[Music] uh [Music] 21st century visitors to harrogate in north yorkshire could be forgiven for imagining they had stepped right back into an agatha christie novel to an age of nostalgic elegance charming green parks laid out with formal grace adorn the town center while the stately architecture that grew to accommodate the fashionably wealthy who flocked to harrogate to take the waters for their health proves as reassuringly inviting as ever this is a town awash with delightful surprises and for any enthusiast on the trail of agatha christie harrogate will reveal itself to being the backdrop for perhaps the greatest of all this erstwhile crime writer's plots [Music] agatha christie's connection with harrogate however is far from being a work of fiction and even the famous little grey brain cells virgil puerto or the razor sharp mind of miss marple would struggle to make sense of this most bizarre episode in agatha christie's life [Music] at about 7 p.m on saturday the 4th of december 1926 a seemingly unexceptional lady by the name of mrs teresa neal recently arrived from cape town walked into this harrogate hotel and for the grand sum of five guinness a week took a pleasant room on the first floor back then the old swan hotel was known as the harrogate hydro and the lady in question was none other than agatha christie queen of the murder mystery who had already made something of a name for herself as a successful author agatha christie's disappearance was to spark a nationwide police hunt with suspicion falling upon her husband archie christie while she blended into the well-ordered life of this elegant town where she felt safe from the glare of publicity her abandoned car was found smashed into a tree on a ledge overhanging a quarry implying that agatha christie had met with the same manner of unfortunate end as many of a fictional victims for 11 days the newspapers were filled with speculation about what gruesome fate might have befallen her that only ceased when mrs christie was found alive and in residence at the halogen hydro to this day the reasons for agatha christie's disappearance are still unclear her husband claimed that his wife had been suffering from amnesia while others of a less charitable disposition believed it was some kind of stage managed publicity stunt devised to sell more books but as could have been expected in one of agatha christie's old murder mysteries there was a great deal more to this strange tale than might at first meet the eye public interest that the story generated was nothing short of a phenomenon and agatha christie's name attached to a headline still continues to make front page news to understand the reasons behind this agatha christie phenomenon it's necessary at the outset to find the elusive lady of letters behind the legend tantalizing as it might be to pinpoint how an author who was criticized for her limited literary style became so popular credit is undoubtedly due in no small part to the character of this remarkable writer formed during a rather unusual and in agatha's own words wonderfully happy childhood putting harrogate and agatha christie's enigmatic vanishing act aside for the time being the search for clues to help unravel this mysterious event and all that they're up to it points south to the sedate davincious seaside town of torquay where agatha christie nay miller was born on the 15th of september 1890 while harrogate remained substantially unchanged in appearance since those december days when agatha christie sought refuge there back in the 1920s the same cannot be said of torquay [Music] the fine house where agatha mary clarissa miller made her entrance into the world has long since been demolished and there is little of note to see climbing the steep barton road to its summit requires that the many visitors in search of agatha christie's torquay are prepared to use their imagination to picture the stylish sense of elegance that would have prevailed here back in 1890 grand villas and suburban mansions were surrounded by sweeping lawns and opal and foliage where the respectable middle to upper class families of torque he resided today bungalows occupy the site where agatha christie's beloved home ashfield once stood along with a warehouse a school and a block of flats ashfield may have gone but to get a sense of what the area would have been like the church where the miller family worshiped all saints at all completed just before agatha's birth is only a short distance away she was christened here and as her father made a contribution to the new building agatha was entered as a founder member of the church the views of torquay from the top of barton road are still impressive and while the seafront pavilion has been transformed into a shopping mall and the town hall into a market the spirit of the golden age in which young agatha grew up remains intact albeit rather well hidden by the trappings of a modern holiday resort ashfield was a large comfortable villa perfect for a well-to-do lake victorian family agatha's mother clarissa known as clara was the daughter of a dashing army captain frederick beamer who had died after an accident falling from his horse when clara was just a girl of nine agatha's grandmother frederick's wife marianne was left an impoverished widow with four children to care for and she struggled to cope when her sister margaret who had recently married a wealthy american by the name of nathaniel freri miller offered to take one of the children clara was sent to live with her aunt and uncle blessed with a comfortable home and good education clara was well cared for but she never really came to terms with the fact that her mother had given her away something that would stunt not only her own development as a woman but also that of her daughter agatha as well nevertheless there were compensations for clara as a direct result of living in the miller household namely visits from nathaniel's son from his first marriage frederick a glamorous new yorker eight years clara senior who dazzled the wide-eyed adoptee frederick was destined to be agatha's father after proposing to the ever-adoring devoted clara when he reached the age of 32. after a honeymoon in switzerland the newly wed mr and mrs frederick miller settled in torquay where their first child margaret always called match was born in 1879. she was quickly followed by a son louis mountain in 1880 who was always known in the family as monty had actually bought ashfield with an inheritance of her own while frederick was visiting new york to check on his investments and the family soon settled into a very comfortable way of life by the time agatha was born 10 years after monty ashfield was well ordered with plenty of servants to keep life at the millers running smoothly frederick was a gentleman who enjoyed a leisured existence spending his days at such elegant places as the tour bay yacht club or the torquay cricket club clara continued to adore her good-natured generous husband as agatha grew into the most charming little girl she too fell under frederick's spell he spent money lavishly in torquay's finest establishments and his family lived very