“Where did you learn all this?” asks an exasperated Tommy as Tuppence drags him on a wild chase away from the henchman tailing her since the gambling den. He reminds Tommy that “Just about every endeavour you embark upon ends in disaster.”

Tommy is visiting his uncle, Colonel Carter (the rather adorable James Fleet) who works in the department of secret things at the ministry of hush hush. She finds herself grasped by the throat when she stupidly reveals herself to be in search of the missing Jane. Walliams is good casting but you can tell he’s trying to keep a lid on Frankie Howerd and give this performance a control and subtlety we’re not used to seeing him deliver.īefore you can say “new het” Tuppence is knee-deep in an illegal gambling den, rather primly placing a bet on the favourite in the 12.30 at Catford. He puts household bills in the bin and doesn’t read the instructions for things. We do know that Tommy is a bit of a silly boots, always knocking things over or being knocked over himself by runaway catering trucks.

Their English home is eye-achingly pretty. I can see I’m going to get increasingly distracted by the decor. Beyond this, I can’t work out who they are yet, but I want their house. While Tommy tries to deflect his wife’s curiosity, she is more than keen to follow the scent. We, of course, see Jane hiding something in Tommy’s bee box, presumably the secret recording that the British secret service is so keen to get their hands on.įinally back in England’s green and pleasant land (it’s raining, obviously) Tommy and Tuppence mull over what happened. Tuppence takes Jane’s abandoned notebook and can’t stop thinking about the strange encounter. A young woman called Jane Finn behaves oddly on the Beresfords’ train and then promptly vanishes, pursued by men who assassinate her boyfriend. You’ll get some cold war chit-chat over tea and buns but these are, strictly speaking, very beautiful crosswords.īack to three across. This is a museum piece designed for the purposes of escape and may annoy those wishing for social realism. And all while their son George is away at school.Īnyone not prepared to put aside the Beresfords’ obvious privilege and lack of real problems, pick up your coat and hat and leave now.

As Tuppence’s curiosity leads her into deeper and deeper trouble, the hapless Tommy can’t help being swept up by her determination to solve the puzzle. It’s a thoroughly British crime adventure about a nice middle-class married couple blundering into a The Lady Vanishes-style spy mystery one day on a train home from France.

Francesca annis partners in crime