Having been scandalised by the McEwen 'Bertrams' I was pleasantly surprised by this adaptation of a non Marple book. We are now into Season 3 of this series and any Christie purists still watching at this stage should know exactly what to expect - Christie 'spinning in her grave' is a very over used phrase! There will be changes, not all of them good - there have been some real stinkers in the series but this is not one of them. I am not outraged by the insertion of Miss Marple so long as the overall result is still satisfactory and this time it is. Darker than some of its predecessors, this is a very good version with some fine performances. Its true that not many of the characters are very likable but actually the Argyle family were a rather tortured bunch in the novel too becoming more so after the revelation that it was not Jacko after all who killed the mother figure.<br /><br />Juliet Stevenson is very fine as a hugely sympathetic Gwenda as is Alison Steadman as the perfect Kirsten (shame she didn't get her creepy lullaby to sing). The Argyle children are more of a mixed bag; the boys are ciphers, Tina and Hester are a bit dull but Lisa Stansfield is surprisingly good as Mary and Jane Seymour has fun with the stiff, unyielding Rachel at the beginning. I also thought Julian Rhind-Tutt captured the awkward academic Calgary very well.<br /><br />There are some awkward changes to the plot and I agree with the earlier reviewer who points out the impossible time differences that ensue - not well thought out. The second murder is truly unexpected and shocking however and despite the changes I was happily engrossed throughout. If you can't take changes to the source material, do not watch - otherwise this is pretty good.