Miss Marple is back!

Dame Agatha Christie remains the gold standard of mystery writers not only for her productivity -- the woman wrote 80 detective novels -- but also for her permanence. One could argue that Sherlock Holmes is the most universally famous detective, but Arthur Conan Doyle had but one iconic offspring while Christie had two -- Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. (Four if you count the wonderful Tommy and Tuppence; five if you add, and I do, Mr. Satterthwaite of the Harley Quin stories.)

Of these, Poirot is probably the best known -- there are more than twice as many Poirot novels -- but Miss Marple is the best loved. Also the most influential. Poirot, like Holmes, was an actual detective, whereas Miss Marple was an aged spinster living in the seemingly tranquil village of St. Mary Mead. It is Miss Marple who introduced the notion that detecting is more about understanding human behavior than about analyzing evidence with the gray cells or knowing far too much about tobacco ash and the various soils of London. It is Miss Marple who introduced the revolutionary notion that people are essentially the same wherever one goes and that while it is sad to believe the worst of people it is also often the truth.

In other words, everybody lies.

Not surprisingly, both Poirot and Miss Marple have been portrayed countless times in film and television, their most recent PBS incarnation being on "Six by Agatha," which began in June on "Masterpiece Mystery!" with two Poirot mysteries. But while Poirot was once again played by the redoubtable David Suchet, it's a different Jane who kicks off the Marple run Sunday with "A Pocket Full of Rye."

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(Photo courtesy PBS)

Review: 'Independent Lens: Ask Not' on KCET

"Ask Not" asks whether the U.S. military can afford to continue excluding volunteers whose only supposed flaw is that they refuse to deny their homosexuality.

The documentary argues that it cannot: that with two active wars, America needs the services of all its citizens.

Despite the recruitment challenges since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the military has discharged hundreds of gay personnel, including scores of linguists at a time when language skills are desperately needed by troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

"Ask Not" presents a strong argument, with compelling interviews with gay veterans booted out of the military after running afoul of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that allows gays to serve as long as they remain, in a phrase from a gay Coast Guard retired admiral, "silent and celibate."

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