Saturday, June 14, 2008

TODAY'S TWD: THE FIRST 6 CHRISTIES

"The Unicorn And The Wasp", the 'Doctor Who' episode in which the Doctor met Agatha Christie, will be the source for plenty of televisiological material in the coming days. (I don't want to overwhelm visitors to Toobworld with all of it at once!)

First off, we'll keep it simple. At the time of their meeting in the summer of 1926, it's said that Mrs. Christie had written six books. Checking her bibliography, those books would be:

1920

"The Mysterious Affair at Styles"
[Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings, Chief Inspector Japp]

1922
"The Secret Adversary"
[Tommy and Tuppence]

1923
"The Murder on the Links"
[Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings]
1924
"The Man in the Brown Suit"
[Anne Beddingfeld, Colonel Race]

1925
"The Secret of Chimneys"
[Superintendent Battle]

1926
"The Murder of Roger Ackroyd"
[Hercule Poirot]

Those names in the brackets are the sleuths from each book.

It was stated in the episode that it was 1926. This means that when we flashed back to the previous Thursday, when Lady Clemency Eddison was re-reading "The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd" (one of Christie's most famous - and infamous - works), it's likely she had a first edition copy. And it would be one that she probably only read for the first time just a few months prior.

It's almost a shame that the Doctor met Agatha Christie even this "late" in her career. It might have been nice to speculate that he and Donna were the inspiration for Tommy and Tuppence, or that the Time Lord served as a sartorial model for "The Man In The Brown Suit".....
BCnU!
Toby OB

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