right by Bigbury,
309
00:22:16,083 --> 00:22:18,083
yes, there is an island.
310
00:22:22,803 --> 00:22:27,883
Agatha had stayed at
Burgh Island Hotel in the 1930s.
311
00:22:29,563 --> 00:22:33,803
At high tide, the sea cuts it off
from the mainland.
312
00:22:36,203 --> 00:22:38,323
ENGINE STARTS
313
00:22:38,323 --> 00:22:42,083
The only way across
is by sea tractor.
314
00:22:48,563 --> 00:22:50,723
That's it. We're in the water now.
315
00:22:54,083 --> 00:22:58,083
Its unique location would spark
Agatha's imagination.
316
00:23:11,323 --> 00:23:14,083
We've crossed the sea
and we've arrived
317
00:23:14,083 --> 00:23:17,443
at this mysterious, isolated island.
318
00:23:49,563 --> 00:23:54,483
Just as in Agatha's day,
Burgh Island is fun and glamorous.
319
00:24:04,323 --> 00:24:07,563
But one of her most famous books
made this setting
320
00:24:07,563 --> 00:24:11,763
a much more disturbing
and menacing place.
321
00:24:17,083 --> 00:24:20,083
A group of strangers,
they don't know each other,
322
00:24:20,083 --> 00:24:22,643
have been brought to an island.
323
00:24:22,643 --> 00:24:27,563
They've been invited to stay
in a mysterious private house
324
00:24:27,563 --> 00:24:30,923
with a mysterious owner
who isn't even there.
325
00:24:30,923 --> 00:24:34,483
And in Agatha's version
of Burgh Island,
326
00:24:34,483 --> 00:24:38,083
there's no sea tractor,
there's no causeway,
327
00:24:38,083 --> 00:24:40,323
there's no way of getting off
the island.
328
00:24:40,323 --> 00:24:42,563
There's just the treacherous sea.
329
00:24:44,043 --> 00:24:47,963
It's the classic Christie
closed circle.
330
00:24:47,963 --> 00:24:50,563
But this time there's no Poirot.
331
00:24:50,563 --> 00:24:55,323
There's nobody on the island at all
who represents the force of good.
332
00:24:56,563 --> 00:24:58,963
Be very afraid.
333
00:25:09,323 --> 00:25:13,523
As the story unfolds,
each of the ten guests dies.
334
00:25:15,083 --> 00:25:18,083
And then there were none,
as the title goes.
335
00:25:22,243 --> 00:25:25,563
Except that wasn't
the original title.
336
00:25:25,563 --> 00:25:28,323
When the book was first
published in Britain,
337
00:25:28,323 --> 00:25:33,843
the title notoriously contained
a racial slur - the N-word.
338
00:25:35,203 --> 00:25:37,323
Obviously, this is utterly
offensive.
339
00:25:37,323 --> 00:25:41,163
Why would anyone want to read
this book today?
340
00:25:42,803 --> 00:25:46,563
The offensive title
came from a nursery rhyme.
341
00:25:46,563 --> 00:25:49,563
It was also found
in blackface minstrel acts -
342
00:25:49,563 --> 00:25:51,723
racist theatrical performances.
343
00:25:53,083 --> 00:25:57,283
Frankie Bailey has studied race
and crime fiction.
344
00:25:57,283 --> 00:25:59,563
What would you say if I asked you
345
00:25:59,563 --> 00:26:02,723
if you liked and admired
Agatha Christie?
346
00:26:02,723 --> 00:26:05,603
I admire her as a writer.
347
00:26:05,603 --> 00:26:09,283
She's a master of that
three act construction.
348
00:26:09,283 --> 00:26:13,803
She's very efficient in terms of
how she goes through the book,
349
00:26:13,803 --> 00:26:15,683
building the suspense,
350
00:26:15,683 --> 00:26:18,723
alerting the reader that
something bad is going to happen
351
00:26:18,723 --> 00:26:20,603
but you don't know quite when.
352
00:26:20,603 --> 00:26:23,563
And in this case, she's telling us
that they're going to die
353
00:26:23,563 --> 00:26:25,763
one at a time,
as in a serial killer movie.
354
00:26:25,763 --> 00:26:28,123
She's the queen of suspense
in that respect.
355
00:26:28,123 --> 00:26:33,323
I think she does that as well as,
or even better in some cases,
356
00:26:33,323 --> 00:26:36,803
as Alfred Hitchcock, who is my
favourite director of all time.
357
00:26:36,803 --> 00:26:40,323
The offensive title
wasn't on the front cover
358
00:26:40,323 --> 00:26:43,563
of the first American edition,
was it? No.
359
00:26:43,563 --> 00:26:48,083
Which is interesting because
we get the same nursery rhymes
360
00:26:48,083 --> 00:26:52,643
but I think by 1939, we've got
Roosevelt in the White House,
361
00:26:52,643 --> 00:26:54,563
things are beginning to improve
362
00:26:54,563 --> 00:26:56,803
and you don't want to
put that out there.
363
00:26:56,803 --> 00:26:59,723
If you offend people and have
people boycotting your book,
364
00:26:59,723 --> 00:27:01,803
then it's not going to do well.
Yeah.
365
00:27:01,803 --> 00:27:03,963
So the publishers in America
thought,
366
00:27:03,963 --> 00:27:06,083
"This racial slur
will not sell here."
367
00:27:06,083 --> 00:27:08,523
It was unnecessary
to what they wanted to do.
368
00:27:10,323 --> 00:27:15,803
In the USA, another title was used
for the book and a film adaptation.
369
00:27:15,803 --> 00:27:20,083
It was also a racial slur -
against Native Americans.
370
00:27:21,563 --> 00:27:25,083
Meanwhile, almost unbelievably,
in Britain,
371
00:27:25,083 --> 00:27:29,523
the N-word title was still in use
until 1986.
372
00:27:29,523 --> 00:27:33,803
Now, some people would say
that this kind of offensive title
373
00:27:33,803 --> 00:27:36,883
is typical of her class and time.
374
00:27:36,883 --> 00:27:40,963
But that's not a get out of jail free
card, is it? No, it's not.
