The programme has now been announced for 2025’s Agatha Christie Festival, and it looks like it’ll be another great year!
I’ll be appearing at two events. One is a special live recording of The Swinging Christies, my podcast with Gray Robert Brown. We will be looking at the most Swinging images of the decade!
Then I’m also giving my own talk, about Witness for the Prosecution, in which I talk about the journey of Christie’s greatest short story* from page to stage and screen. I’ll be sharing some rare treats!
What a busy few months it has been! I’ve been busy working on some new projects, one of which should be announced in a month or two, while some others have now come to fruition.
It’s great to see that Travels with Agatha Christie & Sir David Suchet has now launched on Britbox US and Canada. I was consultant for the series, and pop up in the first episode wishing David luck with his voyage, and showing him some press cuttings. It’s a fascinating series that shows how the world has changed since Agatha and Archie’s 1922 ‘Grand Tour’. It’ll be on Channel 4 in the UK later this year, and I believe it has been picked up by an Australian broadcaster too.
Also, I’ve recently given a few talks to kind and generous audiences, including at Hampshire WI’s annual meeting, where I think I converted a few members into Christie readers!
The Swinging Christies podcast, which I produce and present with Gray Robert Brown, has gone from strength to strength, with some great bonus episodes (even if I do say so myself!) covering everything from Muriel Spark to the new Miss Marple stories. You can catch us on any major podcast app. We will also be speaking at the celebrations surrounding the unveiling of the new Agatha Christie statue in Torquay on 12 April, and at the time of writing there are still a few tickets left for what promises to be a memorable day.
I’m also pleased to see the publication of the book Reassessing Murder, She Wrote, edited by Eva Burke and Jennifer Schnabel. I contribute a chapter exploring the influence of Agatha Christie on the show (of course!).
On 8 February I’ll be giving my Miss Marple talk at Bromley Little Theatre, in between performances of their production of The Mirror Crack’d. Tickets are £5 and I’ll be signing books afterwards – you can book your ticket here!
For those who don’t know, Burgh Island has many Christie connections, from influencing the likes of Evil Under the Sun and And Then There Were None, to as a filming location for adaptations in the Joan Hickson Miss Marple and David Suchet Poirot series.
It’s been a busy couple of months with the launch of my new book Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness, now out worldwide. The UK publication neatly coincided with the International Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay, which meant there were plenty of opportunities to discuss my work. This included sell-out talks on both Miss Marple and, with Gray Robert Brown, our podcast The Swinging Christies. We even teamed up with Kemper Donovan of All About Agatha for a special crossover episode!
Kemper Donovan, me, Gray Robert Brown
Elsewhere, I’ve been doing plenty of publicity, including an appearance on ITV’s Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh, which you can watch below. We were keenly overlooked by quite the collection of Miss Marples!
It had been lovely to see the positive reception that my book has received. I was particularly thrilled to get such a good write-up from Nicola Upson in the Times Literary Supplement.
I have plenty of plans in place for next year, including two projects that I was the consultant for. I’m very excited about them, but can’t say much more yet! All will be revealed in the next couple of months…
I’m excited to say that I now have copies of my new Marple book, and am thrilled by how it looks in the flesh! And yes, it matches the Poirot book perfectly..!
The book is out in the UK on 12 September (Amazon UK link) and in North America on 8 October (Amazon US link). Please consider ordering from a local bookseller if you can.
As we move towards the publication of my book Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness, so I start to give more talks, and I’m delighted to return to Wallingford’s Corn Exchange on 6 September.
This year has probably been the busiest yet for me, such is the continuing popularity of Agatha Christie.
In September I had a wonderful time speaking at the International Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay. I arrived straight from the Agatha Christie Conference at the University of Exeter, where I was one of the keynotes, and at the end of the week it was great to give the after dinner speech at Greenway House, Christie’s holiday home, on her birthday.
Speaking at Greenway
Most recently I was thrilled to be invited to India to speak at the Dehradun Literature Festival. My wonderful hosts ensured that this was a great event. I particularly enjoyed running a workshop for local children, where we used some of Christie’s techniques to create their own stories.
At the Dehradun Literature Festival
My next event is the Agatha Christie Festival Internacional in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife. It’s always a brilliant event and I can’t wait to talk about Miss Marple. There is much more to come next year in support of my forthcoming book Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness, which you can preorder at Amazon UK now, if you’re keen… There is also The Swinging Christies, a new podcast project that I’m doing with the writer Gray Robert Brown. More on that soon!
Recording The Swinging Christies with co-host and co-producer Gray Robert Brown
All in all, it’s an exciting time to be researching Agatha Christie!
I’m really pleased to say that I’ll be making an appearance at this year’s Greenway Literary Festival. I’ll be speaking with Guy Slater, who produced the brilliant Miss Marple series on the BBC starring the peerless Joan Hickson. You can find more information and book a ticket here. We’ll be speaking in the evening of Friday 12 June, and there are plenty of other events that sound great – plus it’s good to have any excuse to visit Agatha Christie’s gorgeous Devon home, now owned by the National Trust.
I’m thrilled to say that I’ll be talking at the Perfect Crime festival in Liverpool in November 2020. I can’t wait to join Sophie Hannah for a panel about (who else?) Hercule Poirot in his centenary year. There is a great line up for the day – you can see the full programme here and book a place here.
Dr Mark Aldridge 