well indeed unfortunately however he failed to keep a close enough eye on his investments in america and spent way beyond his means resulting in a great many financial worries that as a child agatha was blissfully unaware of the women of the miller family were a dominant force and agatha's older sister madge was from the same mold with a brilliant mind she flourished at the school which would in later years become rudy it was a different story for paul monty who despite being sent to harrow was unable even to come close to maj's academic achievements nagatha would go on to describe him as an amiable escape grace of a brother nonetheless when there was talk of madge going to gerton college cambridge frederick firmly put a stop to his daughter becoming a blue stocking making a suitable marriage was the proper occupation for a young woman who manages social standing and being cleverer than a potential suitor would never do consequently clara decided that agatha was not going to go to school instead she would stay at home this was nothing unusual in itself many girls of agatha's class in this era had governances but no teacher was implied clara insisted that her youngest daughter should not be taught to read until she reached the age of eight but at around the time of agatha's fourth birthday her nursemaid informed clara that the bright little girl had already taught herself to read it was perfectly acceptable though for agatha to take dancing lessons and the athenian rooms where she learned to waltz as a five-year-old can still be seen today with other little girls from torquay's finest families agatha acquired the social graces while the finer details of the english language and grammar passed a by then seemingly without warning agatha miller's life was thrown into turmoil when she was just 11 years of age frederick then 55 had suffered a number of heart attacks which he had played down in importance and he died in 1901 his doctors had previously suggested that his nerves were causing the heart attacks and stress caused by his financial difficulties was likely to have been a major contributing factor the most logical course of action for clara would have been to sell ashfield but agatha begged her not to and after losing frederick her youngest daughter became the most important thing in her life madge who also had a talent for writing married james watts heir to albany hall near manchester in 1902 after having had a number of her stories published in vanity fair monty after failing to make a success of anything he did had volunteered for the army when the second war war began in 1899 after frederick died monty soon spent what he'd been left from the miller estate and rapidly built up heavy debts into the bargain the apple of his father's eye is the only son monty failed to live up to the family's expectations and it was the women of the miller clan whom he would rely upon for his survival interestingly strong clever women like maj were destined to take center stage in many of agatha christie's novels while impossibly glamorous but feckless young men like monty featured on equally numerous occasions with madge married and settled in the north of england and monty unable to offer his mother much comfort agatha and clara became closer than ever the mother became the center of the daughter's universe as a result agatha remained locked in childhood in so many ways long into adulthood yet she blossomed into a beautiful willowy young girl with long fair hair and life in talk he was blissfully happy while clara delighted in a daughter's attractiveness agatha had attended a ladylike torquay establishment for a schooling two days a week when she was 15 her mother took her to paris to complete her somewhat sporadic education agatha missed her mother and ashfield dreadfully but she soon developed a love of music and studying the piano and singing with expert tutors agatha proved to be extremely talented had it not been for her debilitating nerves when it came to performing she might well become a concert pianist instead following maj's lead while in her late teens agatha began to write with increasing interest clara had read to her from early childhood with the works of sir walter scott and charles dickens being notable favorites and she always encouraged agatha to write stories of her own [Music] even at this early stage in her heart agatha knew she was every bit as accomplished to write her as much but for the time being there were more pressing matters demanding her attention when she returned home from palace meeting other young ladies for devonshire cream teas attending house parties going to dances playing tennis and flirting demurely with handsome young men with a delight to the very popular miss agatha miller of ashfield and she attracted many a handsome suitor she was happy confident and enjoyed her life showing the knowledge that she was as she would later describe herself a lovely girl the walk down into torquay would have brought agatha and her young lady friends to the pier where they used to promenade and the gardens where they could sit and while away the hours known as the princess pier after queen victoria's daughter princess louise agatha was able to roll a skate here for the grand sum of tuppence the pier being a relatively new addition to the seafront when agatha was a girl about town [Music] the princess pleasure gardens were laid out a few years earlier than the pier as torquay became [Music] century devotees who come to torquay for the annual agatha christie festival week each september the traveling agatha christie theater company are always in residence going to the theater was something that agatha had enjoyed from an early age often accompanying majin monte on their almost weekly visits to torquay's royal theater and opera house to see whatever was being staged that both madge and agatha went on to create dramatic works that would grace london's west end is no doubt doing part to this early exposure to the theater [Music] living so close to the sea it's no surprise that the tall elegant agatha was an excellent swimmer when she was a girl torki's beacon cove was the ladies beach as mixed bathing would have been considered scandalous nevertheless in full view of the tour bay yacht club the ladies may not have been quite as protected from view as they imagined as it's been said the gentleman they had been known to use opera glasses to watch the girls in their swimming costumes the royal torbay yacht club was the epitome of elegance and agatha's father had been one of its most prominent members until his financial difficulties had curtailed his lavish lifestyle agatha would in later years talk fondly of torquay's regatta days which were organized by the yacht club describing them as i looked forward to joy in life the yacht club's regatta still take place and looking at this delightful view of the bay with the elegant sails of more recent yachts today it's very easy to appreciate why agatha would have been so enchanted by the scene sailing was a very glamorous pastime when agatha was a girl made even more so after king edward vii a keen sailor came to the throne