Agatha (Mary Clarissa) CHRISTIE

Born Torquay September 15. 1890: Died Wallingford, Oxford January 12, 1976

Agatha Christie Ltd, in which her grandson; Matthew Prichard, has a controlling minority stake, last week (June 2001) placed "an immediate moratorium" on the staging of the plays, the company owns, such as Witness For The Prosecution, Spider's Web and Then There Were None.

The company plans to see how the plays, can be overhauled to better suit an audience in the 21st century before it gives any more licences for their staging. It is concerned " that the settings are detracting from the drama of Christie's plots and wants to ensure that in future the murders and the detective work are paramount.

Far from me to decry atmosphere, but we do need to ensure we don't primarily concentrate on classic cars," said Prichard, who is Christie's grandson from her first marriage to Archie Christie.

"There's much more to my grandmother's works than old cars and French windows. The more edgy and exciting parts seem to have been lost. She was after all a writer about murder and the solving of crime."

Plays:

1. Black Coffee (1930)
2. The Wasp's Nest (1937) Television play
3. And Then There Were None (1943) (Originally titled Ten Little Niggers. American edition as Ten Little Indians)
4. Appointment With Death (1945)
5. Murder On the Nile (1946) Adaptation of her novel Death On the Nile.(Originally presented as Hidden Horizon 1945)
6. The Hollow (1951)
7. The Mousetrap (1953)
8. Witness For the Prosecution (1953)
9. Spider's Web (1954)
10. A Daughter's A Daughter (1956). Published and presented under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.
11. Towards Zero (1956)
12. Verdict (1958)
13. The Unexpected Guest (1958)
14. Go Back For Murder (1960) First published as Five Little Pigs.
15. The Patient (1962) - One-act play
16. The Rats (1962) - One-act play
17. Afternoon At the Seaside (1962) One-act play
18. Fiddlers Three (1972) First presented as Fiddlers Five (1971)
19. Akhnaton (writtem 1937, produced 1973

Radio Plays:

1. The Yellow Iris (1937)
2. Three Blind Mice (1947)
3. Personal Call (1954)
4. Butter In a Lordly Dish (1956)