Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (2011)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Such a frustrating disappointment

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Im a fan of Christie books and normally the TV adaptations are quite good, but this is not. The cast is good- I really like McKenzie and you've got some good names there (Natalie Dormer, Samantha Bond, Rik Mayall) but none of them can salvage this mess. Miss Marples hardly in it at the beginning and it focuses more on posh Lady Frankie who's accent 'oh pongo... Yes... Lady Derwent you know' and constant belief she knows everything got on my nerves. The relationship between the two young main characters was not the best in a Christie adaptation- Frankies seemed to treat Bobby often with childish cruelty rather than with chemistry. The ending itself was completely ridiculous, with the murderers constantly pausing to allow Miss Marples narrative rather than actually murdering the person like they had ample opportunity to do, which was clearly forced and unrealistic. And then the two orphaned murderers- one with a sad tale of being forced to 'entertain soldiers' in China- were 'murdered' themselves. The ending was silly and felt unfinished.By all means watch, but be prepared for a rather disappointing end to an hour and a half.

If you're a true fan of Agatha Christie's novels, then you will be hugely disappointed by this film. Her story, her cleverness, her charm, her characters are all missing. Instead, we get a very flat, blank, and unintelligent slew of characters who are whining or squabbling or snotty or yelling or annoying us with their high-pitched voices. And they even threw Miss Marple in there. Why? It's not a Miss Marple story! It's a story where we love and cheer for the two main characters, but they're not worth it in this version. The biggest shame is that after fiddling so much with her story that it's unrecognizable, they still put Agatha Christie's name on it. So sad. It isn't up to par in any way. If you want to see Agatha's story, go watch the 1980 film. It is practically perfect in its loyalty to the novel and so has the cleverness and charm which keeps us reading and rereading Christie's work. This version should have a disclaimer in the title, mostly out of respect for Christie, that lets us know it's mostly an original story. She shouldn't have to bear the credit and shame of how below par this version is, comparatively at least.

Not all the recent Marple adaptations are bad or disappointing, Pocket Full of Rye, The Blue Geranium and The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side(I'd go further to say this one especially was the best version of the book) were excellent and Murder is Announced and Moving Finger were surprisingly good too. Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is not as bad as Nemesis, Sittaford Mystery and At Betram's Hotel, but for me it is one of the dullest and more disappointing entries to the series.Is it bad as an adaptation? Yes it is really. The book was a compelling enough read without being definitive, the story and characters were interesting in the book, but the adaptation does a lot of alterations in the sense that the plot is one big rambling, illogical mess with a very unsatisfying and somewhat convoluted conclusion and the characters(more cardboard cut-outs than characters) I felt nothing for. The pacing is also very sluggish and the dialogue is weak, some of it is among the weakest I've heard in a Christie adaptation actually.When it comes to the acting, only Julia McKenzie stands out properly. She is terrific as Miss Marple, with a wisdom and charm that makes you warm to her immediately. Georgia Moffett is decent too as is Sean Biggerstaff, but actors such as Richard Briers are given next to nothing to work with which is shameful in my opinion, Rik Mayall has never looked and acted as bored as he is here and this is one of those rarities where I didn't like Samantha Bond or Warren Clarke either. Bond has a very uninteresting character with some poor dialogue and she manages to be both flaccid and shrill at the same time. Clarke suffers from pretty much the same problems, and his shouting did get tiresome after a while. The worst of the performances comes from Freddie Fox who is really quite awful.Despite all these outweighing criticisms, there is some good, aside from McKenzie. The production values are wonderful, with great photography and beautiful and authentic scenery and costumes. The music is both beautiful and haunting, and the direction also has flashes of brilliance. But really, this could and should have been much better than it was. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Like her predecessor Geraldine McEwan, the new Miss Marple, Julia McKenzie, has a great deal to overcome. The main issue is the skewed adaptation of Agatha Christie's original. While I do love Christie and Miss Marple, I'm actually getting a great deal of enjoyment out of this series. Yes, it's NOT Miss Marple to the word, and "Evans" never was a Marple Story. I read the book a few months ago and in my opinion, that book wasn't one of Christie's best. It's not a biggie with me that they've placed Miss Marple in it or they've made changes to the story. I simply enjoy watching mysteries made in England and set in other time periods. There's murder without buckets of blood and tons of gore on the screen, like we get here in the states. They murder each other while being beautifully dressed and serving tea and scones. Miss Marple cuts below the facade and gets her man.....or woman. She does't drop a stitch either. All in a day's work.