375
00:27:40,963 --> 00:27:42,563
It is disappointing.
376
00:27:42,563 --> 00:27:45,803
But Agatha Christie
is a woman coming out
377
00:27:45,803 --> 00:27:47,803
of that colonial background.
378
00:27:47,803 --> 00:27:51,083
She's well read, well educated,
379
00:27:51,083 --> 00:27:53,963
and she's coming out
of a fairly elite class.
380
00:27:53,963 --> 00:27:58,803
She's not writing to change
the narrative,
381
00:27:58,803 --> 00:28:02,083
she's writing so that she's ready
for that white audience,
382
00:28:02,083 --> 00:28:04,483
that white European,
white American audience,
383
00:28:04,483 --> 00:28:10,163
and she is picking up where they are
and not advancing that discussion.
384
00:28:10,163 --> 00:28:13,563
Which is why, as a historian,
I think we have to look at this stuff
385
00:28:13,563 --> 00:28:17,323
and appreciate that it was there
and to understand how potent it was.
386
00:28:17,323 --> 00:28:20,563
Exactly. We need to understand it
in context,
387
00:28:20,563 --> 00:28:23,803
knowing that Agatha Christie
was not alone
388
00:28:23,803 --> 00:28:25,563
in terms of what she was doing.
389
00:28:25,563 --> 00:28:30,083
Writers in the United States
and elsewhere, here in England,
390
00:28:30,083 --> 00:28:34,563
everyone was writing in this vein
and using this kind of language.
391
00:28:34,563 --> 00:28:36,083
That's interesting.
392
00:28:36,083 --> 00:28:39,803
You find it possible to say
she's a good writer,
393
00:28:39,803 --> 00:28:42,803
there are some things that aren't
acceptable that she wrote?
394
00:28:42,803 --> 00:28:45,243
Because if I rule her out,
I would be ruling out
395
00:28:45,243 --> 00:28:47,443
a lot of other writers
during that period.
396
00:28:47,443 --> 00:28:50,243
There are things you can learn
from reading those writers.
397
00:28:50,243 --> 00:28:54,163
Frankie, you're saying this is
complicated. It is complicated.
398
00:28:54,163 --> 00:28:58,203
We can't just put people into
these boxes of good and bad. Right.
399
00:29:10,283 --> 00:29:14,563
And Then There Were None is said
to be the best-selling mystery novel
400
00:29:14,563 --> 00:29:16,523
of all time.
401
00:29:17,523 --> 00:29:20,563
And it was published just weeks
after Agatha and Max
402
00:29:20,563 --> 00:29:25,723
heard an announcement on the radio
in the kitchen at Greenway.
403
00:29:27,363 --> 00:29:29,963
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN: I have to
tell you now,
404
00:29:29,963 --> 00:29:33,083
this country is at war with Germany.
405
00:29:37,523 --> 00:29:41,083
Having survived one world war,
the prospect of another one
406
00:29:41,083 --> 00:29:43,083
must have appalled Agatha,
407
00:29:43,083 --> 00:29:47,403
and it threatened to upend
her new-found security.
408
00:29:47,403 --> 00:29:52,403
In September 1940, the blitz
on British cities began.
409
00:29:55,403 --> 00:29:59,083
Children were being evacuated
from places like London
410
00:29:59,083 --> 00:30:01,083
to the safety of the countryside,
411
00:30:01,083 --> 00:30:04,723
but Agatha was going in
the opposite direction.
412
00:30:04,723 --> 00:30:10,403
She even rented out her Devon house,
Greenway, to be a home for evacuees.
413
00:30:10,403 --> 00:30:14,083
And the reason she came here
to Blitz London
414
00:30:14,083 --> 00:30:17,083
was to be with her beloved Max.
415
00:30:22,563 --> 00:30:25,163
With his archaeological career
on hold,
416
00:30:25,163 --> 00:30:28,563
Max had taken a desk job
with the RAF.
417
00:30:32,323 --> 00:30:37,403
And in March 1941,
seven months into the Blitz,
418
00:30:37,403 --> 00:30:40,323
which killed almost 20,000 people
in London,
419
00:30:40,323 --> 00:30:45,083
Agatha moved with Max to this
ultra modernist block of flats
420
00:30:45,083 --> 00:30:46,803
in Hampstead.
421
00:30:50,563 --> 00:30:54,563
These were dangerous times
and this was a dangerous street.
422
00:30:54,563 --> 00:30:58,323
Before Agatha moved in,
a bomb blew out the glass
423
00:30:58,323 --> 00:31:00,323
of all the windows of this building.
424
00:31:00,323 --> 00:31:05,563
And over the eight months following,
38 bombs fell on this neighbourhood.
425
00:31:06,563 --> 00:31:11,563
But Agatha herself wasn't
particularly fazed by this.
426
00:31:11,563 --> 00:31:15,083
She tells us that she never bothered
to go down to the shelter,
427
00:31:15,083 --> 00:31:20,083
and if she was woken in the night
by the sound of bombs falling,
428
00:31:20,083 --> 00:31:24,083
she'd just say to herself,
"Oh, dear, there they are again,"
429
00:31:24,083 --> 00:31:27,563
and she'd turn over
and she'd go back to sleep.
430
00:31:34,723 --> 00:31:39,163
Was this genuine calm
in the face of mortal peril
431
00:31:39,163 --> 00:31:43,083
or a reflection of Agatha's
state of mind?
432
00:31:43,083 --> 00:31:48,203
The bombs might not have bothered
Agatha, but something else was up.
433
00:31:48,203 --> 00:31:54,083
In February 1942, Max volunteered
for a job in Cairo.
434
00:31:54,083 --> 00:31:58,563
He was going back to Egypt,
where they'd been so happy together,
435
00:31:58,563 --> 00:32:01,083
but this time he was going alone.
436
00:32:03,323 --> 00:32:07,083
These are letters
Agatha wrote to Max
437
00:32:07,083 --> 00:32:11,323
and I think they show
evidence of...
438
00:32:11,323 --> 00:32:15,083
..deteriorating mental health.
439
00:32:15,083 --> 00:32:19,323
She has dreams
that he's abandoned her.
