Perhaps you’ve heard me complain (of course you have) about the current state of pay-TV. In my day (cue the cliched old-person talk), watching television cost you nothing. Sure, there were only twelve channels (fourteen, if you could convince your little brother to maneuver the antenna back and forth while you tried to watch Shock Theatre on Channel 44). And sure, water-cooler conversation centered around the age-old question: Addams Family or Munsters? And yet, buried under a plethora of hayseed comedies, there was always something good and/or fun to watch. And it was all free; all you had to do was watch the commercials and buy the Corn Flakes.
Full confession: after writing this paragraph, I went on to write several more about the cost of modern television. I have to say they were very funny. But then, when I got to the part where I mentioned Peacock TV, I went back to my review of Poker Face and discovered that had I laid down this very same rant seven months ago! And so, gentleman that I am, I am editing out the rest of my complaining (which was extremely funny!!) and getting down to business.
I have subscribed to a new streaming service.
For this I can blame Kemper Donovan or Caroline Crampton, who have both advertised Britbox on their respective, excellent podcasts. But let’s face it: weren’t Britbox and I were always going to be a match made in heaven? Britbox is a classic mystery lover’s delight, and while it provides me with a library for all those Poirots and Marples and other Christie shows, there are dozens and dozens of programmes (see? I’m adjusting my spelling!!) that I have never seen and can finally catch up on.
With a special promotion, I got a year of Britbox for just under $80. (The deal lasts through January.) And so I have decided to live with the service for a year and see how I do. That means that you, my friends, will be going on this viewing journey with me! So strap in!
At first glance, the number of shows that appear here is daunting. I scrolled and scrolled to figure out which mystery I should watch first. The solution (which may seem mysterious to you) is that I ended up binge-watching a game show called Would I Lie to You? It is absolutely hilarious and perfect for viewing on these gray, rainy days that have besieged us this week.
Next, I thought I would figure out whether Father Brown is as disappointing as all my British friends say it is. But I got distracted by the spin-off, Sister Boniface Mysteries, which somebody said was better. I found it . . . okay. The characters are appealing, but the mysteries make Midsomer Murders look hard-hitting. And I fell asleep during the second episode. I also learned something valuable from the good Sister: it seems that I need to watch some of these shows with the subtitles on. (Frankly, I often wish I could have subtitles when I meet with my Book Club. These people all talk in British!!!)
But enough with all the hors d’oeuvres! It’s time for something substantial, something meaningful, something . . . Christie! After all, today is the 48th anniversary of our favorite author’s death, and homage must be paid. And so last night, I decided to watch Why Didn’t They Ask Evans.
Here’s where I make some fellow Christie fans angry: I’m not particularly fond of this novel. I’m never particularly happy when Christie eschews puzzle for a sort of twee thriller vibe. Oh, she loved her bright young things! The 20’s are loaded with them: there’s Tommy and Tuppence, of course, but there’s also Anne Beddingfeld and Harry Lucas (The Man in the Brown Suit), and “Bundle” Brent and Bill Eversleigh (The Secret of Chimneys and The Seven Dials Mystery). Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? is the last, and probably the best, of these light-hearted thrillers, but despite the likability of Bobby Jones and Frankie Derwent, it all seemed so silly to me. But then, to my discredit, I’ve never been a P.G. Wodehouse sort of guy. There was a TV adaptation that came out in 1980, starring Francesca Annis and James Warwick, who had previously made a splash as (a far too glamorous) Tommy and Tuppence. I own this film, but despite their chemistry and the presence of Sir John Guilgud, Eric Porter and even Joan Hickson (!), I found the whole affair a trifle slow-going.
Anyway, the new adaptation of Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? came out all the way back in 2022. I figured that it would eventually appear on public TV in the USA, but it turns out that this was a Britbox exclusive, and the only way I could watch it was to subscribe. The adaptation comes from the mind of none other than actor/comedian/writer Hugh Laurie, and it was well-received enough that future adaptations were okayed. Through circumstances that might appear in a Christie thriller and therefore cannot be divulged, I managed to watch the follow-up, Murder Is Easy, before this one and managed to enjoy much of it. The question of the moment is how would I feel about an adaptation of a Christie novel I like half as much as the novel upon which a problematic but still enjoyable adaptation was made?
And the answer is . . . this is how it’s done, folks.
From the opening shots swirling around the village of Marchbolt and the adjoining cliffside golf links, you know you’re in the right place. Laurie’s screenplay is so fresh and witty that the characters come to life on the screen. It’s like he has this total respect for Christie’s plot, character and words but knows exactly how it must be adapted for modern audiences.
And so we are immediately introduced to Bobby Jones (Will Poulter, displaying none of the smarmy smugness that always accompanied James Warwick in his Christie performances) playing golf with his friend, Dr. Thomas. Bobby is the vicar’s son, newly released from the Navy and about to partner with his mate, ex-sailor “Badger” Beadon, on a garage in London. The men’s golf game is interrupted by the sound of a scream, and when they investigate, they see the body of a man lying on the shore after apparently having fallen from the cliffs.
In the series, Dr. Thomas, also a veteran, has a wooden leg and must therefore go for help while Bobby clambers down the cliffs to see to the man. Miraculously, he is still alive – at least long enough to off the titular dying message before succumbing to his wounds.
Even the Christies I don’t love have great hooks, and this one is beautifully filmed. Laurie plunges Bobby into the mystery just as in the book, but then he pulls back and lets us get to know the Vicar (Alistair Petrie, so good in Sex Education) and introduces us to Lady Frances “Frankie” Derwent (brilliantly played by Lucy Boynton), Bobby’s old childhood . . . friend? crush?, who clearly is crushing on the strapping Mr. Jones.
