Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple and other murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It is also known as Agatha Christie's Marple. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first to third series, until her retirement from the role. She was replaced by Julia McKenzie, who filmed adaptations of A Pocket Full of Rye, Murder is Easy, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, and They Do It with Mirrors for the fourth series. Each episode is known for having many well-known co-stars. Marple began in 2004 and a fourth series is expected to air in Autumn 2009. A fifth series of four episodes has been commissioned; The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side has been completed, and production on The Secret of Chimneys has now begun. The episodes (that have been adapted from the original novels and the screenplays) have been written by Kevin Elyot, Stephen Churchett, Stewart Harcourt, Tom MacRae, Patrick Barlow and Paul Rutman.