The 'Towards Zero' Trailer Sets Up an Ugly Love Triangle for Murder

The Welsh cultural resurgence in the U.K. is one of the feel-good stories of the 2020s, but most Americans have no idea which of the "British" actors they've seen are actually Welsh. (Michael Sheen may be the big exception to this rule, simply because of his Welsh pride.) Matthew Rhys is probably the most famous Welsh actor currently on the American radar whose origins are unknown to those who watch him; like Hugh Laurie in the aughts, most U.S. viewers assume Rhys is American born, partly due to his role on The Americans, and partly due to having then married his American co-star Keri Russell. 

Russell is now starring in The Diplomat, a massive success on Netflix, and we hope to see the same success for Rhys who stars in the latest big-budget Agatha Christie adaptation from the BBC and BritBox, Towards Zero. Starring as Inspector Leech, the new adaptation's stand-in for the original book's actual detective, Inspector Battle, Rhys will take on one of Christie's lesser known stories, the love-triangle driven case of Lady Tressilian and her tennis star nephew Nevile Strange. 

Strange, who recently divorced and remarried, has thrown a party on his aunt's boat, and invited his ex-wife, perhaps to make trouble, or maybe because he's angling for a convenient death to solve his problems. Check out the latest trailer from BritBox for Towards Zero and decide for yourself.

Here's the series synopsis:

England, 1936. After a scandalous celebrity divorce, Nevile Strange and his ex-wife Audrey make the unthinkable decision to spend a summer together at Gull’s Point, their childhood home and the coastal estate of Nevile's aunt, Lady Tressilian.

With unfinished business between the former childhood sweethearts, plus the presence of Nevile’s new wife Kay, tensions are running high. Add to this a long-suffering lady’s companion, a mysterious gentleman’s valet, an exiled cousin with a grudge, a venerable family lawyer, an inquisitive orphan and a French con man, and soon there will be murder. A troubled detective must rediscover his purpose to untangle a toxic web of jealousy, deceit and dysfunction. Can he solve the crime before another victim meets their death?

An explosive love triangle, a formidable matriarch and a house party of enemies. All compelled… Towards Zero.

Towards Zero stars British-born (but might as well be American) actors Matthew Rhys (The Americans) and Jack Farthing (Poldark) and American-born (but might as well be British) actors Anjelica Huston (The Golden Bowl) and Clarke Peters (His Dark Materials).

The four are joined by a supporting cast that includes Jackie Clune (Marriage), Grace Doherty (Call the Midwife), Khalil Gharbia (Mary & George), Adam Hugill (Sherwood), Ella Lily Hyland (Black Doves), Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Surface), Mimi Keene (Sex Education), and Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts).

Writer Rachel Bennette adapted Christie’s novel for the screen, director Sam Yates helms all three installments, and Rebecca Durbin produces. Executive producers are James Prichard for Agatha Christie Limited, Sheena Bucktowonsing and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen, Danielle Scott-Haughton for the BBC, and Jon Farrar, Stephen Nye, and Robert Schildhouse for BritBox International.

Agatha Christie’s Towards Zero debuts on the BBC on Sunday, March 2, at 9 p.m. BT. It will then follow on BritBox six weeks later, starting Wednesday, April 16. The three-episode miniseries will air weekly in the U.K. through the end of March, but daily on BritBox, with Episode 2 arriving Thursday, April 17, and the finale on Friday, April 18, 2025.