DVD Review: Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime

Featuring lavish BBC adaptations of Agatha Christie novels The Secret Adversary and N or M?, Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime makes its DVD and Blu-ray debut onJanuary 5, 2016, from Acorn, an RLJ Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: RLJE) brand. An ordinary married couple gets caught up in international intrigue and discovers that they have a knack for crime solving in this charming detective series. Starring Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife) and David Walliams (Britain’s Got Talent, Little Britain) as Agatha Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence, the BBC and Acorn TV series will delight audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. Guest stars include Clarke Peters (The Wire), Alice Krige (Thor: The Dark World), Ed Speleers (Downton Abbey),James Fleet (Four Weddings and a Funeral), and Roy Marsden (Adam Dalgliesh in the P.D. James mysteries). In September 2015, the series made its U.S. premiere on Acorn TV, the premier streaming service for world-class television from Britain and beyond at Acorn.TV. Acorn is also syndicating Partners in Crime directly to public television stations, who will begin airing the series in March 2016. These DVD and Blu-ray 2-disc sets feature six episodes plus bonus behind-the-scenes featurettes ($39.99 each, AcornOnline.com).

Agatha Christie’s charming crime-solvers Tommy and Tuppence Beresford are an ordinary married couple living in 1950s Britain at the start of the Cold War. Sometimes bickering but always sweet on each other, they find themselves knee-deep in danger when they stumble into spy craft and end up being rather good at it. In The Secret Adversary, they search for a missing woman and a recording that could unmask a Soviet hit man. In N or M?, they must discover which person at a seaside guesthouse has stolen a nuclear bomb. Each thrilling adventure abounds with humor, international espionage, visual flair, and chic period fashion.

Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and is outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays, and six novels written under the name Mary Westmacott.

BONUS: Two behind-the-scenes featurettes about the making of the show and the costume design (89 min.) an interview with Clarke Peters (25 min.) and a photo gallery

Street Date: January 5, 2016                       6 episodes, approx. 355 min., plus bonus - SDH subtitles

Blu-ray 2-Disc Set (SRP: $39.99) – UPC 054961245598     - DVD 2-Disc Set (SRP: $39.99) – UPC 054961244997

My Thoughts

Partners in Crime is set in Paris in 1952. It centers around Tommy and Tuppence Bereford, a quirky couple with knack for getting themselves into trouble. When they accidentally stumble upon some spies during the Cold War, they find themselves unlikely partners in solving crime.  This DVD set includes two books that were adapted into a mini series, each one three episodes long.

The Secret Adversary
1-  Tommy and Tuppence learn a that a women disappeared and a man was shot under mysterious circumstances. Tommy’s Uncle talks them into helping with the search.
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2- Tommy is mistaken as an accomplice of an assassination team and  Tuppence goes undercover as a maid to try to set him free. 

3 - Tommy gets a theft assignment and his son's life depends on his success. Tuppence helped him set out to stop the Soviets.

N or M?
1 - Tommy becomes Maj Carter’s assistant on a mission to locate a scientist, a bomb, and a Soviet spy. Tuppence decides to tag along.

2-  There's a murder at a coastal guesthouse. Both Tommy and Tuppence face some jealousy issues when suspects start flirting with them. 

3- Tommy is captured along with a missing scientist. Tuppence heads to the rescue in the hopes of saving him and stopping a bomb threat.
This is a great show with unique story-lines, realistic costumes and settings, and great characters. I am hoping to see more of the Berefords in the future. If you'd like to grab a copy of this amazing DVD set for yourself, its available online at Acorn Media and on Amazon.