‘The Pale Horse’ writer promises a very different kind of Agatha Christie mystery

The BBC’s next Agatha Christie adaptation will apparently “delight and terrify viewers.”

Based on 1961’s The Pale Horse, the upcoming mini-series comes from the makers of The ABC Murders, And Then There Were None, Ordeal By Innocence and Witness for the Prosecution.

This won’t be the sort of Agatha Christie story we’re used to, however.

Far from the cosy 1930s setting we normally see dramatised, The Pale Horse is set firmly in the second half of the 20th Century.

Writer Sarah Phelps has revealed that the two-part adaptation will be set “against the backdrop of the Eichmann Trial, the escalation of the Cold War and Vietnam.”

The BAFTA-award winning screenwriter has promised “a shivery, paranoid story about superstition, love gone wrong, guilt and grief.”

She hinted: “It’s about what we’re capable of when we’re desperate and what we believe when all the lights go out and we’re alone in the dark.”

Executive producer Helen Ziegler added: “Sarah Phelps has crafted an extraordinary adaptation of Agatha Christie’s celebrated 1960s novel The Pale Horse, where the rational world and dark supernatural forces seem to collide. Asking the question, how far would you go to protect your own happiness?

“It’s a tale of guilt, terror and witchcraft with we hope will delight and terrify viewers in equal measure!”

The Pale Horse is expected to air on BBC One in the UK this Christmas and it will premiere in the USA on Amazon Prime Video at a later date.

The official synopsis reads: “When a mysterious list of names is found in the shoe of a dead woman, one of those named, Mark Easterbrook, begins an investigation into how and why his name came to be there.

“He is drawn to The Pale Horse, the home of a trio of rumoured witches in the tiny village of Much Deeping. Word has it that the witches can do away with wealthy relatives using the dark arts alone, but as the bodies mount up Mark is certain there has to be a rational explanation. And who could possibly want him dead?”

David Suchet recently revealed that he’s open to the idea of returning as Hercule Poirot.

Poirot: The Complete Cases Collection DVD box set is available on Amazon.