At Bertram's Hotel (1)

Miss Marple takes a holiday, which for her is about as restful as it sounds. Bertram's is a hotel she remembers from childhood, and it unsettles her that it still looks the way it did, as if all the years in between had been politely asked to wait outside. The tea is dainty and the clientele is classy, and everything is exactly as it should be, which is precisely the problem. A holiday for Miss Marple usually means a crime within the week, and she seems to know it even when the hotel does not.

But underneath the polish, the place is hiding things: false identities and larceny, a crime ring operating out of the rooms. The genteel guests are not always what their visiting cards claim, and the dainty teas are a front. Nobody at Bertram's is quite who they seem, and the hotel has made a virtue of it. Murder, naturally, follows, and the first part ends with Miss Marple in a chase through the corridors after the irrepressible Lady Sedgewick.

The hotel was modelled on Brown's, and you can feel it; this is the sort of establishment that prides itself on never having to raise its voice, which makes it the perfect place for people who need to keep secrets. Agatha Christie wrote the story, the episode went out on 25 January 1987, and no director is credited in the records.

Joan Hickson gets to play the comfortable side of Marple here, the old lady enjoying her cakes while quietly taking the measure of everyone in the room. It is a lovely contrast, the holiday exterior and the sharp mind underneath, and it powers the whole first half.

The fun is in watching a place that has perfected politeness start to crack. Bertram's is a lovely, well-mannered trap, and Miss Marple walks into it with her eyes wide open. And the second part is left with the bill.