Agatha Christie's Marple was voiced by Herbert Lom (who also made an on-screen appearance as Mr Dufosse in "The Murder at the Vicarage") in "Nemesis" and played by Antony Sher in "A Caribbean Mystery". The series also featured real-life characters: Winston Churchill appeared in "The Sittaford Mystery", Noël Coward in "", Louis Armstrong in "At Bertram's Hotel", and Ian Fleming and James Bond in "A Caribbean Mystery". Christie wrote twelve novels about Miss Marple, all of which have been adapted for the series. They are: In addition, a short story featuring Miss Marple, "The Blue Geranium," was adapted into a full-length episode. Three
Miss Marple also has a remarkable ability to latch onto a casual comment and connect it to the case at hand. In several stories, she is able to rely on her acquaintance with Sir Henry Clithering, a retired commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, for official information when required. Miss Marple never married and has no close living relatives. Her nephew, the "well-known author" Raymond West appears in some stories including "Sleeping Murder" and "Ingots of Gold", which also feature his wife Joan, a modern artist (though prior to their marriage she is referred to as "Joyce Lemprière", in "The Thirteen Problems" stories).