Silver Spring, MD — Featuring four beloved feature-length mysteries, Agatha Christie’s Marple: Complete Series 5 debuts on Blu-ray from Acorn Media on June 21, 2011. Julia McKenzie (Cranford, Notes on a Scandal) dons Miss Marple’s trademark tweeds with wit and flair in these lavishly produced adaptations. Each story is shot in gorgeous high definition against the backdrop of grand English estates and post-WWII period detail. The episodes in Series 5 aired on PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery! in summer 2010 and 2011. The Blu-ray 4-volume boxed set also includes two full-length bonus programs: an extremely interesting documentary hosted by Pam Farris (Rosemary & Thyme) about Christie’s personal retreat, and a 1996 adaptation of The Pale Horse without Miss Marple ($69.99, www.AcornOnline.com).

The lavish productions feature stellar supporting casts including Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous), Lindsay Duncan (Rome), Hugh Bonnevile (Iris), Toby Stephens (Jane Eyre, Wired, NBC’s upcoming Prime Suspect remake), Caroline Quentin (Blue Murder), Edward Fox (Oliver Twist), and Caroline Catz (Doc Martin).

Eyes sparkling and tweeds impeccable, Julia McKenzie returns as Agatha Christie’s spinster sleuth in four new mysteries set in 1950s England. Murder is afoot, and Miss Marple is up to the task of determining whodunit. She may look like a pensioner, but she doesn’t miss a clue on the way to solving heinous crimes, whether the weapon is a gun, a cocktail, or the color blue.

THE MYSTERIES
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side; The Secret of Chimneys; The Blue Geranium; and The Pale Horse

BONUS PROGRAMS: Agatha Christie’s Garden (66 min.): A revealing documentary about Agatha Christie’s personal retreat hosted by Pam Ferris (Rosemary & Thyme), and a 1996 adaptation of The Pale Horse (101 min.) starring Colin Buchanan (Dalziel and Pascoe), Jean Marsh (Upstairs, Downstairs), and Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings).

Street Date: June 21, 2011
SRP: $69.99
Blu-ray 4-Vol. Boxed Set: 4 episodes - Approx. 351 min., plus 167 min. bonus - British mystery - SDH subtitles

Acorn Media previously released Series 1-3 starring Geraldine McEwan, and Series 4-5 starring Julia McKenzie on DVD. The first three episodes of Series 5 aired in summer 2010. Since Acorn Media couldn’t release The Pale Horse until around its U.S. broadcast, it is also being released on June 21st in a separate DVD 2-volume disc set.

Headquartered in suburban Washington, D.C., Acorn Media U.S. distributes distinctive home video releases to the North American market with a special focus on the best of British television. 2011 releases include Upstairs, Downstairs: 40th Anniversary Edition; BBC’s smash hit series New Tricks; U.S. debuts of great new series Garrow’s Law, Reggie Perrin, Wired, Identity, and Single-Handed; more episodes from Doc Martin, Murphy’s Law, Poirot, George Gently, Murdoch Mysteries, Midsomer Murders; as well as the Blu-ray of Brideshead Revisited: 30th Anniversary Edition; and acclaimed documentaries from our Athena line with Discovering Hamlet with Kenneth Branagh and Derek Jacobi, The Making of the President: The 1960s; and more from Mike Wallace and Bill Moyers. Acorn’s DVD sets are available from select retailers, catalog companies, and direct from Acorn Media at (888) 870-8047 or www.acornonline.com.

Agatha Christie’s Marple is distributed by ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment; one of the world’s leading international TV distribution, home-entertainment and merchandising & licensing businesses.