Will justice be done in belated murder case?
THE BBC’s latest Agatha Christie adaptation has received a lot of advance publicity, although not for the reasons the makers would have wanted.
Ordeal by Innocence was supposed to be one of the Beeb’s big 2017 Christmas shows. But then actor Ed Westwick was accused of sexual assault – allegations which he strenuously denies – and the series was dropped from the schedules.
Some viewers may have wondered if that was the last we would see of it, but the BBC has re-shot Westwick’s scenes with actor Christian Cooke, and it is coming to our screens for Easter instead.
Maybe it was the short notice, but Cooke admits he came to the role with very few preconceptions. He says: “To be perfectly honest I had no expectations because I’ve never read any Agatha Christie and I’d never seen any TV adaptations.”
Luckily, he was drawn into the story, saying: “Sarah Phelps has done an incredible job with the script and all the characters feel clearly defined. They all have rich backstories and histories and the family dynamics are superbly articulated in the scripts.”
He also had an impressive cast to help him settle in, including Alice Eve, Anna Chancellor, Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson and a man who made a definite impression on Cooke, Bill Nighy.
Cooke says: “This is no exaggeration – Bill is the coolest man I have ever met. I promise you I can’t say it enough, he is just so cool. He is such a gentleman, so charismatic and such a brilliant actor too. He was very generous with me and I really loved working with him.
“He is one of those people you’d just like to have a really long dinner with, do you know what I mean? I’m already excited about when I next get to hang out with him.”
However, relations aren’t quite so friendly on screen, as the drama starts with the murder of wealthy philanthropist Rachel Argyll (Chancellor) at her family estate, the ironically named Sunny Point.
Her delinquent adopted son Jack (Anthony Boyle) is arrested and, despite protesting his innocence, dies in a prison brawl before the case can come to trial.
Then 18 months later, mysterious scientist Dr Arthur Calgary (Luke Treadaway) turns up at Sunny Point claiming that he’s just returned from an Arctic expedition – and can belatedly provide Jack with an alibi.
Widower Leo (Nighy) has moved on from his wife’s death – he’s about to marry his secretary Gwen (Eve) – and none of her four other adopted children or the longstanding housekeeper Kirsten (Morven Christie) particularly wants to revisit such a dark chapter in the Argyll family history.
But they can’t ignore the fact that if Calgary is telling the truth, Jack was innocent – and the real murderer must still be at Sunny Point.
Ordeal by Innocence is on BBC One on Sunday, April 1.