By Bridget Byrne
The Associated Press

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

Angela Lansbury's signature role as Jessica Fletcher defines her career.

"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.

ON THE AIR

What: Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle When: 9 p.m. Friday Where: Channels 12, 7

The locale, complete with Celtic signs and right hand-drive cars, was created last August on the back lot of Universal Studios for the movie Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle.

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

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." This day, as usual, Lansbury has lived up to her reputation as a consummate pro. She'd gone to the dentist to get a tooth fixed, but showed no signs of discomfort, merely a concern over slightly disrupting the production schedule.

"Every minute counts, and every minute is so expensive, you can't waste a second," she said, reflecting on the snappy speed of television so different for the "snail's pace" at which movies were made when she was under contract to MGM.

She appeared in dozens of films, earning Oscar nominations for her roles in Gaslight, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Manchurian Candidate.

Lansbury also found success in the theater, winning Tony Awards for Mame, Dear World, Gypsy and Sweeney Todd.

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."