after the death of his mother queen victoria in 1901 in fact the royal yacht britannia was frequently anchored out in the bay when the king visited torquay but it wasn't only the excellent sailing prospects that attracted him with his mistress lily langtry awaiting him at the imperial hotel edward the seventh could be discreetly ferried assured beacon cove to meet her there while the respectable gentle folk of torquay were none the wiser interestingly despite agatha's strength as a swimmer on one occasion she almost drowned in beacon cove while swimming with a young nephew jack watts on her back when agatha recalled the incident in her autobiography she recorded her extreme indignation as her life failed to flash before her eyes and there was none of the beautiful music that was allegedly heard when you were dying evidently fate had other plans for agatha when she was rescued by the bad tempered old man stationed in the seahorse a boat designated for just such an emergency fortunately both agatha and jack lived to tell the tale while for a budding murder mystery writer her first hand brush with death by drowning was consigned to memory for future reference as well as the places that agatha experienced in the formative years there are many tributes to her to be found in torquay one of the most poignant said to have captured a real likeness of her as an older woman is the fine bronze blessed by the dutch sculptor carol van dem boon keirens commission to mark what would have been agatha christie's hundredth birthday in 1990 talky museum is another favorite destination for those who come here in search of the agatha christie legacy as there is a gallery dedicated to the town's most famous daughter as a child she would have known this imposing victorian institution well as it was established by the torquay natural history society of which her late father frederick had been an enthusiastic member by the time she was enjoying the delights of being one of torky's young bells miss agatha miller would have been rather less likely to visit the museum than the more popular seaside meeting places like all young ladies of a class agatha needed to be introduced into society for her first season [Music] london would have been a more usual city in which to make her debut but clara's poor health and financial situation made this impossible the city chosen instead was cairo and although as an older woman egypt would provide great inspiration for agatha it was the five dancers a week and the dashing young men to partner her around the floor that preoccupied her during this visit [Music] clara was keen to find a suitable match for agatha and there were two proposals from men that they met in cairo but they were turned down agatha was rather peeved that her mother only told her of a proposal from a captain hibbard when they were sailing home which clara had refused on her daughter's behalf nevertheless clarda must have been thrilled at agatha's success and back in turkey no proposals soon followed [Music] in 1911 a besotted colonel of 35 bolton fletcher sent agatha extravagant gifts and love letters which she greatly enjoyed when he proposed after just three meetings she asked him to wait six months for an answer when the telegram arrived at the allotted time insisting she'd give him an answer the reply was quite simply no the next proposal came from wilfred price whom clara was keen for agatha to accept son of old family friends wilfred was in the navy which meant that clara and agatha could happily live on together at ashfield while he was away at sea but despite his youth and financial security the solemn and exceedingly polite wilfred was in agatha's eyes a terrible ball she tried to please clara but she couldn't bring herself to marry wilfred agatha would just have to wait for her knight in shining armor to sweep her off her feet but by this point she desperately wanted to be married agatha didn't have to wait long for another proposal because during the summer of 1911 during a balmy hot day on torquay golf course the brother of her good friends the lucy sisters reggie asked her to marry him golf was a fashionable pastime for young ladies as well as gentlemen but agatha was not a natural and reggie had offered to give her some coaching in the finer points he was a major in the gunners on leave from his posting in hong kong when they sat to take a rest he made his proposal it wasn't the romantic declaration that agatha had been waiting for but it was eminently sensibly expressed he told her he wanted to marry her there's no rush nobody else turned up to bear him in mind nobody was more surprised than reggie when she said yes by the end of the afternoon they had an understanding if not quite an official engagement just two weeks later red you returned to hong kong and for a year or so they continued their courtship by letter until a handsome second of tenant by the name of archibald christie came riding by his metaphorical white charger as the autumn of 1912 turned to winter agbrook house and the rolling devcher countryside was the setting for this romantic meeting find robert adam house with his capability brown park that had been in the clifford family since the restoration of charles ii when the incumbent lord and lady clifford gave a dance for the garrison at exeter they were aware there would be a shortage of young ladies for the soldiers to dance with they asked their friends to bring along extra girls in their acquaintance now as the miller's friends the travers family who lived close to agbook were invited and asked agatha to accompany them there is no coincidence in this reading like a plot from one of agatha christie's thrillers as despite her youth and preoccupation with falling in love the people that she met at this time and the country-house circle in which she moved would be safely tucked away in a memory for future reference many of her male characters would resemble those from a long list of suitors but when a young officer friend of hers who couldn't go to the egg brookhouse party told agatha to look out for a good dancer by the name of archibald christie a new chapter was destined to be written the dance at brookhouse took place on the 12th of october and agatha was not disappointed by a friend's recommendation at 23 archie christie was just a year older than agatha appearing before has the most mysterious romantic figures handsome with fine features he was also unconventional insisting that agatha disregarded the polite niceties of a full dance car that night to take to the floor all evening with him instead when the dance was over she hoped that archie would want to see her again while he was determined to possess the lovely miss miller archie christie was without doubt a gentleman and he had a good education at clifton college in bristol where his stepfather had been the headmaster but he was in no position to make a proposal of marriage he had no money his prospects were far from secure as he intended to pursue flying as a career three months before meeting agatha he paid for his own flying lessons and was planning to become a pilot in the royal flying corps in 1912 