Impact case study database

Impact on understanding and appreciation of Christie’s works

Although conceived and executed as a research monograph, Dr Aldridge’s book Agatha Christie on Screen (2016) has received acclaim from Christie fans and the wider public, as well as scholars. It has garnered positive reviews from both the public (4.5/5 on amazon.co.uk) and from critics which show how the book has impacted on appreciation and understanding of Christie’s work:

• “Whether established scholar, student or general reader, there is something included in this book for everyone [. . . . ] it is an excellent example of how to balance scholarship with accessibility for both academic and general readers.” Llewella Chapman, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television [5.4]

• “Mark Aldridge, with his unique access to Christie archives, has unearthed a treasure trove of details that make Agatha Christie more alive to me than before.” Amazon reviewer [5.2].

• “[Aldridge] introduced me to a number of productions I was not aware of and he has also given me a strong need to watch more of Christie’s stage productions. It was great to see behind the scenes of adaptations and to see what went into making them and I have a much greater idea of what the adapting process is like.” Cross Examining Crime [5.3].

Newspapers and magazines have frequently contacted Dr Aldridge to discuss the book and interview him about new Agatha Christie adaptations. This has led to appearances in The New York Times, The Times (which branded Dr Aldridge ‘the Agathologist’) , The Independent, The Sunday Times and the Radio Times (amongst other publications) as well as popular websites such as Digital Spy, where his research has been explicitly referenced and he has been quoted or interviewed. Additionally, he has written an article for the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine (the most widely read magazine in the country) about the history of Poirot, designed to coincide with the release of the new Death on the Nile film. This is a clear demonstration that the work he has been undertaking helps to inform popular discourse about her work, and his research has had a meaningful impact on such discussions [5.5].

Dr Aldridge appeared on television for a discussion of Murder on the Orient Express on the channel TRT World in 2017 [5.6], which was broadcast in 190 countries, in the 2017 Sky documentary Agatha Christie: Murder Beyond the Orient Express [5.7], and the 2019 French documentary Le crime en heritage: Agatha Christie crève l'écran. Most recently he was interviewed for the 2020 PBS/Channel 5 (US/UK) documentaries Agatha Christie: 100 Years of Poirot and Miss Marple and Agatha Christie’s England, and has shared his research with Stephen Fry for a forthcoming appearance as expert and interviewer in a major ITV documentary (2021).

On the radio, Dr Aldridge is a regular contributor to BBC Radio Devon (which covers the area where Christie lived for most of her life), discussing new events and Christie’s impact, including in relation to World Book Day celebrations [5.1]. Dr Aldridge has been a special guest for the American podcast All About Agatha three times, which has a global audience of over 100,000 ‘listens’ every month. These episodes were discussing screen adaptations of Christie’s work, coinciding with the release of Murder on the Orient Express and then their discussion of Christie’s masterpiece And Then There Were None and Dr Aldridge’s Poirot book [5.8]. Interest has only accelerated recently, with interviews for a range of popular international podcasts including A Dark and Stormy Podcast (US) and Shedunnit (UK).

Dr Aldridge brings his research insights directly to audiences through public talks aimed at general audiences. At the International Agatha Christie Festival, in Torquay in September 2017, he presented a discussion of some lesser-known Christie film adaptations to a sold out audience [5.9]. He was invited to speak at Torquay Museum’s Christie Mystery Day in September 2018 and he gave a special introduction to the first British cinema appearance of the film Crooked House in September 2019. Since then he has given five more invited talks to audiences and has proven to be an in-demand authority on Christie’s works, with feedback indicating that he is a popular and entertaining presenter who helps to bring his research to life for the general public [5.12]. Dr Aldridge has worked with the organisers of the International Festival for several years, including assisting with events and chairing a meeting between the board at the request of Christie’s grandson. His online talk for the 2020 International Agatha Christie Festival has attracted over 2000 views to date (the highest number of the whole event), showing the extent of interest into his research.