440
00:32:19,323 --> 00:32:20,883
Listen to this.
441
00:32:20,883 --> 00:32:25,803
"They told me you no longer cared
or wanted me and had gone away.
442
00:32:25,803 --> 00:32:28,083
"I woke up in a panic."
443
00:32:28,083 --> 00:32:33,283
And then, again,
"I feel so afraid sometimes.
444
00:32:33,283 --> 00:32:40,043
"Write often because I need cheering
when there are no sunny days."
445
00:32:41,043 --> 00:32:44,323
Now, Agatha had come to London
to be with Max
446
00:32:44,323 --> 00:32:47,083
but he'd gone off to North Africa.
447
00:32:47,083 --> 00:32:50,083
He was living there
in a sunny climate
448
00:32:50,083 --> 00:32:53,083
with lots of other British people
serving in the Forces,
449
00:32:53,083 --> 00:32:55,323
all of them away
from their families,
450
00:32:55,323 --> 00:32:57,563
some of them women his own age.
451
00:32:57,563 --> 00:33:03,083
If Agatha still had any insecurities
about being older
452
00:33:03,083 --> 00:33:06,083
or about what had happened
in her first marriage,
453
00:33:06,083 --> 00:33:09,083
they must have come flooding back.
454
00:33:11,563 --> 00:33:13,723
Lonely and jealous,
455
00:33:13,723 --> 00:33:17,403
the clouds of her past turmoil
were gathering again,
456
00:33:17,403 --> 00:33:21,523
so to keep them at bay, Agatha
poured herself into her work.
457
00:33:22,803 --> 00:33:26,083
In the war years,
she wrote 16 novels,
458
00:33:26,083 --> 00:33:30,323
seven collections of short stories
and a play.
459
00:33:33,163 --> 00:33:36,563
Agatha tells us that she wrote
one of these wartime books
460
00:33:36,563 --> 00:33:38,803
in just three days.
461
00:33:38,803 --> 00:33:42,083
She describes producing it
in a white heat.
462
00:33:42,083 --> 00:33:44,803
She didn't dare leave it
and go and do anything else.
463
00:33:44,803 --> 00:33:49,083
She says, "I had to go on with
the book until I'd finished it."
464
00:33:49,083 --> 00:33:52,323
When she finally got to the end,
she collapsed.
465
00:33:52,323 --> 00:33:54,803
She slept for 24 hours.
466
00:33:56,083 --> 00:34:00,323
And she later said that this book
was the one book
467
00:34:00,323 --> 00:34:02,403
that had satisfied her completely.
468
00:34:02,403 --> 00:34:06,803
She called it the book
she'd always wanted to write.
469
00:34:10,083 --> 00:34:12,323
It wasn't a detective novel at all
470
00:34:12,323 --> 00:34:15,723
and it didn't even have
Agatha's name on the cover.
471
00:34:15,723 --> 00:34:19,523
Written under her pseudonym
Mary Westmacott,
472
00:34:19,523 --> 00:34:22,803
Absent In The Spring
is in part about a woman
473
00:34:22,803 --> 00:34:26,083
who comes to realise
that her marriage is a lie,
474
00:34:26,083 --> 00:34:29,083
that her husband loves
another woman.
475
00:34:30,323 --> 00:34:34,563
" 'Rodney and I have been perfectly
contented with one another.'
476
00:34:34,563 --> 00:34:38,083
" 'Of course, you always were
as cold as a fish, Joan.
477
00:34:38,083 --> 00:34:40,523
" 'But I should have said
that husband of yours
478
00:34:40,523 --> 00:34:42,283
" 'had quite a roving eye.'
479
00:34:42,283 --> 00:34:46,363
" 'Really, Blanche?'
Joan flushed angrily.
480
00:34:46,363 --> 00:34:49,323
" 'A roving eye, indeed? Rodney?'
481
00:34:50,443 --> 00:34:52,963
"And suddenly, discordantly,
482
00:34:52,963 --> 00:34:56,563
"a thought slipped
and flashed sideways
483
00:34:56,563 --> 00:34:59,083
"across the panorama
of Joan's mind."
484
00:35:01,323 --> 00:35:05,803
In 1943, no-one knew
that Mary Westmacott
485
00:35:05,803 --> 00:35:07,883
was really Agatha Christie.
486
00:35:07,883 --> 00:35:12,563
And I think Agatha was revelling
in the freedom
487
00:35:12,563 --> 00:35:16,323
this gave her,
the freedom to be off brand.
488
00:35:16,323 --> 00:35:20,883
These Westmacott books really are
her most personal,
489
00:35:20,883 --> 00:35:22,803
her most intense works.
490
00:35:24,083 --> 00:35:28,323
I believe that when she'd started
to write them years earlier,
491
00:35:28,323 --> 00:35:33,083
it had almost been under doctor's
orders, as a kind of therapy,
492
00:35:33,083 --> 00:35:36,723
because she'd been struggling
with her mental health.
493
00:35:36,723 --> 00:35:38,963
And by the time we get to the war,
494
00:35:38,963 --> 00:35:41,563
I think that was happening
once again.
495
00:35:41,563 --> 00:35:45,963
Max was away,
she was lacking support,
496
00:35:45,963 --> 00:35:48,563
she was in a bad place emotionally.
497
00:35:50,323 --> 00:35:53,563
But when she was being
Mary Westmacott,
498
00:35:53,563 --> 00:35:56,443
she was writing herself better.
499
00:36:01,803 --> 00:36:05,803
In the war years, a gloomy Agatha
wrote another book -
500
00:36:05,803 --> 00:36:09,323
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case.
501
00:36:10,563 --> 00:36:14,563
But instead of publishing it,
she locked it away.
502
00:36:14,563 --> 00:36:19,083
It would provide money for her
family in case, as she said,
503
00:36:19,083 --> 00:36:21,163
she was killed in the raids.
504
00:36:22,163 --> 00:36:24,723
But I don't think this
was just about Agatha
505
00:36:24,723 --> 00:36:26,803
and herself and her family.