this was a daring course of action and every bit as fraught with danger as attempting to wrestle agatha from clara's dominant maternal influence [Music] with a little detective work of his own archie discovered where the millers lived and turned up at ashfield having chugged up barton road in his motorbike agatha was out with another besotted young man but archie waited for her taking tea with the redoubtable clara if it was love at first sight for agatha it was just the opposite for clara who was highly suspicious of this unconventional young man agatha returned to hear she had a visitor waiting and she was thrilled to discover it was archie already agatha was a good way to being swept off her feet and early in january 1913 archie made a decisive move the elegant pavilion at torquay had been formally opened in 1912 as a grand concert hall with such luminaries as edward elgin and henry wood appearing there as guest conductors the program for the 4th of january was a concert of works by wagner agatha's favorite composer and she accompanied archie to the pavilion it was a magical evening when they returned to ashfield archie demanded that agatha agree to marry him you've got to marry me he'd cried and despite clara's objections agatha consented to become mrs christie the engagement was tempestuous as the storm clouds of world war one gathered one of them would break it off then the other before it will all be back on again suggesting that they were far from well matched causing clara great anxiety she described the daughters having a dangerous intensity of affection and whether jealousy or maternal concern she hoped the relationship would burn itself out before wedding date could be set but the outbreak of war worked against clara archie seemed more romantic than ever to agatha when as a young pilot he was sent to france in august 1914 [Music] after traveling to salisbury bid her fiance fond farewell agatha was ready to do a bit for king and country too clara had continued to encourage agatha's writing and she could have easily occupied herself creating astorias but when the chance came to nurse the injured servicemen returned from the battlefields of france she took it yet ironically it would be this distraction from writing that would result in eventually becoming the queen of crime writers [Music] torky's town hall was completed in 1911 but with the outbreak of ward became a red cross hospital in preparation to treat the gust and blown up soldiers from the trenches like many other conscientious young ladies agatha had trained in first aid and the day she returned from saying her goodbyes to archie she took up a nursing post with the voluntary aid detachment known as the vad despite her sheltered upbringing agatha cope well with the horrific injuries of the young men she cared for as she waited for news of her beloved archie when he was on leave for christmas the bear visited his mother and stepfather in bristol but they erode when agatha refused archie's gift of a dressing case having hoped for something more passionate and romantic then her hopes were quite unexpectedly realized when archie stormed into her bedroom on the night of the 23rd and demanded that agatha marry him the next day christmas eve he cost eight pounds for a license and marriage took place in the local church with agatha exhilarated by such a romantic adventure before catching a train as newlyweds on route to torquay clutching the contentious and now accepted dressing case packed with a blinds they arrived at about midnight having phoned ahead to book a suite for just one night at the lovely grand hotel which is as elegant a day as it was when the christie's honeymoon there back in 1914 on christmas morning it was time for agatha to face clara who was only told about the wedding after the event and the telephone call had not gone well even so by the time they met clara had adjusted to the shocking news and agatha commented that her mother had been happy in her and arch's happiness this was made easier as for mother and daughter things continued exactly as before without you returning to france on boxing day and agatha returning to a nursing duties at the town hall husband and wife would not meet again for six months and then only when archie got the briefest of leaves the course of agatha's future changed dramatically in 1915 when a bad bout of flu meant she was moved from nursing duties on the town hall to the dispensary close by unremarkable offices today this is where agatha first encountered poison and now she studied for her apothecary's hall examination the possibility of writing a detective story took shape this was further fueled when she discussed a new ambition with a sister madge who promptly bet that agatha couldn't do it resulting in the mysterious affair and styles being written in 1916 quite unwittingly majid contributed a delightful setting of a country house for a murder as agatha based styles court on her visits to maggie's home abney hall clark also played a part when agatha was struggling to finish her novel suggesting she'd get away somewhere with no disturbances the place agatha chose was the moorland hotel on the edge of dartmoor and here she wrote fervently for two weeks and completed a task agatha had previously written the full length novel but the detective at the heart of the mysterious affair at styles was destined to prove sister mad wrong with one elegant twist of his distinctive mustache as agatha submerged herself in the dramatic dartmoor landscape monsieur urculo emerged from the pages of a manuscript eccentric retired belgian detective living in london and his sidekick captain hastings recently returned from the war had all the appeal of conan doyle sherlock holmes and dr watson however it would be a few more years hence before urchil puado was ready to make his debut in print because when agatha now mrs christie sent a novel to various publishers it was swiftly rejected the mysterious affair styles was put to one side when the first world war last came to an end in 1918 and archie christie returned to reclaim his bride from her mother agatha found herself setting up the first home with archie in the northwest terrace in johnswood london where her energies were thrown into running a home of her own the christie's flat was far removed from asheville and its servants but agatha soon learned the basics of housekeeping and as she adored archie she was happy with a new lot the mysterious affair at styles was not forgotten though and she continued to send her manuscript to publishers without success until in 1919 agatha discovered she was pregnant archie left the royal flying car and found work in the city and the christie's moved to a larger flat that would accommodate a baby and a nanny agatha was content creating a home for a family commenting that she and archie were happy at this time and seemed well set up her only child rosalind was born at ashfield on the 5th of august 1919 now she went about her tasks as a mother pushing her daughter in a pram through kensington has submitted manuscript as far from her thoughts then out of the blue a short time after rosalind was