In 2018, Dr Aldridge was invited to take part in the Killer Women literary festival, where he discussed Agatha Christie and Poirot on stage with internationally best-selling author Sophie Hannah, who also writes the official Poirot continuation novels, while in 2019 he gave a talk at the National Trust’s inaugural Greenway Literary Festival, which took place at Christie’s holiday home in Devon [5.10]. Following this Greenway appearance, Dr Aldridge was invited to become a member of Literature Works, an organisation supported by Arts Council England that helps established authors to support and mentor those honing their craft in the South West of England [5.13]. Despite the pandemic, Dr Aldridge took part in many invited literary/film and public events in 2020, including sell-out appearances at literary festivals such as Noirwich and Perfect Crime.

These extensive appearances in the media and on the literary scene demonstrate the value of this research to those seeking to enjoy and interpret Christie’s work and understand her ongoing cultural significance.

Impact on the Christie archives and estate

Dr Aldridge enjoys a good relationship with her publisher HarperCollins and the family trust, who consult with him to clarify details when preparing press releases and similar publicity materials, for example he was asked consulted on the announcement of the BBC adaptation of And Then There Were None in 2015 [5.1]. His work has led to the return to the archives of a Poirot television production, Murder by the Book [5.11], the master tape of which had been destroyed by Disney, and the discovery of a unique filmed record of an original run of one of her stage plays in the 1950s [5.1].

Further impact

The impact that Dr Aldridge has made on wider understanding of Agatha Christie is showcased by the 2020 publication of Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World. This book was commissioned following discussions between Dr Aldridge and Christie’s publisher HarperCollins regarding his desire to bring his new research to a wide audience. This was especially apparent following Dr Aldridge’s public talks which showed that there was a widespread appetite for new information and interpretation regarding Christie, which in turn leads to greater understanding of her work and her own impact. The result is a lavishly illustrated examination of her most famous detective, which shares insights and new discoveries in an accessible way, while always being based on rigorous research that has been shared with other Christie scholars, who have also reviewed the text before publication. Although it is early days for the book, it has been very well received and the book has already been picked up for distribution internationally, including translations into Greek and Estonian. International interest is no doubt the result of the fact that Christie herself continues to sell extremely well – for example, on the paperback bestsellers chart Murder on the Orient Express climbed to number two following the Branagh film. Dr Aldridge’s work has placed him at the forefront of popular and academic international discussions about Agatha Christie and her enduring legacy.

The Screening Sex Project has impacted a range of beneficiaries as a result of, firstly, screeningsex.com whose significance and reach has informed and influenced a range of public activities and events and, secondly, a co-created charter supporting better informed approaches to representing sexual cultures and identities for arts and cultural organisations.

The need for these resources is based on public scholarship going back a decade, for example where Kerr and Peberdy have been heavily involved in programming strands for City Eye’s Southampton Film Week – a city-wide multi-venue community-facing film festival. Kerr and Peberdy regularly programmed the Controversies strand, Screening Sex discussions culminating in collaboration with female-led production/distribution company Modern Films. City Eye’s Southampton Film Week has in excess of 2500 attendees from across the region and surrounding areas and is a community organisation financially supported by the City Council and BFI [5.1].

Screeningsex.com

The website is an online platform with the aim of bringing researchers, writers and academics together to address the politics of representation in a publicly accessible way. Since its launch in 2017, the platform has been used to establish a network of more than 80 international scholars from the UK, Ireland, US, Canada, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Finland and Australia and publish more than 50 articles, interviews and book reviews [5.2]. The website has attracted between 10,000-28,000 visitors annually who have viewed the content between 21,000 and 58,000 times annually. Screeningsex.com has wide international reach with the US being the biggest source of visitors (41,000 views) followed by UK, Germany, France, Canada, India and Australia [5.3]. The users of screeningsex.com are a widespread and varied community of sex-interested scholars, early career researchers, writers, educators, film industry exhibitor/distributors, sex-related activists and non-specialist public. The network has been extended to include a community of beneficiaries drawing on the Screening Sex project’s research-informed expertise. Endorsing the work of Screening Sex, Professor John Mercer has called the website ‘an especially important resource making the research of a range of scholars freely available and accessible to a non-specialist audience inside and outside of academia’ [5.4].

