A New Star-Studded Agatha Christie Adaptation Is Coming To The BBC

The BBC has revealed a star-studded ensemble cast for a new three-part adaptation of another Agatha Christie classic, Towards Zero. Now filming in Bristol and Devon, here’s everything we know so far.

Towards Zero: Everything We Know About BBC’s New Agatha Christie Adaptation

Who doesn’t love a whodunnit? And who does it better than Agatha Christie? Lucky for us, the BBC has revealed it is now filming a new three-part adaptation of Christie’s Towards Zero, a deliciously scandalous love triangle juxtaposed by a double murder. Adapted by BAFTA-nominated writer Rachel Bennette and directed by the Olivier Award-winning Sam Yates (Magpie), there’s a glittering cast list to boot, with Anjelica Huston leading the cast, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ella Lily Hyland and Mimi Keene starring as the aforementioned love triangle.

‘I have long been a fan of Agatha Christie and the murder-mystery genre and always love the opportunity to film in England,’ says Anjelica Huston. ‘I am thrilled to be working with director Sam Yates and this wonderful cast, and excited to play the clever and dignified Camilla, Lady Tressilian.’

‘This is a very special production,’ adds James Prichard, executive producer for Agatha Christie Limited. ‘Rachel has done an extraordinary job on making my great-grandmother’s story even more dramatic, intense and troubling. Add in a cast of this calibre and viewers are in for a real treat.’

Towards Zero is the latest BBC Agatha Christie adaptation after Murder is Easy debuted last Christmas. (David Jonsson in Murder is Easy © BBC)

What Is Towards Zero About?

Set in 1936 England on the sun-soaked Devon coast, Nevile Strange (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is a scandalised tennis star still experiencing the aftershocks of his high profile divorce from ex-wife Audrey (Ella Lily Hyland). Every summer, Nevile visits his aunt, Lady Tressilian (Anjelica Huston), at her seaside home in Gull’s Point – where Nevile also grew up as the ward of Lady Tressilian’s now deceased husband. This summer, he and his new wife Kay (Mimi Keene) venture to the coast – but, with unfinished business to settle, Nevile also controversially invites Audrey, too.

Naturally, tensions are running high. Nevile and Audrey are childhood sweethearts and grew up at Gull’s Point. Add to this a motley crew of other guests – a long-suffering lady’s companion, a mysterious gentleman’s valet, an exiled cousin with a grudge, a venerable family lawyer, an inquisitive orphan and a French con man – and soon, in true Christie style, there will be a murder.

Enter Superintendent Battle, a troubled detective who must rediscover his purpose and untangle this toxic web of jealousy, deceit and dysfunction to solve the crime before another victim meets their death…

Who Stars?

There are plenty of familiar faces in this line up. The cast list for Towards Zero includes:

• Oliver Jackson-Cohen (The Haunting of Hill House, Wilderness) as Nevile Strange
• Ella Lily Hyland (Fifteen-Love, Black Doves) as Audrey
• Anjelica Huston (The Addams Family, The Witches) as Lady Tressilian
• Mimi Keene (Sex Education) as Kay
• Jackie Clune (Motherland)
• Grace Doherty (Call the Midwife)
• Jack Farthing (Rain Dogs)
• Khalil Gharbia (Mary & George)
• Adam Hugill (Sherwood)
• Clarke Peters (The Wire)
• Matthew Rhys (The Americans)
• Anjana Vasan (Black Mirror: Demon 79)

Release Date

No release date has been confirmed just yet, but filming is now underway in and around Bristol and on the Devon coast. Perhaps we can expect a Christmas debut, following in the footsteps of the BBC’s most recent Christie adaptation, Murder is Easy.

WATCH IT

Towards Zero will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK. It will air on BritBox International’s streaming service in the US and Canada.

Previous Agatha Christie adaptations made by Agatha Christie Limited and Mammoth Screen for the BBC are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.