New Christies on the way

U.K. publisher Chorion, which caused controversy last year by re-editing Noddy books and adding American slang expressions and accents, has paid $17 million to acquire a 64-percent stake in Agatha Christie Ltd. It plans to produce new film and TV versions of Christie's Miss Marples and Hercule Poirot mysteries. David Lane, who manages the company's intellectual property division, has made assurances that Americanisation will not happen in this instance. "She is a very different property," he said, "who actually sells on her quintessential Britishness."