Christie on Screen
Interview with Joan Hickson
Joan Hickson’s portrayal of Miss Marple for the BBC won her countless fans across the world. In 1993 we interviewed her about her career and role in the Christie television series:
Over coffee, we chatted about her early life as an actress. “Having studied at RADA, I thought I ought to learn my job, so I went into rep in Oxford. It was lovely in those days, but hard work: the company performed a new play every week. The first night was Monday, and on Tuesday morning, we received the new script for the next week. We rehearsed the following week’s play during the day, while performing the current one at night. One week, we were performing Shakespeare, the next Noel Coward. We probably gave dreadful performances!”
Her first appearance on the stage was in 1927 in His Wife’s Children and her West End debut was at the Arts Theatre in 1928 in The Tragic Muse. “I wanted to act from the moment I was born. There was nothing like that in my family, and they did not approve. However, I could not have done anything else, so thank God it worked!”
Joan was born in Northamptonshire into an academic world: there were schools on both sides of the family. Although she had no brothers or sisters, there were always people of her own age around.“I remember one of my Grandmothers, who was a quaker, saying ‘Joan, I am taking about five or six of you to Italy in the Christmas holidays, but I shall not allow you to come unless you wear corsets,’ so I creaked all around Florence. I couldn’t understand why me, because I didn’t bulge any more than the other girls!”
Joan’s connections with Agatha Christie go back to 1937, when she appeared as Emmy in Love from a Stranger. Then in 1962, she played Mrs Kidder in Murder She Said which starred Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple. It was on the set of this film that Joan first met Agatha Christie: Agatha did not see Margaret Rutherford as the ideal Miss Marple. She said to me, ‘Some day I would like you to play my Miss Marple.’ I was quite taken aback, as I was young at the time.”
Her first Christie television role was Mrs Rivington in LWT’s Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? In 1981, and finally in 1985, she began her association with the BBC as Miss Jane Marple. “I finished playing Miss Marple last year: it has been my greatest joy. We have never worked in a studio at all, so it has been wonderful! It takes about five weeks to film a whole Miss Marple, working all day, and we go to the most beautiful country houses and charming villages. Everyone is so nice to us.”
“Also, we went to the Caribbean, but filming was very difficult in all that heat. I had my daughter, who is my stand-in, with me, and we stayed in a bungalow in the grounds of the hotel.”
The Marple series has sold all over the world, and through her agent Joan receives fan letters from many countries. When asked if she felt she had become the ultimate Miss Marple, she was horrified. “Oh no, Margaret Rutherford was that.”
Joan used to live in Battersea, London with her husband who worked as a mental specialist in hospitals, Kings Cross Hospital in particular. “I met him at a 21st birthday party, and we sat together and ate some cake. We loved each other very much...always.”
When asked if she watched herself on television, Joan said, “Yes, there is this awful, horrible compulsion to see where you went wrong.”
Finally, we asked Joan is she would like Miss Marple if they met. “Yes, I think I would – I would like her knowledge and she is very polite.”
The Joan Hickson Series is available to buy here.