Agatha Christie in Devon

We visit the Agatha Christie Festival that took place in Torquay and the surrounding area in September 2024 and try and give a feel of the atmosphere for both those who were there, or those who would one day like to attend. We also explore the history of the Festival and chat to some of the speakers and guests from right across the world. Special guests include Ragnar Jónasson, Lynda La Plante, Benjamin Stevenson, Gray Robert Brown, Brad Friedman and many of the attendees at the 2024 Agatha Christie Festival.  

In this episode we visit the enigmatic and evocative Burgh Island, where Agatha Christie was inspired to write two of her most famous novels, And Then There Were None and Evil Under the Sun. Sophie and Matt take the quirky sea tractor over to the island and visit the exclusive hotel, which has been known for its decadent soirees for almost 100 years.  They also meet the owner of the island, the guest relations manager and chat to one of the regular visitors, who is a huge Christie fan.   Guests include Robin Chambers, Giles Fuchs, Vlad Kupra , Anthony Gulliver and Tony Medawar. Tony is the former director of the Agatha Christie Festival, and authority on crime fiction. He has edited around 30 books including The Quotable Miss Marple and his latest anthology, Wicked Spirits – available from HarperCollins – is a collection of largely unknown or unpublished stories by writers including Patricia Highsmith, Reginald Hill and John Dickson Carr. Tony is currently working on what he hopes will be the definitive Companion to the Works and World of Agatha Christie, and he’ll be speaking at next year’s Festival.

In this episode we travel to Agatha Christie’s former holiday home at Greenway and explore the beautiful house and gardens, which tumble down to the the River Dart. We chat to Agatha’s grandson Mathew Prichard about memories of his idyllic school holidays at this beautiful property and how he spent his days with his famous grandmother and the rest of the family. We also chat about the decision to donate the house to the National Trust in the year 2000. We are also joined by ‘Agathologist’ and author Dr Mark Aldridge, who also presents the Swinging Christies podcast. His latest book is Agatha Christie's Marple: Expert on Wickedness, which was launched at this year’s Agatha Christie Festival.  

This episode celebrates Agatha Christie’s love of trains and was recorded on location aboard the Dartmouth Steam Railway. This was a route taken by Poirot in two of Christie’s novels and by the author herself when visiting her holiday home at Greenway. Matt and Sophie also explore some of the more exotic routes featured in both her books and her own adventures, including the Orient Express. Special guests include Maria Kerr from English Riviera Custom Tours, Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan, Mathew Prichard and author Andrew Eames.