4.50 from Paddington

Elspeth McGillicuddy is on a train out of Paddington when, through the window of a train running alongside, she sees a man strangling a woman. Miss Marple works out that it was thrown off the train near Rutherford Hall and sends the capable Lucy Eyelesbarrow to work there as a housekeeper. Lucy finds the body in a sarcophagus in the barn. The Crackenthorpe family becomes the suspect pool, and two of the brothers are poisoned. At tea, Miss Marple fakes choking, the family doctor rushes to help, and Mrs. McGillicuddy recognizes him: he's the man on the train. Dr. Quimper killed his wife so he could marry Emma Crackenthorpe. Who Lucy will end up with is left open.

1. ChangeMiss Marple goes undercover

   In the film Murder, She Said (1961), Miss Marple herself sees the train murder and takes the job at the house. In the book, the witness is Mrs. McGillicuddy and the housekeeper is Lucy.

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2. ChangeAckenthorpe Hall

   The film swapped Rutherford Hall for Ackenthorpe Hall, to avoid using the lead actress's surname, and shortened Crackenthorpe to Ackenthorpe.

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3. ChangeLucy gets an inspector

   On ITV (2004), the killer murders one fewer person, Harold survives, and Lucy falls for a new inspector, Tom Campbell (John Hannah).

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4. CameoJoan Hickson before Marple

   In the 1961 film, Joan Hickson plays the small role of Mrs. Kidder. More than 20 years later she became the BBC's Miss Marple and did this case again in 1987.

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