Newcomer Jonsson makes history as lead in Agatha Christie mystery
IF YOU enjoy a good whodunit, then you will enjoy Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy on BritBox.
When it comes to crime dramas, the British have delivered some gems over the years, à la Vera, Midsomer Murders, Endeavour, Grantchester, Father Brown and Sister Boniface.
This time the lead is an industry newcomer, David Jonsson. Cast as Luke Obiako Fitzwilliam, he is a Nigerian attaché on his way to Whitehall when he meets mysterious Miss Pinkerton (Penelope Wilton) on a train.
She informs him of a series of deaths in the village of WychwoodUnder-Ashe, suspecting a killer on the loose only to, not long after, become a victim.
Luke is determined to unmask the murderer before he strikes again.
The young actor who started his career in West End said he was excited to bag this role.
“First of all, this has got to be the most excited my mum’s been about me doing a job, ever. Agatha Christies mean more than just a regular murder mystery. They’re a British institution – they bring people together and encompass a lot of what it means to be British.
“So it was great to read a script that felt not only new and fresh with an interesting mercurial character but also brings in a whole new culture that we’ve never seen in an Agatha Christie before.
“Having a black hero felt incredibly fresh and exciting to me. I feel very privileged that I’m able to do that.”
Expanding on his character, Jonsson revealed: “You find him on his way to England for the first time with a certain job in mind and he’s got his life mapped out ahead of him, which quite swiftly gets derailed by an encounter with a stranger.
“He meets a lovely older lady called Miss Pinkerton and she quite quickly charms him. I think just by her natural energy, which is infectious, but she’s also got information about a number of horrible deaths she thinks were murders, but that have been brushed off as accidents, in her tiny English village.
“I think out of a certain moral compass Luke is naturally taken to it and then something quickly happens which forces him into action, following her trail to catch a murderer.”
On Luke’s past, he said: “Luke is from Nigeria, he’s in a senior position in the military there. He’s an attaché to the British Colony, essentially. And he is doing quite well there but, of course, he’s coming to London to kind of ‘better’ himself.
He has a job at Whitehall waiting for him. That’s why he finds himself in England.”
On what makes the Agatha Christie stories such a hit with viewers, he said: “I really do think she was a brilliant writer. She knocked out some crackers that not only meant a lot at the time but are completely applicable to where we are now.
“I think that’s why people continue to find them and enjoy them.
I think that’s a testament to Agatha Christie herself. We all know there’s a murderer. We all know someone’s going to die. We know the tropes of it, but it’s how it’s executed and what we learn from it.
“With this particular one, it’s doing something that feels first-time-y. I think the estate has done a really good job of trying to push it and find good writers like Siân (Ejiwunmi-Le Berre), who’s done a great job of adapting this, and great directors like Meenu (Gaur), who’s not afraid of making it a bit different.
“But I think Agatha Christie really does sit up there with Shakespeare, Webster – all those British writers that we always come back to and make fresh because the stories are just so simple but so good. So relatable and human. It’s no wonder we can watch it and not feel like it’s old or irrelevant.”
On the story being injected with fresh energy by having a female screenwriter and a female director helm a story that is set in a world where women are socially constrained, he added: “Yes. I think there’s something interesting about that. We’ve got a female writer and a female director.
“And the story, in particular with Morfydd Clark’s character, Bridget Conway, looks at the role of women in society. I do think that it’s just a testament to the production team behind this not being afraid of what was already there but also elevating it and making it something that feels not just relevant but human.
“I don’t think it’s any wonder that my mum really loves Agatha Christie even though, until now, with me, I don’t think she was properly represented. But she still finds herself inside it. So I think what immigrants, black British people, can really look forward to is feeling maybe a little bit more represented in this without it being a thing … it’s still Agatha Christie.”
With the two-part series set in the 1950s, class is a talking point as well.
Jonsson added: “I reckon class is a big thing in Murder is Easy, and I think it’s wonderfully examined. Class at this particular time was very clear. You had the upstairs, you had the downstairs, and you had a service to help people who were ‘more’ than you.
“Whereas maybe nowadays it’s not as clean cut. But you also had a character like Luke Fitzwilliam who came over from Nigeria, from a well-to-do family, who sold oil. But because he’s black, because he’s a person of colour, he would come and probably relate more to the working class, the people who help out.
“And I love that because it shows that class doesn’t really mean anything. We’re just humans.”
As for whether this makes him a more effective detective, he shared: “Absolutely. I think that’s exactly what makes him a good detective. He’s able to switch and relate to various people and find what makes them tick.
“He’s not afraid of humbling himself and that’s a trait I think a lot of people struggle with.”
With representation a huge talking point, the casting in the series proves that the wheels of change are turning in the industry.