The two-part British television drama Agatha Christie: Murder Is Easy is the latest adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1939 novel of the same name.

In 1954, Nigerian-born Luke Obiako Fitzwilliam (David Jonsson, Industry, The Long Walk, Alien: Romulus) is on a train headed for London to take up a new position at Whitehall as an attaché to Sir William Ossington. On the train, he meets Lavinia Pinkerton (Penelope Wilton), a friendly woman from a small English village called Wychwood-Under-Ashe, who reminds him of his auntie. She tells Luke that she is headed to Scotland Yard because she witnessed a man being pushed to his death, and suspects at least two other murders were committed by the same “respectable person with a point to be made”. Her village’s local police aren’t experienced enough to handle the situation, and are just marking the deaths as accidents, so she is seeking help to stop the killer before he strikes again.

When their train arrives at Waterloo station, the pair get out and Luke offers to accompany Miss Pinkerton to Scotland Yard. She insists that all she needs help with is to place her bet on a horse—it’s Derby day and women aren’t allowed to bet. He happily obliges, and she manages to pick the longshot winner. However, just as he turns to hand her her winnings, Luke discovers that Miss Pinkerton has been struck down by a motor vehicle. Is this just a coincidence or was the killer trying to silence her by making her his next victim?

When Luke learns that his new boss is going to be delayed a few days, he decides to head to Wychwood-Under-Ashe to investigate Miss Pinkerton’s claims. The miniseries follows Luke as he meets the folks in the small town, under the guise of being a cultural anthropologist, doing research for a book about superstitions and the difference between English and Nigerian cultures.

I was not familiar with this Agatha Christie story, so the ultimate identity of the killer was a mystery to me. As Luke interacted with the various residents of this village, and looked at the clues, I also tried to piece together the evidence to come up with the identity of the killer and their motive. Comparing this adaptation to the original story, there are definitely some liberties taken. There are a lot of changes to the Luke character, giving him a very different background and backstory, and a different connection to the Bridget character. There are also added racial/colonial elements to the story, but these feel quickly forgotten and ultimately didn’t really pay off by the end.

I found the first episode of the miniseries to be quite good, building the tension and mystery, and introducing a lot of potential suspects. The writers have done a good job of making most of the characters look guilty in order to keep you guessing. The first half feels much like your classic detective story with characters in a confined space as the detective tries to suss them out. After he checks into his hotel, Luke receives an invitation to a dinner party at Ashe Manor, hosted by wealthy land developer Lord Whitfield (Tom Riley). This was the location of one of the “accidents”, so he’s interested in exploring the crime scene. Also present at this dinner is Whitfield’s secretary-turned-fiancée Bridget Conway (Morfydd Clark), whom Luke met earlier, and who invited him. The other guests include Major Horton (Douglas Henshall); Dr. Thomas (Mathew Baynton), who was in charge of performing the inquest for the deceased; and Reverend Arthur Humbleby (Mark Bonnar), his wife (Nimra Bucha) and their daughter Rose (Phoebe Licorish).

As Luke talks to the various guests, they all seem to have potential motives, but he is most suspicious of Dr. Thomas, who doesn’t seem all that broken up about the deaths, or suspicious at all about situation, even going so far as to suggest that perhaps the victims were actually better off dead. As Luke meets with other townsfolk, and looks for a connection between the victims, additional “accidental” deaths start to occur. The only person Luke believes he can trust is Bridget, and he is devoted to unlocking the truth. This ultimately builds to a cliffhanger of another death going into episode 2.

The second half of the story is where things didn’t quite work for me. While the killer, victims and methods of death are generally similar to the original story, with some changes here and there, the motivation for the murders is different, and seems to come out of nowhere—like the writers were three-quarters through the story and realized they suddenly needed to actually come up with a resolution. In this respect I was a bit disappointed. However, the acting is solid, and I think David Jonsson does an excellent job. There is something about the actor that I always find captivating to watch. He has this unique look and mannerism. Jonsson also has great chemistry with the rest of the cast, which also includes Tamzin Outhwaite, Jon Pointing and Holly Howden Gilchrist.

Fifth Season has released the 2023 BBC One/BritBox miniseries Agatha Christie: Murder Is Easy only on DVD. It does not appear to even be available for digital purchase as of yet, but it is currently streaming on BritBox. We were sent the DVD for review, which consists of a single barebones disc placed in a standard DVD keepcase, without a slipcover, digital copy or any bonus material. The visual presentation is a bit of a mixed bag. Close-ups look really good with a generally clean and detailed picture, but wider shots, such as the opening view of the train speeding through the green fields, do not fare as well clarity-wise. It would have been nice if there had been a Blu-ray release to showcase the beautiful English countryside locales of the series. The audio track fares better, providing clear dialogue throughout and making nice use of the stereo and surround tracks give an immersive ambiance to the presentation.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (2:02:03)

• The 2-episode mini-series on a single disc:
  “Episode 1” (1:01:12) & “Episode 2” (1:00:51)
• 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Surround, English 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo, French 5.1 Dolby Surround, French 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo
• Subtitles: English SDH, French

Extras:

There is no bonus material on this release.

Final Thoughts:

The first half of Agatha Christie: Murder Is Easy does a nice job of introducing characters, building the tension, and setting up the mystery. However, in the second half the pacing isn’t as solid, with the murderer and their motivations seeming to come out of left field. The DVD presentation is a bit hit-or-miss when it comes to the picture, but the audio presentation is solid. The release is barebones, including no bonus material. The miniseries is probably worth a look for Christie fans (though there have been some changes to the original story) or fans of the cast. The miniseries is also streaming on BritBox for those who subscribe and wish to check it out there before a blind buy.