born a letter arrived from the publisher john lane of bodily head saying that he thought the mysterious affaired styles had possibilities no one was more surprised than agatha when it was published in 1920 but she was delighted especially when she earned 25 pounds from its serialization in the weekly times archie had never been keen on the idea of a baby but as rosalind with her dark hair and serious eyes grew into a little girl he became ever more fond of her she was like archie with a quiet self-possession and he described his daughter as the perfect child yet agatha struggled it was as if only one in the family could be a perfect daughter and that was her role with clara [Music] at best she was indifferent to rosalind at worst dismissive and in our later works there were some telling comments about children in the moving finger it's noted that lots of mothers don't like their children agatha attended rosalind's material needs in every way that she seemed incapable of giving rather than receiving a mother's love ironically it was archie christie who suggested his wife give a second novel a try and the secret adversary published in 1922 was more successful than the first it told the story of thomas beresford and prudence cowley would-be blackmailers who found detecting much more fun nicknamed tommy and tuppence the couple who went on to marry caught the mood of the 1920s tuppence was a beautiful ex-vad nurse just as agatha had been who turned down a millionaire to marry for love encouraged agatha continued to write and murder on the links followed a year later giving her belgian detective a second outing although today her choice of a belgian hero may seem unusual during world war one and his aftermath in england this would have been considered patriotic as germany had invaded belgium it also explains why a detective of such high standing was to be found in london with time in his hands having fled to escape his nation's occupation clara had never wanted agatha mariachi concerned that a man so self-absorbed and attracted to the ladies would not remain faithful especially as agatha was oblivious to the threat that they supposed motherhood had to some extent robbed agatha of a ethereal girlish grace and a blossoming writing career meant she paid less attention to archie clara's own mother and aunt had always advised her not to leave a man alone too much and she passed the miller women's words onto agatha remember a man forgets they said when archie was due to go on the empire tour in 1922 with his work agatha seemed to heed them accompanying her husband to visit south africa new zealand australia and canada interestingly archie lacked stamina but agatha reveled in the experience which provided her with a rich source of material for a novel the man in the brown suit which appeared in 1924 on the krusty's return rosalind already sensing indifference ignored her mother agatha's devoted dog peter gave her a rapturous welcome in many ways peter inspired far more of a maternal instinct than agatha than rosalind ever could archie struggled to find further work once back in england having been away for so long so agatha took measures to put her writing career on a more business-like footing she'd been naively grateful to john lane for taking her on but felt she'd not done as well as she might have financially and moved from bodily head to a more lucrative arrangement with collins agatha was also aware of maggie's success as a writer with a play about to go into rehearsal for the west end and healthy sibling rivalry prompted her to get herself a literary agent growing up in torquay agatha had been fortunate enough to have known the much respected devon author eden philpotts who recommended hughes massey and not surprisingly they welcomed the already successful agatha christie with open arms writing was now a serious business for agatha and even the bbc discovered that if they wanted a broadcaster work they had to be prepared to pay for the privilege [Music] with growing profitability agatha bought a morris cowley car nachi's fortunes also took a turn for the better when he found a good position in the city and he fell in love on this occasion not with a woman but with golf at every possible opportunity he would spend weekends at sunny day in berkshire with golfing friends and agatha soon described herself as a golf widow dating right back to her daze attempting to play golf at torquay when reggie lucy had offered some instruction agatha had failed to become proficient at the game so even had she wanted to accompany archie her presence on the course would not have been welcome nevertheless agatha was wise enough to know that ivachi was happy then all would be well his passion for her may have cooled but her love for him was as ardent as it had ever been and when he suggested they moved to sunningdale to be closer to the golf course she agreed the christie's moved to a fine flat in scottswood a substantial house on sunningdale's devonish road and archie played golf as often as he pleased agatha's first book for collins was pivotal in establishing her as a thriller writer the detective she chose was again her kill puerto and the murder of roger ackeride was given the first of what would become agatha christie's legendary plot twists written in 1925 the year that the secret of the chimneys was published the murder of roger akroyd was destined to become a turning point in a career just as the move to a more substantial sunningdale property proved to be equally life-changing marking the beginning of the end of the christie's marriage the large household archery renamed styles as it was the success of the mysterious affairs styles that meant they could afford it never seemed like a home to agatha she saw it as cold and impersonal clara who was now ailing was often at styles and archie was frequently away playing golf but agatha had the help of charlotte fisher who had been engaged to look after rosalind and be her secretary carlo as charlotte was fondly known was a godsend during the busy months of 1926 as the murder of roger ackroyd was completed but when clara contracted bronchitis and died on the 5th of april even the capable carlo couldn't console the distraught agatha archie was away on business in spain when clara died when he got home he tried to persuade agatha to return with him but she was horrified he hoped the change of scene while he completed his business would take a mind off things as he struggled to cope with agatha's extreme and to him excessive grief clara even in death still stood between them so agatha chose to go to ashfield and archie rebuffed went back to spain peter the dog became our only solace until the promise of a holiday in italy with archie when his work in spain was done gave agatha new hope but it would be short-lived when archie arrived he'd made no holiday arrangements and instead told agatha that he was in love with another woman nancy neil and he wanted a divorce for the second time in a matter of months agatha's world fell apart not only has she lost her mother but now her husband as well although she was not ready to give up archie without a fight