The Christie Case

[Sherlock]

The U.K. online version of the Daily Mail newspaper has recently published some shots of Tim Roth as Christie filming scenes for the new drama in Glasgow, parts of which are being used to represent Notting Hill in the 1940s and early 1950s. I am not sure if Roth looks more like Christie when made up than Richard Attenborough did.

It seems that the arrest of Christie in 1953 is being shot, with the River Clyde in Glasgow representing the Thames at Putney Bridge.

Not a vastly important point perhaps, but a bus being used in these scenes is not an authentic London one from the early 1950s but one from the same period which ran in the Glasgow area, the only similarity to a London bus being the fact that it is red. I do hope that there won't be a lot of similar period inaccuracies in the serial though.

I actually live near Glasgow myself so I will probably be able to recognise the locations used when the serial is finally shown on television.

[contrafib]

Rosalia- to be honest, the house and the conditions were one of the things that drew me to this case initially, and there seemed a magical element to everything going on in that tiny space. As a story writer myself, I've probably taken what we know of the house and the street and created in my mind some sort of subjective image of those people going about their daily lives. One of the reasons I love John Newton Chance's book is that he painted a vivid (obviously fantasy) picture of what may have been going on day-by-day, with Christie spending time in the garden meditating on the fact of the 2 skeletons buried there.

It seems that the conditions were genuinely pretty uncomfortable but then again, isn't 10 considered eerie simply because of what happened there. There are of course pictures of a party in the street for the Queen's coronation soon after Christie was arrested and the people seem jolly enough and the houses fairly bright in the daytime sunshine. Interesting...

Still I feel frustrated that this new production will lazily follow the official line. While having long correspondences with the creator of the Rillington Place website, we brought up the point of how quick people are to definitively make up their minds about things in this incredibly uncertain world. This is particularly galling when it's supposedly esteemed famous people whose opinions will (rightly or wrongly) gold a lot of sway with ordinary citizens. So, Richard Attenborough read Ludo's book a couple of times and was convinced and content to make a film about it and go on record saying that poor Evans was innocent and harmless (he may possibly have been the former but certainly not the latter). Likewise, John Hurt. It has wider implications regarding how easily the average citizen is to propagandise with clever words from writers and endorsement of opinions from celebrities.

Sherlock (and everyone else), thank you for your information and posts. We should keep this forum going as there will always be points of interest to come up

[sdreid]

The BBC is producing a new Rillington Place mini series starring Tim Roth as Christie. I'm thinking it will probably be broadcast later this year.

[GUT]

The BBC is producing a new Rillington Place mini series starring Tim Roth as Christie. I'm thinking it will probably be broadcast later this year.

I hope we get it here in Aus.

[sdreid]

I hope we get it here in Aus.

Yes, I don't expect to see it here in the States until the DVD/Blu-ray comes out.

[Rosella]

We do get a few quality BBC productions shown on Oz TV when our beloved national broadcaster, the ABC, or one of the other free to air networks can stump up money to buy them.

[GUT]

We do get a few quality BBC productions shown on Oz TV when our beloved national broadcaster, the ABC, or one of the other free to air networks can stump up money to buy them.

No doubts I'm just hoping that this is one of them.

[DJA]

Meh! BluRays or DVDs are worth the investment,if you really want something.
Ripper Street is great on BluRay with a projector and AVR sound system
Had to settle for series three on DVD,due to supply issues with BDs

[Sherlock]

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[Sherlock]

Here is Tim Roth as Christie.

[Sherlock]

This seems to be the van belonging to Lancaster Food Products which Timothy Evans will drive in the serial.

[Sherlock]

Samantha Morton as Ethel Christie.

[Sherlock]

Christie arrested by PC Thomas Ledger at Putney Bridge (actually the River Clyde at Glasgow)

[Azarna]

Ooh, looking forward to this being on.

I am a big fan of Tim Roth. He is such a very watchable actor. I have yet to see him in a bad role.

[Rosella]

Yes, wonder whether he'll speak in that whispery tone that Richard Attenborough adopted in his portrayal of Christie? Samantha Morton looks a bit young to be Ethel, who was a rather dumpy middle aged woman who seemed ground down by years of poverty in her photos. It will be interesting to see, even if it is the usual 'Evans is innocent version'.