Ffolkes-3 Had it been an original story, not based on an Agatha Christie novel, I would rate it 10/10. It's a beautifully executed drama of a man who loses everything with a top performance by Toby Jones. It's well written, well acted and follows the highly popular although slightly annoying slow-cinema-inspired pace (plus adequately blurry vision that sometimes is really troubling because you can't see what's actually happening on sreen, but hey - that's what critics love, don't they?).Sadly, the film also follows a now already well domesticated trend on television to mix Agatha Christie with kitchen-sink drama. This means you can't watch Agatha Christie with entire family anymore because you get at least two sex scenes and some explicit language (the sex scene between John Mayhew, the leading character, and his wife is particularly kitchen-sink, and pretty awful to be honest). Now, why on earth do such a thing? Christie created a unique universe of her own, a world that never was but was ideally escapistic and therefore we'd immediately embraced it. Why not follow the pattern so many love and expect? There's place for both - I love a good Mike Leigh drama as much as I love classic Christie, but not when the two are mixed. Will we every get an old school Christie again? I hope so, a very much hope so.

cliffsofdover So, I'm not sure what the original Christie version of this is, I'm going to check that out in my local library, however...this was depressing, sad, and just awful. Yes, I think the acting was good (especially Toby Jones), but golly the ending...no justice, vindication, just depression. I've read a lot of Christie, and I never come away with that feeling. I wasted 2 hours of my life on this...and am bummed out!!!

Leofwine_draca THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION is another dead-headed drama from the BBC, who seem to have lost the plot when adapting classic fiction for the screen. This one's a two-parter version of the Agatha Christie short story, featuring the acceptable Toby Jones as a lawyer who takes on the case of a young man accused of murdering his female employer. It's a dingy and dismal-looking production, subdued throughout, with poor lighting and mumbled dialogue.Even worse, the performances are nothing to write home about, and that includes Kim Cattrall who seems to be channelling SEX AND THE CITY in her early scenes. Jones is the only one who comes out of this with his reputation intact, and even he's been better elsewhere. The choicest dramatic parts of the story feel rushed through and the emotion rings hollow, particularly at the climax which veers into melodrama.

alex kenworthy This is probably the worst BBC drama I have seen on the BBC and the BBC should think carefully about relying on the team responsible in the future. The story was thin, obvious and full of holes, it might have filled a 15 min short story but stretching it to 2 hrs was just excruciating. The coincidence at the end where the key protagonists all end up in the same holiday resort is just unbelievable from the story sense and the viewers credibility. I am not criticising the actors who all played the parts they were given well, and the production was good as one would expect from the BBC.