from august to december 1926 the christies attempted a reconciliation at styles but without success the rows were awful and when archie failed return home as expected on the 3rd of december agatha knew she had lost and that he'd gone to nancy [Music] and so began the strange affair of agatha christie's disappearance as alone in the darkest styles she packed a few things and drove her car to where nancy lived in surrey nobody would ever know why she then drove away without archie or nancy being aware of a presence to the silent pool near albury some think she may have been contemplating suicide while others believe that after writing so many murderous plots agatha christie used her razor sharp skills to take revenge on archie by laying a trail of clues to suggest that she had been murdered by her husband when the police found agatha's car it appeared to have gone out of control and crashed into a tree at the edge of a quarry an ominous pool of water lying below it her case was still in the car but there was no sign of the lady in question with archie being the prime suspect agatha had walked the miles from the silent pool along walter lane to eventually reach chillworth station here she boarded the train to guildford from where she began her journey to harrogate and anonymity as mrs teresa neil recently arrived from south africa with all the solid respectability and charm of the talkie of her childhood agatha felt safe in harrogate's hydro hotel where she could last rest and think through the events of 1926. walking into the town taking lunch or afternoon tea at betty's tea rooms shopping for clothes as she brought virtually nothing with her agatha settled into the role she was playing with a surprising degree of calm while reading daily the shocking headlines of her suspected murder it's not difficult to imagine what harrahgate looked like then as little has changed and the delightful betis still serves tea from silver pots just as it did back in 1926 to visitors from all over the world it's impossible to guess how long agatha would have continued as mrs kneel in harrogate had she not been spotted but after 11 days archie and her sister madge arrived to collect her any dream that agatha might have had that archie came to harrogate because he realized that he loved her and not nancy quickly evaporated as finding her alive simply proved he was innocent of her murder when it was time to leave harrogate the press were everywhere and a decoy car was used to make sure agatha could slip away to abney hall she had certainly suffered some kind of breakdown her mother was dead her marriage was in ruins but at last she was forced to accept the need to live in an adult world hello archie stayed with agatha in the immediate aftermath he and his wife were now household names and nancy neil was sent on a round-the-world tour by a family to avoid any further scandal agatha couldn't bear delivered styles so she lived at chelsea with rosalind and carlo while archie remained in sunnydale they met for the last time in 1927 when he told agatha that he wanted to marry nancy and the christians were granted a divorce after fake evidence of archie's adultery with an unknown party was submitted two weeks after the decree absolute came through archie and nancy were married they lived happily together until nancy's death 30 years later as agatha's personal life lay in her career as a writer continue to flourish by 1930 she had channeled the emotional turmoil she had experienced into romantic novels published under the pen name of mary westmacott this left agatha christie clear to write clever controlled thrillers while our alter ego mary westmacott was free to pour out her emotions in print nevertheless during this period of adjustment agatha christie was convinced she faced a lifetime of poverty as she struggled to complete the mystery of the blue train which was published in 1928 she made a major transition agatha christie was now a serious professional writer and turning to urkil puerto to solve this mystery once more she delighted her readers travel had always thrilled agatha with rosalind safely dispatched to boarding school even as an unaccompanied woman she was determined to see the world a chance meeting at a dinner party with a guest who had traveled on the orient express inspired agatha to do the same providing her with adventure excellent material for future novels and totally unexpectedly a young man to fall in love with on the first trip east she was invited as an honored guest to visit an archaeological dig at ur in iraq here she met british archaeologist leonard wooley and his wife catherine and they became firm friends when the woolies asked her to earth for a second time in 1930 agatha was introduced to 25 year old max malawan an archaeologist who seemed to take great delight in showing mrs christie now approaching 40 around their age difference meant that agatha was happy and relaxed in the charming young man's company and when rosalind fell dangerously ill back in england it was max who insisted on accompanying agatha on the hastily arranged journey home 1930 was proving to be a good year for agatha christie rosalind recovered and she had a new detective ready for publication waiting to join irkil puero and tommy and tappance this time her new sleuth came from a very unexpected quarter namely the type of thatched country village that agatha had known so well growing up in devon the name on the tip of every one of our reader's tongues was miss jane marple of saint mary mead the seemingly fluffy muddle-headed elderly maiden and possessed by every english family as she knitted bed jackets and booties aunt jane exhibited the razor-sharp mind of the very best of detectives with an uncanny understanding of the very depths of depravity miss marple's first outing in a novel the murder at the vicarage delighted her readers there were plenty of unexpected plot twists but miss marble's creator was about to experience a real-life plot twist of her own max malawan had actually been wooing agatha with great care over the months he had known her when he was invited to visit ashfield he asked her to marry him it was more than agatha dared dream of max had no money and a wealthy wife would certainly help his career but agatha was as thrilled as she was surprised especially as max seemed to take charge of her allowing her to relax once more into the role of the adored child marge was highly suspicious of his motives and when the unlikely couple married in edinburgh on the 11th september 1930 she sent a gift of handkerchiefs for mopping tears something the max would never forgive or forget it might not have been the great romance that agatha experienced with archie christie but it was a loving relationship and both parties got a great deal of benefit from being together agatha had the security of feeling loved and cared for while max eventually was able to run his own archaeological digs the proceeds of being agatha christie had been poured into many properties and as well as a beloved ashfield in torquay there were a number of london houses to begin with max had declared a fondness rashfield but once