506
00:36:26,803 --> 00:36:30,403
I think she also wanted Poirot,
507
00:36:30,403 --> 00:36:32,723
the character who had
made her famous,
508
00:36:32,723 --> 00:36:36,563
to have a perfectly orchestrated
final bow,
509
00:36:36,563 --> 00:36:42,003
even if it might take place after
she herself had left the stage.
510
00:36:43,563 --> 00:36:48,563
But Agatha wasn't planning on
leaving the stage any time soon.
511
00:36:48,563 --> 00:36:50,083
Far from it.
512
00:36:50,083 --> 00:36:54,083
In fact, inveterate observer
that she was,
513
00:36:54,083 --> 00:36:58,803
Agatha was instead on the lookout
for writing inspiration,
514
00:36:58,803 --> 00:37:02,003
and she found it
in the darkest of places.
515
00:37:12,323 --> 00:37:14,803
In the summer of 1944,
516
00:37:14,803 --> 00:37:19,083
three brothers from South Wales
were taken to Shropshire.
517
00:37:19,083 --> 00:37:22,803
Their parents had been deemed
unfit to look after them,
518
00:37:22,803 --> 00:37:24,523
so they'd be fostered.
519
00:37:26,563 --> 00:37:32,443
Dennis O'Neill was 12, Terence
was nine, and Freddie was seven.
520
00:37:33,723 --> 00:37:37,363
The two older boys were taken in
by a couple called the Goughs,
521
00:37:37,363 --> 00:37:40,003
who lived in a remote farmhouse.
522
00:37:42,563 --> 00:37:45,443
The farm was in rolling countryside.
523
00:37:45,443 --> 00:37:48,563
There were chickens and cows
and a vegetable garden.
524
00:37:48,563 --> 00:37:52,803
When Terence arrived, Mrs Gough
gave him a kiss and said,
525
00:37:52,803 --> 00:37:57,083
"Welcome to Bank Farm.
You'll be very happy here."
526
00:37:58,083 --> 00:38:01,803
A little while afterwards, the boys
had to write an essay at school
527
00:38:01,803 --> 00:38:03,563
about their parents.
528
00:38:03,563 --> 00:38:05,963
This is what Terence wrote.
529
00:38:05,963 --> 00:38:10,323
"My mother is very good
and kind to me,
530
00:38:10,323 --> 00:38:12,323
"she buys me new clothes,
531
00:38:12,323 --> 00:38:16,003
"she gives me lots to eat
and lots of cake."
532
00:38:17,003 --> 00:38:21,803
Later, Terence revealed
that this was all a fantasy.
533
00:38:22,803 --> 00:38:25,323
As he says here,
"I knew instinctively
534
00:38:25,323 --> 00:38:29,083
"that I would be in huge trouble
if I told the truth
535
00:38:29,083 --> 00:38:31,803
"about the way the Goughs
were treating us.
536
00:38:31,803 --> 00:38:36,083
"The lack of food,
the scratchy straw mattress,
537
00:38:36,083 --> 00:38:40,083
"the heavy workload
and the stripes."
538
00:38:40,083 --> 00:38:45,323
That's the wounds they got
from the beatings every night.
539
00:38:50,563 --> 00:38:55,563
The awful truth was that the O'Neill
brothers were horribly abused
540
00:38:55,563 --> 00:38:58,563
by the people who should
have cared for them.
541
00:38:58,563 --> 00:39:02,723
They were starved and beaten
until the inevitable happened.
542
00:39:13,803 --> 00:39:18,243
This is a newspaper report from 1945
543
00:39:18,243 --> 00:39:22,563
about the investigation following
the death of Dennis O'Neill.
544
00:39:24,723 --> 00:39:30,323
"The doctor who examined the body
says that the cause of death
545
00:39:30,323 --> 00:39:32,403
"was heart failure
546
00:39:32,403 --> 00:39:37,203
"following violence applied
to the front of the chest."
547
00:39:37,203 --> 00:39:38,923
It's really horrible.
548
00:39:39,923 --> 00:39:45,083
"And the violence was consistent
with having been caused
549
00:39:45,083 --> 00:39:47,323
"by a man's fist."
550
00:39:48,323 --> 00:39:50,563
That man was Reginald Gough.
551
00:39:50,563 --> 00:39:53,323
He was Dennis's foster father.
552
00:39:55,563 --> 00:39:57,323
Gough was arrested...
553
00:39:58,323 --> 00:40:03,563
..and Terence O'Neill
had to watch a policeman
554
00:40:03,563 --> 00:40:05,803
bringing something down the stairs.
555
00:40:05,803 --> 00:40:10,723
The something was the body
of his dead brother.
556
00:40:17,323 --> 00:40:20,563
One of the many people reading
about this case in the papers
557
00:40:20,563 --> 00:40:22,403
was Agatha Christie.
558
00:40:22,403 --> 00:40:27,083
Years later, she wrote, "There
was a case once where children
559
00:40:27,083 --> 00:40:29,723
"had been neglected and abused
560
00:40:29,723 --> 00:40:32,963
"after they had been placed
by the council on a farm.
561
00:40:32,963 --> 00:40:37,083
"One child did die
and there had been a feeling
562
00:40:37,083 --> 00:40:40,083
"that a slightly delinquent boy
might grow up
563
00:40:40,083 --> 00:40:43,563
"full of the desire for revenge."
564
00:40:43,563 --> 00:40:48,403
The O'Neill case gave Agatha
the germ of an idea
565
00:40:48,403 --> 00:40:52,083
that she used for
a 30-minute radio play
566
00:40:52,083 --> 00:40:55,323
called Three Blind Mice.
567
00:40:55,323 --> 00:40:58,883
Here's the notebook
where she's working on the idea,
568
00:40:58,883 --> 00:41:01,603
and she's done the title
as a pictogram.
569
00:41:01,603 --> 00:41:05,323
Three, blind -
that's an eye crossed out -
570
00:41:05,323 --> 00:41:08,523
and then a cute little mouse.
571
00:41:08,523 --> 00:41:14,323
But she couldn't use that title
when she expanded the radio play
572
00:41:14,323 --> 00:41:18,083
into a full-length stage play.
