BBC orders Murder is Easy
February 22, 2023
The BBC has announced Murder is Easy, a new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic novel produced by Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited for BBC One and iPlayer, in a co-commission with BritBox International.
The two-part thriller will film this summer and is adapted for the screen by Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre and directed by Meenu Gaur. Fifth Season will handle international sales outside of the UK, Americas and South Africa.
The story is set in England, 1954. On a train to London, a man going by the name of Luke Fitzwilliam meets Miss Pinkerton, 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, Luke feels he must find the killer before they can strike again. Because for a certain kind of person, murder is easy…
Ejiwunmi-Le Berre commented: “I’ve watched every Agatha Christie adaptation out, because Christie wrote for the world and the whole world loves her back. But somehow I’d never read one of her novels. When I first read Murder is Easy, I couldn’t believe how daring, experimental and furious the book was. Nothing like I’d expected. From the first read, the book was shouting at me how to enter and adapt it, and what’s so exciting is having everyone at Mammoth Screen and ACL jump right in there with me. It’s like going on an extended train journey with a genius sat next to you, whispering the secrets of storytelling into your ear.”
Meenu Gaur said: “I am part of the worldwide club of Agatha Christie’s fans and followers and therefore thrilled to be shaping one of her works for the screen. I was drawn to the sassy, cool, witty, and not to be messed with women of Murder is Easy and blown away again by how delightful her characters are.”
James Prichard, executive producer for Agatha Christie Limited, commented: “This is one of my great grandmother’s best and most disconcerting titles. Of course, murder isn’t easy. Or is it if you live in a traditional unsuspecting English village?”
James Gandhi, executive producer for Mammoth Screen, said: “Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre has written an extraordinary adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel, putting the post-war, quintessentially English village under the magnifying glass and exposing the secrets that lurk beneath the picture perfect surface of Wychwood under Ashe. With the amazing Meenu Gaur directing, this adaptation will captivate and delight audiences.”
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama said: “Agatha Christie on the BBC has become a classic combination, and in Murder is Easy we have one of the Queen of Crime’s finest page-turners in a new adaptation that both speaks to us today and honours her incredible talent for brilliantly entertaining, skilfully told mystery. BBC One and iPlayer viewers will be gripped.”
Reemah Sakaan, CEO BritBox International, added: “We are thrilled to partner again with Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited to adapt another gripping Agatha Christie title, working with the BBC and a world class production team. This new co-commission underlines BritBox International’s standing as a major home of Agatha Christie programming, offering new adaptations like Murder is Easy and Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? – with more of these to come – and the largest collection of much-loved Christie classics in our markets.”