Snoopy sleuth Jessica Fletcher returns

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- Angela Lansbury -- very much in character as her renowned snoopy sleuth Jessica Fletcher -- walks briskly up to a police car as cameras roll.

"Mum, hold it one second going in," suggests the director, who happens to be Lansbury's son, Anthony Shaw.

Shaw's instruction allows a police inspector time to emerge from the car before being confronted by Fletcher.

"Tell me, what do you know of Eamon Byrne's family?" Fletcher challenges the inspector, played by Timothy V. Murphy.

The crime-solving mystery writer is in the fictional village of Ballymure, Ireland, where the contents of Byrne's will have sparked a series of murders.

The locale, complete with Celtic signs and righthand-drive cars, was created last August on the back lot of Universal Studios for the movie "Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle," at 8 p.m. Friday on CBS.

Fionnula Flanagan co-stars as Byrne's widow, Margaret.

Lansbury portrayed Fletcher in the "Murder, She Wrote" series from 1984-96 and has a complex affection for the Fletcher role, which has earned her a dozen Emmy nominations, but no trophy.

"I think her nosiness annoys me sometimes. She's terribly nosey and I want to say, 'Why don't you mind your own business and let someone else figure this one out?'" Lansbury said, laughing. "But that's part of the fun of it, so I really don't mind. I used to get more upset, but recently our scripts have been varied and different."

The "Celtic Riddle" script was based on a novel by Lyn Hamilton and adapted for the screen by Rosemary Ann Sisson. But Lansbury notes she also was involved in the writing process, never hesitating to suggest script revisions to meet her own exacting standards.

The 77-year-old actress believes the successful reruns of "Murder, She Wrote" prove "that a huge over-50 audience is out there, gasping for entertainment." But she also said that the show has a wider range of fans than might be expected.

Even intellectuals "you think wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole, will sit down and watch ... which I think says something about the quality they are seeing. It's never been flung together," she said.

Lansbury views Fletcher as "a woman of my age dealing with life as I would ... which I hope is still in a very positive, energetic way."

Lansbury also found success in the theater, winning Tony Awards for "Mame," "Dear World," "Gypsy" and "Sweeney Todd." Because of the illness of her husband of 54 years, Peter Shaw, she turned down recent offers to return to the stage. He died in January.

Despite her impact in movies, the British-born Lansbury says that aspect of her career came to an abrupt halt.

"I'm shocked that people don't realize that Jessica Fletcher is another figment of my imagination and a different person than I am, and I really can play other roles," she said.

But, she says, "It's almost as though I wished it on myself. I always said I didn't want to do television until quite late in my career because I was afraid it would burn me out. Well, I'm not going to say it's burned me out, because it hasn't ... and I'm not complaining because I had 12 incredible years and I made an annuity for myself and my family.

"I'm deeply grateful for that, and for the chance to play a very endearing character. But that actor part of me wants more."