By Rick Gables
Explore the fascinating world of bestselling novelist Agatha Christie with two PBS specials. First up is Inside the Mind of Agatha Christie on Sunday, Jan. 17, at 10 p.m. ET, followed by Agatha Christie’s England on Sunday, Jan. 24, at 10 p.m. ET (check your local listings). Surpassed only by the Bible and Shakespeare, Agatha Christie is the most successful writer of all time. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English and a billion in translation. She wrote an astounding 66 murder mysteries, several plays including The Mousetrap, the longest-running play of all time, and her classic works continue to be adapted for film and television. But how did a refined, upper-class British girl evolve into the queen of crime, poison, and murder? Inside the Mind of Agatha Christie explores what made Agatha tick. Dr. John Curran has spent years pouring over her personal archive, a treasure trove containing letters, manuscripts and 73 meticulously kept notebooks in which she documented everything she saw and heard. He and others explain how the author used her experiences to weave together formidable plots. Agatha Christie’s England explores how the author drew on her surroundings and the people she encountered to create her extraordinary and timeless canon of work. Through a tour, we see that the settings in Christie’s stories were drawn from real places.
Turner Classic Movies offers us a night of espionage and mystery on Friday, Jan. 15, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/PT. First up is a comedy/mystery favorite, Charade, starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, filmed in scenic France with Henry Mancini’s memorable score and song included. Then James Stewart and Doris Day find themselves wrapped up in an assassination plot while vacationing in Morocco in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much. TCM’s evening continues with the gripping film noir, The Third Man, starring Orson Wells and Joseph Cotten. The film is set in Vienna, during the Cold War period.
Hallmark Channel will premiere its original movie, Love in the Alps, starring Nazneen Contractor and Brooks Darnell, on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. When an average guy is gifted a luxury trip, he is mistaken for a millionaire. He and the concierge who is making this once-in-a-lifetime trip happen end up hitting it off after spending time together. Will she feel the same way about him when she learns the truth?
