Tommy & Tuppence: Partners in Crime, Set 1 (1980)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Jonathan Hales, Gerald Savory, Paul Annett, Pat Sandys, and David Butler, based on the books by Agatha Christie
Directed by John A. Davis and Tony Wharmby
Starring Francesca Annis, Reece Dinsdale, and James Warwick<

Features:

• Cast Filmographies
  
• Agatha Chrisie Materials
  
• Interactive Trivia
  

Released by: Acorn Media
Rating: NR (suitable for all audiences)
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format
My Advice: Skip it

Tommy and "Tuppence" Beresford (Warwick and Annis, respectively) are a husband and wife crime solving team and together they own the Blunt's Detective Agency. Their adventures have them looking for lost people, missing jewels, and ghosts.

And that's about the extent of the excitement to be found in this series. There's really not that much more to it. Annis, who normally turns in a wonderful performance, seems lost in this role. Her relationship with Warwick seems forced and stiff. The stories are not as exciting as some of the other ones by Christie, but I get the feeling that it's more of a problem with the adaptations than her original than her short stories. As usual with these BBC television creations, the costumes and attention to period detail is outstanding, but it's just not enough to maintain an interest in watching without strong stories. One other problem I noticed, the audio track on these DVDs is rather hard to hear. I tried adjusting my home theatre system, but it didn't help.

The DVDs are pretty good. There is a very concise biography of Agatha Christie which is text on screen, but if you are looking for a "Reader's Digest" version of her life, you'd be hard pressed to find a better one than this...just don't plan on trying to use this as the only source of a term paper. The cast and crew biographies are exactly like all the other ones you've seen. And, finally, I have seen better "interactive trivia" games on other DVDs. Still, the questions will really make you think, and you won't be able to answer the questions unless you have watched all of the episodes in the set.

If you are looking for a good British series to watch for a while, find another one to watch. You won't be sorry you passed this one by.