‘Murder is Easy’: BBC and BritBox announce next Agatha Christie adaptation

A new Agatha Christie thriller is coming from the makers of World on Fire!

The BBC and BritBox have teamed up to co-produce an adaptation of Murder is Easy.

Originally published in 1939, Christie’s detective novel has previously been adapted for American TV in 1982, and turned into a Miss Marple episode by ITV in 2009.

This new two-part mini-series is being produced by Mammoth Screen, best known for hits like Victoria, The Serpent and Endeavour.

They’ve also got several other Agatha Christie adaptations under their belt, including The Pale Horse, And Then There Were None, Ordeal by Innocence, The Witness for the Prosecution, and last year’s Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? for BritBox.

Murder is Easy is set to begin filming in the UK this summer, with a script by Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre.

The screenwriter 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.”

The official synopsis for Murder is Easy reads: “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…”

Murder is Easy is expected to premiere in 2024 on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK, and on BritBox in the US, Canada and South Africa.

Agatha Christie’s grandson James Prichard will be an executive producer on the series.

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.”

BritBox recently revealed that they were working on a number of new Agatha Christie adaptations following the success of Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? in 2022.

Agatha Christie’s novel Murder is Easy is available on Amazon.