Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie (née Miller, 15 September 1890 - 12 January 1976 (PROSE: The Time Travellers' Almanac)) was a famous English writer best known for her murder mysteries. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp) She also wrote short stories and plays, as well as several romantic novels which she published under the name Mary Westmacott. (PROSE: A History of Humankind) Her prolific body of work was in print billions of years after her death, establishing her as the best-selling author of all time.

She was also known for having disappeared in 1926, being found in a hotel under an assumed name and claiming no memory of the ten days during which she had been missing. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp)

Early life
Agatha Christie was born in Torquay, Devon on 15 September 1890. She was the second of three children. She was taught at home before attending a Parisian finishing school in 1906. (PROSE: The Time Travellers' Almanac)

She married Colonel Archibald Christie at the beginning of World War I, and they had a daughter. (PROSE: The Time Travellers' Almanac)

Agatha Christie's first novel, A Mysterious Affair at Styles - in which she introduced Hercule Poirot, (PROSE: The Time Travellers' Almanac) was published in 1920. (AUDIO: The Chimes of Midnight) Over the course of the following six years, Agatha wrote a further five novels, including The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp) which was published in 1926. (PROSE: The Time Travellers' Almanac)

Disappearance
In 1926, behind the popular and financial success, Agatha's personal life was unhappy; her mother died and, in August, her husband confessed to having an extramarital affair with a younger woman. (PROSE: The Time Travellers' Almanac, TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp) This revelation broke her heart. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp) Agatha was opposed to divorce, and refused to annul her marriage. (PROSE: The Time Travellers' Almanac)

One Friday that August, her husband left their Berkshire home, (PROSE: The Time Travellers' Almanac) following an exchange of words. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp) That weekend, Agatha officially disappeared. (PROSE: The Time Travellers' Almanac) In truth, she attended Lady Eddison's party as guest of honour, carrying on with her life as social attitudes demanded. There, she met the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble, who she quickly grew to trust when another guest, Professor Peach, was found murdered in the library. Agatha aided the Doctor in finding the killer. Their joint investigation saw her come face-to-face with a Vespiform, a giant wasp-like creature.

With the Doctor's help, Agatha deduced that the Unicorn was pretending to be Robina Redmond, though she wasn't the killer; the killer was actually Reverend Arnold Golightly, the human-Vespiform hybrid son of Lady Eddison. Enraged at being discovered, the Reverend changed to his Vespiform form and chased Agatha to a lake; when Donna threw the Firestone he was linked to into the lake, the Vespiform charged in after it and drowned, nearly taking Agatha with him as her mind was also linked to it, but he let her go at the last second.

The stress from the link made her lose her memories; the Doctor took her forward eleven days and left her outside a hotel in Harrogate, where she revived with no conscious memory of the events. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp)

Police investigation and media interest
Following the disappearance, Deputy Chief Constable Kenward became a key figure in charge of the investigation, with police and local residents searching for the author. Two days after residents found Christie's car by the Silent Pool, there were still no discernible leads. A scene of crime expert was brought in from Scotland Yard and local army units were issued to help with the operation. Christie's friends and family were interviewed, and the media asked for anybody with information to contact their local police. Several theories were offered by various parties, but none could explain the unfathomable truth. Detective Edward Ransgard called the case "a real mystery".

Newspapers including The Daily Courier, The National Herald and The Enquirer issued front pages which speculated on the disappearance of Agatha Christie. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp)

Later life
Returning to her home at Ashfield in Torquay, Agatha wrote a letter to Sir Godfrey Collins, of William Collins, Sons & Co Ltd. In the letter, she suggested "a murder at a vicarage" as a possible idea for a book, and a "Miss (Donna? Jane?) Marple" as a "new nemesis for [those] criminals and murderers". (PROSE: Agatha Christie's Letter to Sir Godfrey Collins)

Subconsciously inspired by Donna Noble, Agatha did indeed create Miss Marple. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp) Christie swiftly resumed her writing career, producing more than eighty novels and short-story collections and twenty plays for theatre, radio and television, as well as several works of non-fiction. (PROSE: The Time Travellers' Almanac) Her further novels including Death in the Clouds and Murder on the Orient Express, both subconsciously inspired by her adventure with the Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble and the Vespiform. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp) She never mentioned her disappearance or the events surrounding it. (PROSE: The Time Travellers' Almanac)

In 1971 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, (PROSE: The Time Travellers' Almanac) and therefore presented as "Dame" Agatha Christie. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp)

Agatha died of natural causes at her home in Oxfordshire on 12 January 1976. (PROSE: The Time Travellers' Almanac) She was 85 years old. (PROSE: A History of Humankind)

Legacy
Centuries after its publication, a copy of Murder on the Orient Express found its way into the possession of Professor Sarah Lasky. (TV: Terror of the Vervoids)

Christie's works were still in print as late as the year 5,000,000,000, including Death in the Clouds, establishing her as the best-selling author of all time. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp)

Works
Agatha's characters included Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Works by Agatha Christie included The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express and Death in the Clouds. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp) By the time of her death, she had written over 80 works, including novels, short stories and plays. (PROSE: A History of Humankind)

Actor's view/preparation
In her Q&A for Doctor Who Magazine, Fenella Woolgar said she read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Christie's autobiography to prepare for the role. When she won the part, she was also reportedly the first casting suggestion from David Tennant to be approved.

Woolgar also said she approved of the idea of Christie being a companion of the Doctor, and when Doctor Who Magazine remarked, "Who'd've thought Agatha Christie could be sexy, eh?", she informed/reminded them that Christie had had quite a few admirers for her looks when she was younger. This would make sense — Christie was 36 at the time of her disappearance, which meant she would be the same age meeting the Doctor and Donna, and lived to be 85.

She has also been played by Vanessa Redgrave, Anna Massey, Ruth Bradley and Shirley Henderson.

Deleted scene
In a deleted scene included in the Series 4 DVD, late in her life and soon before her death, Christie, who is played by Daphne Oxenford as an elderly woman, begins to experience dreams and flashbacks of her adventure with the Doctor. Ultimately, the Doctor and Donna visit her (in what appears to be immediately before Silence in the Library), at which point her memories of the adventure began to return - and the Doctor reminds her of what happened. This scene does not present a continuity issue, as Donna is seen to be basically parroting the words the Doctor said to her regarding Agatha being the best-selling writer of all time in the original ending, allowing both to exist. The fact the Doctor has chosen to inform Agatha about the future edition of her books as well as reminding her about what happened suggest the meeting takes place soon before her death, which would place the scene in 1976.