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Stephen McCarty

What a view | BBC Agatha Christie murder mystery adaptation is proof of the Queen of Crime’s enduring popularity

  • BBC First is airing a new three-part adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1934 murder mystery Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? starring Lucy Boynton and Will Poulter
  • Meanwhile, Netflix K-drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo celebrates diversity and inclusivity as a new hire with autism at a law firm shakes up lives in a good way

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Lucy Boynton in ‘Why Didn’t They Ask Evans

Credit: Endeavor Content

When you graduate from being “the most widely published novelist ever” to being “outsold by only Shakespeare and the Bible”, and therefore something of an inadvertent cliché, where do you look for reassurance that you are still relevant to succeeding generations?

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BBC First would be a start, with its showing of the three-part adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1934 murder mystery Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? Those are the last words of a man found at the bottom of a cliff; and although received wisdom has it that he committed suicide, the adventurous, brusque but coquettish Lady Frances Derwent (Lucy Boynton) and innocent, teased, dutiful vicar’s son Bobby Jones (Will Poulter) are convinced of foul play.

But exposing the truth behind the enigmatic question is naturally going to prove difficult and dangerous, particularly with series writer and director Hugh Laurie doing his best Max von Sydow impression as a sinister psychologist.

In the slipstream of two recent big-screen Christie outings steered by Kenneth Branagh, further proof of the enduring popularity of the Queen of Crime comes in this latest deluxe period piece in the form of Emma Thompson and Jim Broadbent in (brief) supporting roles as a couple of dotty aristocrats. The Bible? What more testament do you need?
Will Poulter in a still from Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? Photo: Endeavor Content
Will Poulter in a still from Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? Photo: Endeavor Content

The whole spectrum

Let’s hear it for Extraordinary Attorney Woo, a Netflix series (streaming now) that celebrates diversity and inclusivity.
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