573
00:41:18,083 --> 00:41:21,323
There was already a play
with that title.
574
00:41:21,323 --> 00:41:22,883
She was stumped.
575
00:41:22,883 --> 00:41:25,803
She just couldn't think of an idea
for what to call it
576
00:41:25,803 --> 00:41:30,883
until somebody came up with
a stroke of genius.
577
00:41:30,883 --> 00:41:34,283
It was to be called The Mousetrap.
578
00:41:34,283 --> 00:41:36,643
APPLAUSE
579
00:41:46,083 --> 00:41:49,323
On the surface, the play
Agatha developed
580
00:41:49,323 --> 00:41:51,883
is a classic Christie whodunnit.
581
00:41:51,883 --> 00:41:53,883
WHOOSHING
582
00:41:53,883 --> 00:41:58,843
A group of unconnected strangers
arrive at a guesthouse.
583
00:42:02,323 --> 00:42:05,563
They become trapped there
by bad weather.
584
00:42:07,083 --> 00:42:09,563
It's another closed circle.
585
00:42:11,323 --> 00:42:16,563
But soon, Agatha will weave the
O'Neill tragedy into the drama.
586
00:42:19,563 --> 00:42:23,083
The play begins in quite
a light-hearted way.
587
00:42:23,083 --> 00:42:27,083
But Agatha is so good
at light and shade,
588
00:42:27,083 --> 00:42:29,563
things soon turn dark.
589
00:42:29,563 --> 00:42:31,843
There's been a murder.
590
00:42:31,843 --> 00:42:35,323
A policeman arrives at the house
to follow up a lead
591
00:42:35,323 --> 00:42:38,563
and he tells everybody
that the victim was a woman
592
00:42:38,563 --> 00:42:42,083
who, years before, had been
responsible for the death
593
00:42:42,083 --> 00:42:44,563
of a little boy in her care.
594
00:42:44,563 --> 00:42:48,083
Was she murdered in revenge?
595
00:42:50,563 --> 00:42:55,083
Taking inspiration from
the real-life O'Neill case,
596
00:42:55,083 --> 00:42:58,083
Agatha imagines that
the surviving brother
597
00:42:58,083 --> 00:43:00,323
could be the vengeful killer.
598
00:43:01,883 --> 00:43:06,323
The first suspect in The Mousetrap
is a young man of the right age.
599
00:43:06,323 --> 00:43:07,963
Could it be him?
600
00:43:09,323 --> 00:43:12,083
The Mousetrap opened in 1952
601
00:43:12,083 --> 00:43:16,483
and it's become the longest-running
play in theatrical history.
602
00:43:16,483 --> 00:43:21,163
But could its success, in part,
be down to a real-life tragedy?
603
00:43:22,803 --> 00:43:27,083
Do you think that the people sitting
here watching The Mousetrap in 1952
604
00:43:27,083 --> 00:43:29,563
would have remembered
the O'Neill case?
605
00:43:29,563 --> 00:43:33,083
It was, in 1945,
a very important case.
606
00:43:33,083 --> 00:43:37,083
This awful story of the boys
who were sent into foster care.
607
00:43:37,083 --> 00:43:40,083
This forms the back story
of The Mousetrap.
608
00:43:40,083 --> 00:43:42,323
It's not the actual action
of the piece
609
00:43:42,323 --> 00:43:45,083
but it is referenced throughout it
as one of the reasons
610
00:43:45,083 --> 00:43:48,763
for the motivation of the characters
and the reason why people are there.
611
00:43:48,763 --> 00:43:51,003
For the audiences of 1952,
612
00:43:51,003 --> 00:43:53,403
yes, it would have been fresh
in their memories.
613
00:43:53,403 --> 00:43:56,163
They would have understood
the referencing in the play.
614
00:43:56,163 --> 00:44:00,323
Now, we believe that Agatha Christie
was inspired by the O'Neill case
615
00:44:00,323 --> 00:44:02,083
for writing The Mousetrap,
616
00:44:02,083 --> 00:44:04,563
but is there any actual
hard evidence of that?
617
00:44:04,563 --> 00:44:08,563
Well, have a look at this from
the Agatha Christie archive.
618
00:44:08,563 --> 00:44:13,243
It's a newspaper cutting from 1966
from the Sunday Mirror,
619
00:44:13,243 --> 00:44:15,323
which obviously caught Agatha's eye.
620
00:44:15,323 --> 00:44:17,563
She's written on it.
This is brilliant.
621
00:44:17,563 --> 00:44:20,803
And what does it say here?
"From this real-life..."
622
00:44:20,803 --> 00:44:23,963
"From this real-life happening..."
Happening, that's what it says.
623
00:44:23,963 --> 00:44:26,323
"..I took the idea
for The Mousetrap."
624
00:44:26,323 --> 00:44:29,043
And I like the way she's signed it
"Agatha Christie".
625
00:44:29,043 --> 00:44:32,643
She's written that for posterity.
She's written that for us.
626
00:44:32,643 --> 00:44:34,643
It's endlessly fascinating to me.
627
00:44:34,643 --> 00:44:38,483
People think that Agatha Christie
somehow celebrates Britishness,
628
00:44:38,483 --> 00:44:41,643
that she's the sort of
tourist marketing board image
629
00:44:41,643 --> 00:44:43,683
of Britishness.
I imagine you disagree.
630
00:44:43,683 --> 00:44:46,003
There's nothing cosy
about The Mousetrap.
631
00:44:46,003 --> 00:44:49,083
Over time, I think people began
to appreciate
632
00:44:49,083 --> 00:44:51,963
exactly the significance
of what it was talking about.
633
00:44:51,963 --> 00:44:55,323
Harold Hobson, the great
Sunday Times theatre critic,
634
00:44:55,323 --> 00:44:58,083
wrote an article
about The Mousetrap
635
00:44:58,083 --> 00:45:00,803
in which he attributed
its success to the fact
636
00:45:00,803 --> 00:45:04,043
that it was what he called
a parable of our times.
637
00:45:04,043 --> 00:45:06,083
Everybody in it is displaced,
638
00:45:06,083 --> 00:45:09,043
everybody in it is suffering
from post-war anxieties.