they were married he encouraged agatha to move on from the past also ashfield was no longer surrounded by countryside as it had been when agatha was a child so the decision was made to sell it and a country house that could have left straight from the pages of a christie novel was selected and forever described by actor as max's house [Music] in 1934 agatha bought winterbrook house near wallingford in oxfordshire an elegant georgian house with a queen and facade [Music] garden with its spreading cedar trees ran down to the river thames a view that the malawians greatly enjoyed if styles had been cold and without heart winterbrook was warm and cozy and the epitome of middle england respectability it was also the year that two of her most popular novels murder on the orient express and why didn't they ask evans were published now happy with max in a way she had never anticipated being ever again agatha drew on all their experiences whether from england's green and pleasant lands or the heady mysteries of the far east for her inspiration the charming market town of wallingford also provided agatha with additional material over time she even became involved with the local amateur dramatic society the synod and players who performed them then in the masonic hall attending their pantomimes and playing a role herself as their president today the center done players are still entertaining the good folk of wallingford having moved to the corn exchange that stands in the center of town as lovely as winterbrook house might be it was still a long way from agatha's beloved devon but when greenway house with gardens sloping onto the river dart came out of the market in 1938 she bought it complete with all 33 acres the original house had been built in 1530 but was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the 1780s and agatha was never happier than when she was at greenway living out her childhood fantasy of being lady of the manor in her autobiography agatha recalls that as a child she dreamt about becoming the lady agatha one day and from its glittering position on the river dart being mistress of greenway would certainly have helped her to feel that her dreams had come true [Music] it was at greenway that agatha was truly able to be at home in a way that she had not been since ashfield had been sold the captivating rolling devon countryside that the river dart ran through was equally as important to a sense of peace and of belonging as the beautiful white house that his successful novels are paid for despite agatha almost drowning in beaten cove all those years earlier she still loved swimming one of her greatest joys was to wander down from the house to swim in the dark the landscape and greenway was also to prove inspirational and they're very thinly disguised as nas house on the river in dead man's folly published in 1956 when the boathouse on the riverbank becomes the murder scene today greenway is as lovingly cared for by the national trust as it was when agatha christie owned the house and visitors come from all over the world to wander along this beautiful tranquil stretch of river which offered agatha and max such a delightful hideaway [Music] nevertheless as at winterbrook agatha took an active part in the local community worshiping at the nearby saint mary the virgin church in the village of churches where in later life she would donate the royalties from one of her works for a fine stained glass window to be installed [Music] she also became a governor to the local primary school where she unveiled the plaque commemorating her involvement [Music] people that knew agatha christie often remarked that she was a very nice woman and happily settled with max whether at winterbook greenway london or some foreign climb on one of max's archaeological digs she had at last put the loss of clara and then archie behind her sadly her relationship with rosalind would always be difficult an inevitable casualty of her being archie's daughter but matters did improve as agatha became more settled max was happy too and his career also flourished as agatha became more prolific than ever murder in mesopotamia dumb witness and death on the nile all had hercule puerto working as magic for her and in her 1936 novel cards on the table a lesser-known detective and good friend of ikel puero ariadne oliver made an appearance having previously been introduced in the parka pine investigates short stories ariadne is a large grey-haired woman who writes murder mysteries and many believe her to be a thinly veiled self-portrait especially as agatha despite max's love a struggle to come to terms with her increasing size as she got older these were good years but by the late 1930s the world was in turmoil as adolf hitler storm trooped his way across europe and when war broke out in 1939 agatha's idyllic life was not immune from its effects first max joined the home guard at brixton but as the war progressed he joined the air ministry using his considerable skill in foreign liaison before being posted to cairo in 1942 greenway was requisitioned by the admiralty but rather than seeking the safety of the countryside agatha took herself to london renting a service flat there despite her large property portfolio she missed max but with many friends in the city and a resumption of her duties as a dispenser attached to university college hospital she had plenty to keep her occupied nevertheless her writing continued at a great pace and then there were none first published as ten little [ __ ] appeared in 1939 and was a great success based on childhood memories of bird island off the devon coast all the victims are invited to an island where they're killed off one by one in mysterious circumstances and then there were none went into the west end as a play in 1943 and in 1945 it was the first big cinema release of an agatha christie novel with max away it was an archaeologist friend of his called stephen glanville who accompanied agatha and rosalind to the west end to see the play and it was stephen who inspired agatha to write death comes as the end a murder mystery set in ancient egypt [Music] this is the only novel agatha wrote that was not set in the 20th century and she acknowledged stephen's part in its creation in a letter of thanks at the front of the book as agatha's success continued to escalate even through the hardships of world war ii there were troubles brewing for her that she was blissfully unaware of agatha's earnings from america where she had previously been classified as a non-taxpayer were now under scrutiny and she began to receive huge tax demands that would be a major worry for the rest of her life by the end of the war in 1945 agatha christie was a publishing phenomenon as the forties gave way to a bright new decade she had sold an estimated 50 million books virgil puerto and miss marple were fast becoming national treasures agatha showed great respect for them both recognizing during the war years her own mortality she wanted a fitting end and final case for a super sleuths so she wrote sleeping murder for miss marble and curtin for puero and both was stored in a vault in case she