Dead Man's Folly

Last night I watched David Suchet as ITV's Hercules Poirot, in Dead Man's Folly, filmed at Agatha Christie's holiday home Greenway, near Dartmouth, a place I was lucky enough to visit soon after it was opened to the public in 2009.

Agatha Christie's Greenway

Owned by the National Trust, Greenway is in a stunning location approximately 3 miles up river from Dartmouth. To add to the sense of 'stepping back in time' you can reach the property by steam train on the Dartmouth Steam Railway or by paddle-steamer on the Kingswear Castle.

Sadly, the series currently being shown on ITV, the thirteenth, is to be Hercules Poirot's final outing. So it seems fitting that this episode was filmed at the house which once belonged to Agatha Christie herself. Although she never actually wrote here - she would often visit having recently completed a novel - she entertained her guests by reading an extract from her latest book.

Dead Man's Folly was filmed in June this year and, amazingly, the house and its grounds remained open to the public throughout. Visitors were more than happy to alter or curtail their tours to accommodate the filming schedule. And why not? It must have been a wonderful sight to see the house and garden inhabited by residents dressed in 1930s costume - like a window into the past.

In the story, Zoe Wanamaker plays the mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver who has written a 'Murder Hunt' for the summer fete (treasure hunts having been deemed to be too old-hat). At one point, she tells Poirot that she was greatly relieved to be at 'Nasse House', as it has enabled her to get out of an Author Talk. "I have an idea, I write a book," she says to Poirot. "That takes care of the first minute. So what am I supposed to say for the next 59?"

Ha! If only it were that easy! Ms Christie's little joke, perhaps? Or maybe not...  She was one of the world's most prolific writers, after all.

Author's notebooks

In an article in August's Writing Magazine  John Curran tantalisingly recalls discovering a cardboard box full of Agatha Christie's notebooks on a visit to Greenway House prior to its hand-over to the National Trust. It took him over a year deciphering and transcribing her scribbled notes into 73 individual Word documents.

What struck him was their chaotic nature and lack of chronology, suggesting that several were in use at once. It led him to conclude that where ever she was at the time, she must have grabbed whatever notebook was closest to hand to jot down the thought or plot point which had popped into her head.

I know the problem! Having forgotten a gem of an idea before now, between the blinding flash and arriving downstairs in search of a notebook to write it down, I now have several notepads, strategically placed around the house.

I haven't yet found myself a version that I can use in the shower (where many of my better (?) ideas come to me) but I believe there is such a thing available...



John Curran's books:

Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks
Agatha Christie's Murder in the Making