639
00:45:09,043 --> 00:45:12,963
This is not a country house but a
country house that's being turned
640
00:45:12,963 --> 00:45:15,803
into a guesthouse
in order to make ends meet.
641
00:45:15,803 --> 00:45:20,043
This is people having strangers
in their house after the war.
642
00:45:20,043 --> 00:45:23,323
The suspicion of the stranger
very much comes through in the play.
643
00:45:23,323 --> 00:45:27,403
And you have perhaps one of the most
radical images on the London stage
644
00:45:27,403 --> 00:45:29,723
at the time, which is
the lady of the house
645
00:45:29,723 --> 00:45:32,083
carries a vacuum cleaner
across the stage.
646
00:45:32,083 --> 00:45:36,083
Now, we have to contextualise this
in that, four years later,
647
00:45:36,083 --> 00:45:39,403
at the Royal Court,
John Osborne's Look Back In Anger
648
00:45:39,403 --> 00:45:42,803
is thought to have, you know,
recalibrated the entirety
649
00:45:42,803 --> 00:45:46,083
of British theatre by showing
a woman doing the ironing,
650
00:45:46,083 --> 00:45:50,083
which was not the kind of thing
you went to the theatre to see.
651
00:45:50,083 --> 00:45:53,083
But Agatha Christie was doing it
first. Exactly.
652
00:45:53,083 --> 00:45:55,803
As well as this extraordinary
background story,
653
00:45:55,803 --> 00:45:59,883
it works very well as entertainment,
and people like to be entertained.
654
00:45:59,883 --> 00:46:03,563
It's got a lot of comedy in it, it's
got a lot of very good characters,
655
00:46:03,563 --> 00:46:05,963
and it's got a really
fascinating plot
656
00:46:05,963 --> 00:46:10,323
with one of the most legendary twist
endings in theatre of all time.
657
00:46:21,083 --> 00:46:25,563
In the 1950s, with the troubles
of wartime behind them,
658
00:46:25,563 --> 00:46:27,563
it was back to Greenway.
659
00:46:31,803 --> 00:46:35,083
The house became a happy
family retreat,
660
00:46:35,083 --> 00:46:38,323
full of food, laughter and fun.
661
00:46:39,323 --> 00:46:42,083
Agatha's contentment was complete.
662
00:46:46,323 --> 00:46:51,643
This is one of my favourite letters
that Agatha ever wrote to Max.
663
00:46:51,643 --> 00:46:56,843
"Darling...", she says, "..you
are 40 today. Hurrah. At last.
664
00:46:56,843 --> 00:46:59,563
"It makes a big difference to me.
665
00:46:59,563 --> 00:47:03,043
"I feel it closes the gap a little.
666
00:47:03,043 --> 00:47:06,803
"When you were in the thirties
and I had reached the fifties,
667
00:47:06,803 --> 00:47:08,563
"it was pretty grim."
668
00:47:10,083 --> 00:47:15,083
As Max was settling into
comfortable middle age,
669
00:47:15,083 --> 00:47:20,083
perhaps some of Agatha's old
insecurities were melting away.
670
00:47:21,803 --> 00:47:25,083
And she was also closing the age gap
671
00:47:25,083 --> 00:47:29,083
with somebody else
who was very important to her.
672
00:47:31,803 --> 00:47:35,083
Agatha's creation Miss Marple.
673
00:47:35,083 --> 00:47:40,883
The shrewd and observant old lady
detective appears in 12 novels,
674
00:47:40,883 --> 00:47:43,563
most of them
from the post-war years.
675
00:47:44,883 --> 00:47:50,083
Now, I think the very best Poirot
novels are from the '20s and '30s,
676
00:47:50,083 --> 00:47:52,083
when Agatha was young.
677
00:47:52,083 --> 00:47:58,083
In 1950, she turned 60,
and from then on,
678
00:47:58,083 --> 00:48:03,083
she and Miss Marple would get older
at the same pace.
679
00:48:03,083 --> 00:48:05,563
They'd go through life together,
680
00:48:05,563 --> 00:48:09,563
almost as if Christie and Marple
were the very same person.
681
00:48:13,323 --> 00:48:17,403
Agatha inhabited Miss Marple
inside and out.
682
00:48:17,403 --> 00:48:20,563
She was so immersed
in Marple stories
683
00:48:20,563 --> 00:48:25,083
that she grabbed anyone she could to
help perfect their brilliant plots,
684
00:48:25,083 --> 00:48:28,083
including getting her neighbours
to act them out.
685
00:48:29,803 --> 00:48:33,323
Agatha had the neighbours
come into the drawing room
686
00:48:33,323 --> 00:48:37,563
and she stationed one of them
behind the door.
687
00:48:37,563 --> 00:48:39,483
This would be significant.
688
00:48:40,483 --> 00:48:42,803
Then she turned off the lights...
689
00:48:44,083 --> 00:48:47,083
..and came in waving a torch around.
690
00:48:54,083 --> 00:48:57,083
Then the lights came back on again
691
00:48:57,083 --> 00:49:01,563
and Agatha asked everybody
to explain what they'd seen.
692
00:49:01,563 --> 00:49:04,083
Of course, all the neighbours
said, "We saw nothing.
693
00:49:04,083 --> 00:49:08,083
"We were dazzled by the torch,"
except for this person,
694
00:49:08,083 --> 00:49:10,723
because this person
was behind the beam
695
00:49:10,723 --> 00:49:13,683
and they could see what had gone on.
696
00:49:13,683 --> 00:49:18,083
When the book A Murder Is Announced
came out,
697
00:49:18,083 --> 00:49:21,563
the neighbours all realised
that they'd been part of
698
00:49:21,563 --> 00:49:24,083
a kind of a novelist's
field experiment
699
00:49:24,083 --> 00:49:28,083
to test out this really crucial
aspect of the plot.
700
00:49:40,523 --> 00:49:44,563
But the Marple stories are more
than just cunningly plotted
701
00:49:44,563 --> 00:49:47,723
and deeply satisfying crime novels.
702
00:49:47,723 --> 00:49:52,563
I think that they document
a changing British society.
