BritBox Invites Us to Where 'Murder Is Easy' in the First Trailer
David Jonsson as FitzWilliam in Murder is Easy
BBC/BritBox
It's been over a century since Agatha Christie first started publishing mystery novels with The Mysterious Affair at Styles, but the British public's appetite for the genre she is now synonymous with — the "cozy crime," usually committed in a small English village and puzzled out by good-hearted people who aren't necessarily career crime solvers — has only grown with time. Dozens of authors and TV series that have followed in her wake, from the long-running Midsomer Murders to the forthcoming Marlowe Murder Club, have her to thank for fans tuning in. But when a real Christie mystery comes around, especially one done well with a star-studded cast, there's really nothing that compares.
The BBC and BritBox have been on a tear to remind mystery fans of that recently, especially since the recent spate of Sarah Phelps-penned Christie adaptations concluded. Not that Phelps' adaptations were bad, but they were deliberately boundary-breaking in a way that not every fan was able to appreciate or willing to accept. The new group, which BritBox has joked constitutes their "ACU" (Agatha Christie Universe), returns to the older format of A-list stars in period clothing, adapting stand-alone Christie tales as a straightforward whodunit.
The first, Hugh Laurie's Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, was a stellar outing for Lucy Boyton and Will Poulter while they took a quick break from their big screen A-list career trajectories. The second, Murder is Easy, looks to be a moment to catapult Rye Lane's David Jonsson up to the A-list as he takes up the cause of the very suddenly late Miss Pinkerton.
Here's the synopsis:
England, 1954. On a train to London, Fitzwilliam (David Jonsson) meets Miss Pinkerton (Penelope Wilton), who tells him that a killer is on the loose in the sleepy English village of Wychwood under Ashe. The villagers believe the deaths are mere accidents, but Miss Pinkerton knows otherwise – and when she's later found dead on her way to Scotland Yard, Fitzwilliam feels he must find the killer before they can strike again. Because for a certain kind of person, murder is easy…
Jonsson headlines Murder is Easy alongside a slew of BBC major stars, including Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey), Morfydd Clark (Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Tom Riley (The Nevers), Douglas Henshall (Shetland), Mathew Baynton (Ghosts), and Mark Bonnar (Guilt) Co-stars for the series include Sinead Matthews (The Crown), Nimra Bucha (Ms. Marvel), Tamzin Outhwaite (Ridley Road), Jon Pointing (Big Boys), and newcomer Phoebe Licorish.
The two-part series is adapted by Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre (Dangerous Liaisons) and directed by Meenu Gaur (World on Fire). The series is produced by ITV's Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited and executive produced by Ejiwunmi-Le Berre, James Prichard for Agatha Christie Limited, James Gandhi and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen, Danielle Scott-Haughton for the BBC, and Reemah Sakaan and Stephen Nye for BritBox International.
Murder is Easy will debut on BBC One and iPlayer before the end of 2023. It is expected to debut on BritBox in early 2024.
