| Agatha and the Midnight Murders | |
|---|---|
| Genre |
|
| Written by | Tom Dalton |
| Directed by | Joe Stephenson |
| Starring |
|
| Composer | Blair Mowat |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers | Carol Harding Tom Dalton |
| Cinematography | Birgit Dierken |
| Editor |
|
| Running time | 93 Minutes |
| Production companies | Darlow Smithson Productions Factual Fiction |
| Original release | |
| Network | Channel 5 |
| Release | 5 October 2020 (2020-10-05) |
Agatha and the Midnight Murders is a 2020 British alternative history television drama film about crime writer Agatha Christie. The film premiered on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom on 5 October 2020, and on PBS in the United States 25 May 2021. It was directed by Joe Stephenson.
Plot
Christie is having trouble collecting the American royalties on her published works. In a bid to make a private cash sale of a manuscript, therefore, she decides to kill off her most famous character, Hercule Poirot. She hires a low-life man to accompany her as a bodyguard for a cut of the price. The action takes place in a hotel where Christie expects to complete the transaction. Christie and her bodyguard encounter the prospective buyers and a varied group of hotel guests. The suspense builds as a series of murders takes place in the hotel.
Cast
- Helen Baxendale as Agatha Christie
- Blake Harrison as Travis Pickford
- Jacqueline Boatswain as Audrey Evans
- Gina Bramhill as Grace Nicory
- Daniel Caltagirone as Eli Schneider
- Thomas Chaanhing as Frankie Lei
- Scott Chambers as Clarence Allen
- Vanessa Grasse as Nell Lewis
- Jodie McNee as PC O'Hanauer
- Elizabeth Tan as Jun Yuhuan
- Morgan Watkins as Rocco Vella
- Alistair Petrie as Sir Malcolm Campbell
Production
Filming took place in Malta, back-to-back with Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar.
Reception
The show was poorly received by critics. Writing in The Guardian, Euan Ferguson said: "It was a mess: ill-plotted, playing bits for laughs or for horror without ever achieving either." Anita Singh of The Daily Telegraph gave the show 2 out of 5 stars, writing: "All of the characters' behavior felt a little weird, and it was not clear if that was by accident or design. Some were caricatures while others were barely there."
References
- Carr, Flora (7 October 2020). "Meet the cast of Agatha and the Midnight Murders". Radio Times.
- Agatha and the Midnight Murders PBS, accessed 19 June 2021.
- ^ Singh, Anita (7 October 2020). "Agatha and the Midnight Murders, review: this sneaky Christie isn't a patch on the real thing". The Daily Telegraph.
- Creamer, Jon (14 May 2020). "Emily and Tom Dalton launch docs and drama indie".
- Ferguson, Euan (11 October 2020). "The week in TV: In the Face of Terror; David Attenborough; Deaf U; Agatha and the Midnight Murders". The Guardian.
External links
- Agatha and the Midnight Murders at IMDb
- Agatha and the Midnight Murders at Darlow Smithson Productions