703
00:49:54,563 --> 00:49:58,363
Caroline Crampton is a detective
fiction podcaster...
704
00:49:58,363 --> 00:50:00,363
Come in for a cup of tea.
705
00:50:00,363 --> 00:50:02,523
..and fellow Christie fan.
706
00:50:06,083 --> 00:50:07,843
We're sitting in a lovely village,
707
00:50:07,843 --> 00:50:10,563
just the sort of place
that Miss Marple lived,
708
00:50:10,563 --> 00:50:13,883
but something's changing
about these villages
709
00:50:13,883 --> 00:50:16,643
in the later Marple novels,
isn't it?
710
00:50:16,643 --> 00:50:19,083
In A Murder Is Announced,
it's 1950,
711
00:50:19,083 --> 00:50:23,683
we start to see the way the social
fabric of England has changed.
712
00:50:23,683 --> 00:50:26,403
People's lives were completely
disjointed and fragmented
713
00:50:26,403 --> 00:50:28,083
by what happened in the war.
714
00:50:28,083 --> 00:50:30,083
Once upon a time,
everyone who lived there
715
00:50:30,083 --> 00:50:32,083
would have been known
to everybody else
716
00:50:32,083 --> 00:50:35,323
and if, in the unlikely event
that any newcomers arrived,
717
00:50:35,323 --> 00:50:38,363
they would come via
some established network.
718
00:50:38,363 --> 00:50:40,563
They would come with a letter
of introduction
719
00:50:40,563 --> 00:50:42,083
from a friend or family member.
720
00:50:42,083 --> 00:50:45,643
And yet by the time we reach
the post Second World War period,
721
00:50:45,643 --> 00:50:50,003
people turn up all the time
with no letter and no roots,
722
00:50:50,003 --> 00:50:52,083
and that's just how the world
is now.
723
00:50:52,083 --> 00:50:54,083
And that changed - that gap.
724
00:50:54,083 --> 00:50:58,123
Agatha Christie really inhabits
and makes it work for her mystery.
725
00:50:58,123 --> 00:51:00,323
In the story, Miss Marple even says,
726
00:51:00,323 --> 00:51:04,243
15 years ago we would have known who
everybody was. Now we no longer do.
727
00:51:04,243 --> 00:51:07,123
And that's the effect Christie
is trying to create, I think.
728
00:51:07,123 --> 00:51:09,723
Destabilising these ideas
of identity.
729
00:51:09,723 --> 00:51:13,083
The way that she writes mysteries
keeps pace with the way
730
00:51:13,083 --> 00:51:14,763
that the world is changing,
731
00:51:14,763 --> 00:51:19,203
so she's not trying to recreate
the villages of the 1920s and '30s.
732
00:51:19,203 --> 00:51:22,123
She's looking at the world
as it is and going,
733
00:51:22,123 --> 00:51:25,563
"How can I use parts of this in
order to write a really good plot?"
734
00:51:25,563 --> 00:51:28,083
You know, Caroline, I think
a lot of people would say
735
00:51:28,083 --> 00:51:30,803
that Agatha Christie
was socially conservative,
736
00:51:30,803 --> 00:51:34,123
but her stories don't necessarily
prove that, do they?
737
00:51:34,123 --> 00:51:37,923
No. There's one really good example
of that in A Murder Is Announced,
738
00:51:37,923 --> 00:51:41,563
where we've got an openly
lesbian couple.
739
00:51:41,563 --> 00:51:45,683
Miss Hinchcliffe and Miss Murgatroyd
are just totally normal neighbours,
740
00:51:45,683 --> 00:51:49,283
and we even get a really
emotional moment in that book
741
00:51:49,283 --> 00:51:53,083
when Miss Murgatroyd is killed
and Miss Marple
742
00:51:53,083 --> 00:51:56,563
comforts Miss Hinchcliffe
at the loss of her partner,
743
00:51:56,563 --> 00:51:59,083
and that this is really
tragic and devastating.
744
00:51:59,083 --> 00:52:02,083
To me, it's quite amazing
that a same-sex couple
745
00:52:02,083 --> 00:52:04,803
is just slipped into
the landscape like that
746
00:52:04,803 --> 00:52:08,443
in commercial fiction in 1950.
It's really progressive.
747
00:52:08,443 --> 00:52:11,083
It is. And even subversive in a way,
748
00:52:11,083 --> 00:52:14,563
homosexuality not being legalised
until much later,
749
00:52:14,563 --> 00:52:17,363
and yet it's completely normal
in the book.
750
00:52:17,363 --> 00:52:20,083
As we go on into the 1960s
751
00:52:20,083 --> 00:52:23,843
and Agatha Christie
is now in her own seventies,
752
00:52:23,843 --> 00:52:25,883
how do the villages change?
753
00:52:25,883 --> 00:52:28,123
Well, everything changes about them.
754
00:52:28,123 --> 00:52:31,163
St Mary Mead is no longer this
tight, closed little circle
755
00:52:31,163 --> 00:52:34,163
of a high street with a few
different shops and a few cottages.
756
00:52:34,163 --> 00:52:38,483
All sorts of modern ideas have
arrived, including a supermarket
757
00:52:38,483 --> 00:52:41,563
instead of your individual
grocer shops,
758
00:52:41,563 --> 00:52:44,563
and things like people
don't eat bacon and eggs
759
00:52:44,563 --> 00:52:47,323
for breakfast any more,
they eat cereal for convenience,
760
00:52:47,323 --> 00:52:49,043
it comes straight out of a box.
761
00:52:49,043 --> 00:52:52,323
And, yes, a lot of people would say,
well, all Agatha Christie stories
762
00:52:52,323 --> 00:52:55,763
are set in the same year
of roughly 1935, wouldn't they?
763
00:52:55,763 --> 00:52:58,803
People get this idea of the fact
that Agatha Christie
764
00:52:58,803 --> 00:53:00,963
can be identified
with a specific era
765
00:53:00,963 --> 00:53:03,883
when, actually, she had a writing
career spanning decades
766
00:53:03,883 --> 00:53:05,843
and she evolved through it.
