MISS MARPLE BRINGS to mind a little old lady, blue-rinse hair, tweed skirts and pince-nez specs, right? Not if Disney have anything to do with it.

The movie giant has reimagined the quintessential English lady detective as a hot 30-something American with Jennifer Garner being touted for a reboot of the Agatha Christie-created character.

Empire movie magazine suggested that writer Mark Frost will be crafting a script that “reinvents her for a younger generation”. And, surprise, surprise, 38-year-old Garner’s production company Vandalia Films is involved. The Hollywood Reporter says that the adaptation will be set in contemporary times.

The tipping of Garner to take the role more associated with older – much older – actresses like Margaret Rutherford, Joan Hickson and Geraldine McEwan has caused some consternation. Cinema Blend suggests that when Disney is done making over Miss Marple they should “do a ‘Jaws’ where the shark is reinterpreted as a manatee who does tricks”. Online celebrity blogger Perez Hilton gave his own brand of amateur Photoshop treatment to a picture of Garner, scrawling in a shawl, straw hat and torch. The film blog at the Daily Telegraph has no reservations about calling the casting of Garner “a travesty”.

So if not Garner, who would you choose of this more ‘traditional’ list of potential Miss Marple actresses? (Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section…)