A bit of "Malice" on your Monday

I'll admit, I wasn't itching to watch this movie, but upon seeing it
on the shelf in my local library, decided to literally check it out.
*There are spoilers ahead, although I've left out the ending's details.*

Overview & Review:

"Malice Aforethought" is a two-part series filmed in 2005,
based on the murder mystery novel written in 1931
by Anthony Berkeley Cox (using the pen name Francis Iles.)

The story centers around Dr. Edmund Bickleigh (Ben Miller)
and his overbearing wife Julia (the talented Barbara Flynn) in the village of Wyvern’s Cross.

Mrs. Bickleigh is a snob.  She comes from a family with title and wealth and views being

married to a doctor as beneath her- treating him poorly, constantly bossing and putting him down.
(Mean-o.) Rather than stand up to his wife and express his feelings, Dr. Bickleigh is passive aggressive and seeks comfort in the arms of other women.  (Jerk-wad.)

We first get a glimpse of Richard Armitage as William "Bill" Chatford

in the beginning of the film at one of Mrs. Bickleigh's tea/tennis parties.

Although his character is rather a side-note in the beginning,

I couldn't help but notice he looks handsome in his twenties attire:

Bill is interested in young Ivy Ridgeway (Lucy Brown)

but she is too busy having an affair with Dr. Bickleigh to notice Bill at first.
Why in the world would she be head-over-heals for short, quirky Bickleigh
when BILL is around all tall, handsome and not married!?  (It's not you... it's the mustache.)

Dr. Bickleigh breaks things off with Ivy in hopes of pursuing an affair

with town newcomer, Madeleine Cranmere (Megan Dodds.)
Apparently Bickleigh thinks he's hot stuff or something.

Mrs. Bickleigh is no dummy. She knows about her husband's affairs over the years,

but has turned a blind eye in the past.  His latest fling with Madeleine has struck a chord,

however, and Mrs. Bickleigh decides to put her foot down (again) forbidding Edmund to see her any longer. Edmund (or "Eddie" as his women call him) is very upset, but continues to see Madeleine in secret. When Madeleine tells him that she could not marry a divorcee, Edmund plots to get rid of his wife.

Dr. Bickleigh repeatedly poisons his wife, giving her bad headaches, which he

then treats with morphine.  She becomes addicted to morphine while he makes it look like she

is stealing from his medicine cabinet and eventually Julia "gives herself a fatal overdose."

When Dr. Bickleigh finds himself free of "the old girl,"

he runs off to be with Madeleine, only to find out she is already engaged to

a young rival, Denny Bourne.  He is dumped in a similar fashion that he

dismissed his original mistress, Ivy.  Oh, the irony!

In the meantime, Bill and Ivy have been married.

Bill is Ivy's rebound guy, but he proves to be a harsh, domineering husband. 
He soon finds out about Ivy's past affair with Dr. Bickleigh and loses his temper,
yelling and threatening violence.

(Ivy sure knows how to pick her men: wife killer or wife abuser?  Hm...)

Although the coroner ruled Mrs. Bickleigh's death as accidental, Bill doesn't buy it.  Smart cookie.
Knowing there's something fishy going on (plus wanting revenge for Bickleigh's past conduct)
Bill starts digging around to see what really happened surrounding the death of Mrs. Bickleigh.

Bill talks to Madeleine, who reveals that Dr. Bickleigh told her
his wife was dead before the news had become known publicly.
(Duh, Eddie... why would you trust/love a woman who looks evil?)

Dr. Bickleigh knows Bill is onto him... and with an investigator from Scotland Yard

snooping about, decides to get rid of a few more annoyances.  He invites Bill, Madeleine

and her new husband Denny over to discuss matters of his wife's death over tea.

He serves them tainted food, planning on food poisoning to finish them off.

This gave me a new disgust of "canned meat sandwiches."

I used to like deviled ham.  I don't think I can bring myself to buy it for a long time now!

Bill and Madeleine, who both ate the contaminated food, become ill.

Look at Bill's striped pajamas! 

Will Bill and Madeleine become Dr. Bickleigh's next murders?

Will the officer from Scotland yard catch onto him?

You'll have to watch the movie to find out.

"Malice Aforethought" isn't one of Richard's most popular works and it's easy to see why.

It can be rather slow at times and there's not enough Richard.  I watched the first part last week and it took me 3 days to get around to watching the second half, which tells me my interest wasn't snagged.  Although there are several talented actors in the cast, Richard was my main reason for watching, and he wasn't featured much in the first episode. I did tend perk up when he came on screen, however.  Ben Miller portrayed Dr. Bickleigh well... helping the viewer to often side with the bad guy!  I found the second episode of "Malice Aforethought" to be more enjoyable.  Not only is there more Richard as Bill Chatford, but the pace seems to pick up as well.  Suddenly, I was wondering- would Bill and Madeleine die from food poisoning?  Would Dr. Bickleigh continue to get away with murder?  What's going to happen next? I enjoyed the ending with several twists that I didn't see coming.  (I also laughed at the tiny, evil mustache.) Although this isn't one I'd watch over and over again, I do recommend it to RA buffs and/or anyone who enjoys a murder mystery.

*Thanks to the Richard Armitage Central Gallery,

which supplied me with most of these screen caps.*