767
00:53:14,083 --> 00:53:18,083
Part of that evolution involved
a late reconciliation
768
00:53:18,083 --> 00:53:19,883
with the film industry.
769
00:53:20,883 --> 00:53:24,563
The movie studios had come calling
for Agatha's best sellers
770
00:53:24,563 --> 00:53:27,803
from the beginning
but, the truth was,
771
00:53:27,803 --> 00:53:31,243
she didn't really like
the films of her books.
772
00:53:31,243 --> 00:53:34,323
She struggled with seeing
her detectives,
773
00:53:34,323 --> 00:53:36,523
Marple and Poirot, on screen.
774
00:53:38,323 --> 00:53:43,563
But in 1974, now an old lady,
Agatha relented,
775
00:53:43,563 --> 00:53:49,083
and movie moguls persuaded her to
lend them one of her biggest titles.
776
00:53:50,603 --> 00:53:53,803
Starring the greatest cast
of suspicious characters
777
00:53:53,803 --> 00:53:55,803
ever involved in murder...
778
00:53:55,803 --> 00:53:59,123
The murderer is with us now.
779
00:53:59,123 --> 00:54:01,043
You can identify the murderer?
780
00:54:01,043 --> 00:54:04,963
Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman,
Jacqueline Bisset.
781
00:54:04,963 --> 00:54:06,683
He makes it sound like a poison.
782
00:54:06,683 --> 00:54:08,923
Sean Connery.
How did you know?
783
00:54:08,923 --> 00:54:10,323
Beddoes.
784
00:54:10,323 --> 00:54:11,883
John Gielgud.
785
00:54:11,883 --> 00:54:13,283
Mr Beddoes.
786
00:54:13,283 --> 00:54:16,323
Murder On The Orient Express.
787
00:54:24,083 --> 00:54:26,323
I think that, in old age,
788
00:54:26,323 --> 00:54:29,323
Agatha wanted to give
her most successful creation
789
00:54:29,323 --> 00:54:31,563
a life beyond her own,
790
00:54:31,563 --> 00:54:36,363
to ensure that Hercule Poirot
would live on for a new generation.
791
00:54:37,403 --> 00:54:42,003
At the London premiere,
Agatha, the queen of crime,
792
00:54:42,003 --> 00:54:45,083
was introduced
to the Queen of England.
793
00:54:47,323 --> 00:54:50,883
But by now, Agatha's health
was in decline.
794
00:54:50,883 --> 00:54:53,923
She attended the premiere
in a wheelchair.
795
00:55:00,403 --> 00:55:05,803
Agatha had ensured Poirot's legacy
on the silver screen
796
00:55:05,803 --> 00:55:09,963
but she also wanted to say
a more personal goodbye
797
00:55:09,963 --> 00:55:12,083
to her cherished character.
798
00:55:14,083 --> 00:55:17,803
In 1975, sensing the end,
799
00:55:17,803 --> 00:55:22,083
Agatha published
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case,
800
00:55:22,083 --> 00:55:25,963
that novel she'd written
in the war years and locked away.
801
00:55:27,563 --> 00:55:33,083
In this story, Poirot, like Agatha
herself, is now in a wheelchair.
802
00:55:33,083 --> 00:55:36,403
And right at the end,
just before he dies,
803
00:55:36,403 --> 00:55:41,083
he says goodbye to his
really old friend, Hastings.
804
00:55:41,083 --> 00:55:44,563
He says, "Goodbye, cher ami.
805
00:55:45,803 --> 00:55:47,723
"They were good days."
806
00:55:48,723 --> 00:55:51,843
It's like Agatha is saying goodbye
to her readers.
807
00:55:53,083 --> 00:55:56,563
MUSIC: Nimrod
by Edward Elgar
808
00:56:00,083 --> 00:56:03,563
Agatha Christie died peacefully
809
00:56:03,563 --> 00:56:06,723
on 12th January 1976...
810
00:56:09,083 --> 00:56:11,323
..with Max at her side.
811
00:56:15,563 --> 00:56:19,883
Ever the writer,
she scripted her own funeral.
812
00:56:22,323 --> 00:56:27,803
She wanted a piece of music
by Elgar called Nimrod...
813
00:56:30,083 --> 00:56:34,883
..the name of the place in Iraq
she and Max had excavated
814
00:56:34,883 --> 00:56:37,123
in their glory days.
815
00:56:46,323 --> 00:56:52,083
After Agatha died, this letter
was found folded up very small
816
00:56:52,083 --> 00:56:53,803
in her purse.
817
00:56:55,083 --> 00:56:59,323
Turns out she'd been carrying it
around with her for 39 years,
818
00:56:59,323 --> 00:57:01,323
and I can see why.
819
00:57:01,323 --> 00:57:03,323
This is what Max had written.
820
00:57:03,323 --> 00:57:07,083
"Sometimes, but not so very often,
821
00:57:07,083 --> 00:57:11,883
"two people find real love together
as we do.
822
00:57:12,963 --> 00:57:16,083
"We know that what we have
cannot perish.
823
00:57:17,323 --> 00:57:22,923
"For me, you will remain
beautiful and precious
824
00:57:22,923 --> 00:57:25,323
"with the passing of years."
825
00:57:27,563 --> 00:57:29,083
Ah.
826
00:57:34,323 --> 00:57:39,323
The happiness at the end of her life
and the success she enjoyed
827
00:57:39,323 --> 00:57:45,163
as a writer belied the tumultuous
times she endured getting there.
828
00:57:45,163 --> 00:57:48,483
But that turmoil
was the making of her.
829
00:57:48,483 --> 00:57:52,083
Agatha Christie's dark,
brilliant imagination
830
00:57:52,083 --> 00:57:57,083
was shaped by the upheaval of her
own extraordinary lifetime.
831
00:57:57,083 --> 00:58:00,323
Without all that, I don't think
she would have become
832
00:58:00,323 --> 00:58:03,083
the pioneering author she was...
833
00:58:04,363 --> 00:58:09,243
..and we would not have
such a rich legacy of stories.
834
00:58:10,243 --> 00:58:14,843
A legacy that continues
to captivate to this day.
108634
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