was killed in the luftwaffe's bombing raids on london in the blitz during the war rosalind married hubert pritchard and in 1943 agatha was delighted at becoming a grandmother when their son matthew was born agatha what found motherhood so challenging adored the little boy and doted upon him even more so when rosalind was widowed in 1944 after hubert was killed in action [Music] dealing with agatha's business affairs was a huge task and rosalind worked for a mother so when she married lawyer anthony hicks in 1949 he too joined the family firm they also effectively took charge of the day-to-day running of greenway which was put on a commercial footing to offset against the expenditure as agatha worked as hard as ever to turn out a regular stream of fiction attacks waddies were never far from our thoughts she also wrote for the radio and built on a success in the west end with further stage plays then in 1947 her radio drama entitled three blind mice written to honor queen mary's 80th birthday quite literally made history in the west end when three blind mice was adapted for the stage and ready to open at what was then the new ambassador's theater in 1952 the title had to be changed as a previous west end production had been called three blind mice turning to shakespeare's hamlet agatha chose the mouse trap the name hamlet gives the play performed in order to catch his father's murderer it worked perfectly and when at the end of the performance a member of the cast swears the audience to secrecy over revealing the identity of the murderer a unique tradition was established agatha always got upset when her plots were given away in reviews so this pleased her greatly but when asked she still believed that the mousetrap would only run for about eight months agatha christie couldn't have been more delightfully mistaken as the mousetrap continues its initial run to this day making it the world's longest running play in 1974 transferred to saint martin's theater and is as popular today as ever despite the fact that in recent times the murderer has been revealed by wikipedia [Music] throughout the 1950s as agatha enjoyed her privacy at greenway she became a major celebrity which she found quite strange remarking that what silly letters wonders get and she was constantly in demand this was difficult because as she got older she suffered with terribly swollen legs as she got larger and was reluctant to make public appearances or had photographs taken her anonymity as mary westmacott had also gone has her identity been revealed in the sunday times ironically in a novel she created many beautiful young women but always warned beauty doesn't last very long you know yet despite this distress about her appearance and lost looks agatha was very happy with max and had it not been for the tax demands she could have enjoyed a peaceful and contented retirement one answer seemed to be for agatha to give away her most lucrative possessions the rights to her works she gave the mousetrap to her grandson matthew and his ninth birthday while the christie settlement trust agatha christie limited christy copyright trust and the agatha christie trust for children were all set up but still the tax demands kept coming selling rights was now our only hope to get out of this predicament but it often distressed agatha when her original work was tampered with and her opinion ignored [Music] a deal with mgm meant that miss marple was to be played by margaret rutherford whom agatha thought was seriously miscast despite her admiration for the actress her preference was joan hickson who would later become the bbc's choice for its definitive miss marble productions something that agatha christie sadly didn't live long enough to see as agatha became more frail the pressure of the tax burden weighed heavier than ever on her and 51 percent of agatha christie limited was eventually sold to booker mcconnell who had acquired a similar stake in ian fleming and the james bond novels then after buying christy copyrights as well they lent her the money to pay off the tax liability once and for all against the security of future royalties agatha christie's final years were played out at greenway and winterbrook with max at her side personal recognition had cena made a dame in the queen's new year's honors list of 1971 three years after she'd become lady melon after max received a knighthood for service to archaeology however agatha's health was failing she fell and broke a hip while at winterbrook in 1971 and then in 1974 a heart attack took its toll shortly after this she made her last public appearance at the annual party for the mousetrap agatha frequently talked over happy memories of torquey as a child and lovely young woman and there was sufficient deterioration in her once brilliant mind to suggest she was showing symptoms of dementia but her days were now numbered her fall again at winterbrooke meant that christmas 1975 was our last and it was here that she died on the 12th of january 1976. in her final years agatha had always hoped that she'd never done anyone any harm and said that she was ready to meet her maker shortly before she died a simple funeral at saint mary's church chelsea marked her passing with the reading of the 23rd psalm the lord is my shepherd and an extract from spencer's fairy queen sleep after tile poured after stormy seas ease after war death after life doth greatly please these eloquent words are carved on agatha christie's headstone in this classically english peaceful country graveyard and there could be nowhere more appropriate for a final resting place [Music] as a result of agatha's tax difficulties 106 000 pounds was all that she left in a will but the legacy she left the world in her work is simply priceless the last novel that agatha wrote published in 1973 was the final tommy and tubman's case poster of fate anuki la puerto's curtin telling the story of his death was retrieved from its wartime vault for publication in 1975 some four decades after he'd been written miss marple's final adventure sleeping murder was also retrieved and published in 1976 it was a fitting conclusion to an incredible career and a remarkable life for the beautiful young girl from torquay who like peter pan that never wanted to grow up adaptations of miss marple and urchin puerto stories continue to delight audiences and devotees will visit nether wallop in hampshire epitomized as saint mary meade in the bbc serialization while flooring court in london where itv filmed its definitive quarrel is equally recognizable as the home of the elegant belgian detective will never be forgotten the mouse traps run continues uninterrupted and those who criticize agatha christie's literary style are forced to concede that sheer hard work and determination have earned a unique position in the reading listening and viewing public's affections something that a plethora of grammatically correct authors will never achieve what better epitaph could there be for a writer who's brought pleasure and escapism to millions and will forever be beneath her very english respectability agatha christie the queen of crime [Music] [Music] uh