BBC’s Agatha Christie Series, Towards Zero Is One To Watch
There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned whodunnit mystery, especially when it’s from the queen of the genre herself, Agatha Christie. Another of the best-selling author’s many stories is getting adapted for the screen, courtesy of the BBC: one of her less-known stories, Towards Zero.
Anchored by a main cast that includes Anjelica Houston (The French Dispatch) Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason) and Oliver [profile-link]Jackson Cohen[/profile-link] (Wilderness), it’s available to watch on BBC One and iPlayer and follows a twisting murder mystery. Here’s all you need to know:
What is Towards Zero about?
The series isn’t the only new Christie adaptation that’s set to release this year, with Netflix also working on an adaptation of The Seven Dials Mystery, starring Helena Bonham Carter. Towards Zero takes us back in time to 1936, as a typically enveloping Christie case begins to unfold. Neville Strange (Jackson Cohen) a star tennis player, catches media attention for his divorce from his ex-wife Audrey (Ella Lily Hyland), but soon makes the surprising decision to stay at his aristocratic aunt’s house on the south coast of England with his ex-wife. His aunt, Lady Tressilian (Huston) is ill and remains bed-bound, but still plays host to her friends, and invites a group of them to stay at her home for a party alongside Neville and Audrey.
Despite agreeing to go away with each other, Neville and Audrey still remain suspicious of the other and at odds, particularly with Neville’s new wife Kay (Mimi Keene) being present. There’s a definite air of tension in the air, and this uneasy feeling comes to a head when one of the guests at the house is suddenly found dead, with murder being a possible cause. Instead of Poirot or Ms Marple, Towards Zero focuses on another of Christie’s creations, Superintendent Battle, as he is drawn into the developing mystery- despite his own personal troubles. And as is usually the case with the beloved crime author’s works, there’s a wide range of suspects who might’ve been involved in the killing of the guest: “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” reads the BBC’s press release. But Battle will need to fend off his own doubts and demons if he’s to catch the killer and prevent more deaths.
What else do we know, and is there a release date?
The three-part miniseries will be released on iPlayer on 2nd March, with it also being broadcast across three weeks on BBC One. Other members of the cast include Jackie Clune (The Great Escaped), Clarke Peters (The Wire) and Jack Farthing (Rain Dogs).