The significance of this impact is illustrated in a series of public-facing engagements for Kerr and Peberdy, which resulted directly from the research-led content on screeningsex.com and cumulatively demonstrate significant cultural impact. These include:

• invitation to contribute to panels with writers, sex-workers and podcasters to discuss the politics of sexuality in the arts (International Communications Association 2019;

• invitation to join a Midlands Screen Cultures consortium (Birmingham City University Screen Cultures and Research Cluster);

• a series of publishing requests e.g. UKSaysNoMore, 16Days16Films; The Conversation;

• contracted book series for Edinburgh University Press with the aim of bridging the gap between academia and the public, the importance of its contribution recognised as being ‘of interest to a non-specialist reader at the same time as [engaging with] core concepts in an educational setting’ [5.5].

A key example that evidences impact underpinned by research is as invited film jury and screening committee member for ‘the first ever UK female film competition on gender violence’ (16days16films.com) since 2018. 16Days16Films is a collaboration between the film industry, Hestia’s nationwide awareness campaign UKSaysNoMore and the Kering Foundation to raise awareness about gender-based violence. Past and present jury members include broadcaster Edith Bowman, activist Marai Larasi, founder/MD of British Black List Akua Gyamfi, actor Thandie Newton, director Alice Winocour, founding member of the British Independent Film Awards Tessa Collinson and journalist Anna Smith. Producer of 16Days16Films Johanna von Fischer notes: “As a film organisation that highlights filmmakers and their films tackling the subject of gender based, and in particular sexual, violence, it has been important for us to support and be supported by experts working in the field of sexuality and particularly, how it is portrayed on screen...Having Donna Peberdy on our jury and screening committee over the years is important to us, as we want to bring in experts who understand the role that sex plays in shaping our industry and society” [5.6]. UKSaysNoMore invited Kerr and Peberdy to write an article and provocation for filmmakers and creative practice for International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women [5.7]. The provocation was published on the websites of UKSaysNoMore and 16Days16Films, as well as in the event brochure to accompany the 16Days16Films awards ceremony and screening event, hosted by Film4 [5.7].

Screening Sex Charter

The Screening Sex Charter [5.9] was developed having consulted arts and cultural organisations. In the Screening Sex research it became clear that there is no common reference point when it comes to representing sexual identities and practices, which can lead to harmful representations. Kerr and Peberdy proposed the idea of a charter to stakeholders at SCMS in Seattle 2019. The idea quickly found support and led to work with a number of organisations, particularly the Pan Eros Foundation for Sex Positivity and The Consent Academy, who offered guidance on the development of the charter and support for it. In Washington DC Kerr and Peberdy met with the largest anti-sexual violence organisation RAINN (the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network) who also advised on dealing with publicly sensitive topics and working with creative industries. The Southampton Cultural Development Trust provided a public-facing forum involving arts and cultural organisations for the charter, inviting Screening Sex to run a workshop at the 2019 Cultural City Conference and participate in early conversations influencing Southampton’s future bid for City of Culture. Sar Surmick, Director of Seattle’s Consent Academy, confirmed they are happy to be involved with the charter going forward and are pleased to have played a part in its development [5.10]. The Charter is already gathering momentum and its next stage is in collaboratively shaping the programmes and outputs of arts and cultural organisations committed to challenging negative representations of sex and sexual cultures. Lyndsay Duthie, CEO of The Production Guild of Great Britain, has confirmed support for the charter and will officially circulate it to their membership of leading professionals working in film and television and share it on their website. The charter is recognised as one example of the Screening Sex project’s valuable work as ‘a resource for an industry in need of change’ [5.5].