No mystery as writer’s red herrings and plot twists fill festive schedules
Pippa Haywood stars in just one of the Christmas shows inspired by Agatha Christie’s life and work.
The author’s twisting plots and period drama are as popular as ever with two new dramas among this year’s festive TV highlights. BBC’s big blockbuster for 2018 is The ABC Murders. It’s the latest mystery they’re bringing to the screen after signing a deal for seven adaptations, following years of ITV having the rights to Poirot and Marple.
John Malkovich takes over the role of sleuth Poirot from David Suchet – but without the Belgian accent and with his own beard, not the trademark moustache.
“Poirot and Christie fans may just hate all this, I have no idea,” Malkovich admitted.
Harry Potter star Rupert Grint, Tara Fitzgerald and Scots Shirley Henderson and Gregor Fisher are also among the cast of the three-part tale that begins on Boxing Day.
This is the fourth current BBC Christie after And Then There Were None, Witness for the Prosecution and the troubled Ordeal By Innocence. The Scotsshot production was due to be screened last Christmas but went out at Easter after original cast member Ed Westwick’s scenes were re-shot with another actor following a rape allegation. The new adaptations have had a darker tone and writer Sarah Phelps says: “I came late to Christie but I think that works in my favour. I don’t have a familiarity so I am acutely aware of the danger, the really unnerving, unsettling qualities.”
Meanwhile, Channel 5 has Agatha & The Truth of Murder, on December 23. It’s based around Christie’s real-life 11-day disappearance in 1926.
ALL THE BEST TV NEWS, VIEWS AND LISTINGS INSIDE