Somehow, the “twee”-ness of the novel has been undercut here, by Laurie’s sparkling dialogue and excellent direction, by the gorgeous cinematography (by John de Borman and Mika Orasmaa) and by the art design. I have to say that after watching the depiction of Marchbolt that it’s harder to like the Wychwood-Under-Ashe presented in Murder Is Easy. It’s like between 1934 (when Evans is set) and 1954 (the updated time period of Easy), someone took a giant pencil and erased all the charm and texture of an English village. The three-part drama is very stylish and yet never leans into the overly stylized rendition of Christie’s fiction that turned me off to all those Annis/Warwick adaptations. Does the plot seem to come out of an old Wilkie Collins novel? Sure – but here it is grounded in realism in the way it is filmed and acted, and it works. It also zips along – funny how Murder Is Easy was told in only two installments and yet feels longer and slower.
There are changes from the novel – I don’t remember a certain friend of Bobby’s dying in the book, and the method of Bobby’s poisoning is rendered more dramatic by the carnival setting. There is also some reference to class, as there was in Murder Is Easy, but it revolves quite naturally around the relationship between the patrician Frankie and the steady middle-class Bobby. I found some of what Easy was exploring to be fascinating, but other parts, like the awful scene with the cleaning women, hit us over the head in an awfully clumsy way.
There’s nothing clumsy here: all is grace and suspense and humor. None other than Emma Thompson and Jim Broadbent appear in delightful cameos as Frankie’s parents, and Laurie even reserves a strategic part for himself in the final chapter. He’s great in the part, but mostly we owe him mightily for his direction and for a screenplay that, while it cannot avoid the essential lunacy of Christie’s plot (just where do you think Evans has been all this time???), it embraces that craziness and makes it real. Well, real enough.
As a devout Agathologist who had declared himself averse to the purist take on Christie adaptations, I intend to embrace as much as possible the varied approaches future producers and writers may take to Christie’s work. Still, I can’t help but hope that at least some of these people take a page from Hugh Laurie’s approach, for this is one adaptation that really got it right! Score one for Britbox: as the year continues, look for me to highlight other programs that strike my fancy. Let’s see if 2024 ends with me re-upping or cancelling my subscription.
Ah Sweet Mystery! 
Toldja! 😁
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Yup – This adaptation indeed was well done. Glad you liked it.
Sorry Sister Boniface didn’t work for you. Do you have access to Death in Paradise with your Britbox? That’s another one I enjoy.
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Yes, I do – and to the spinoff, which looks sweet. I’ve also never watched Vera or Shetland, although those people mumble more than the posh Brits in Christie-Land!!! 🙄
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Even as a Brit I feel your pain re dialogue. I have to watch everything with subtitles now.
Glad you caught on early to Would I Lie To You. Reliably hilarious, the three regulars are genuinely funny people.
I recommend early Vera and Death in Paradise. Unfortunately they’ve gone on too long, particularly DiP.
You might also enjoy Silent Witness. This from a Guardian review from 2016 (apologies that I can’t work out how to italicise).
“A car sits on a London street. Somewhere in the neighbourhood, a couple are having a heated argument. Without warning, a woman crunches into the bonnet of the car, having fallen from a great height.
So begins another series of Silent Witness – series 19, to be precise…it may have flown under your radar for the past two decades, or, like me, you may just dip in every now and again to marvel at how well this pathology procedural has held up over the years…
Silent Witness is never afraid to be complicated; before they present you with the latest jigsaw puzzle of a case, they like to give the box a good shake. The woman landing on the car, it transpires, was an event from 10 years ago. And it remains, as yet, part of a subplot. In the main plot, Dr Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox) is at the scene of the apparent suicide of a “semi-famous” DJ, only it’s not a suicide. His wrists are both so comprehensively slit – tendons and all – that once he’d done one he wouldn’t have been able to do the other. He also has a broken nurse’s fob watch jammed halfway down his oesophagus.
This crime scene is eerily like one Dr Nikki presided over some years ago. In that case she ruled suicide as the cause of death, and now fears she may have been wrong. An exhumation is called for, much against the wishes of the victim’s son, a priest. Meanwhile, a mildly creepy old flame is sniffing round Dr Nikki. If that sounds complicated, it’s way more complicated than that.
If you like your crime dramas dimly lit, ably acted, only occasionally preposterous and chock-full of cut-open dead bodies, then Silent Witness is still right where it always was. Eat beforehand, and wait at least an hour.”
Your cup of tea? Anyway, enjoy your time with Britbox.
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Thanks for the recommendation. I do love complex mysteries with lots of twists and turns. I think EVERYTHING is too dark nowadays: when Game of Thrones FINALLY staged the battle between the living and the dead, everything was so pitch black that I nearly gave up the episode! I’m also thinking of going back into therapy in order to learn how to tolerate extreme gore; I’m missing so many otherwise great shows!
And just to let you know about italics, you need to frame what you want to italicize in this way:
Right before you want the letters to slant, you’re going to type with a small i between those brackets. (I can’t actually type it for you or you won’t be able to see it, and everything will be italicized!)
When you are ready to quit italics, you type those brackets again – – and in-between them you type /i (backward slash + small i).
Hope this lesson tops anything you discovered at university.
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Thanks for the tip about italics.
Silent Witness is graphic during the autopsy scenes, but at least you know that’s when to look away!
Some future big names started their career on the slab in Silent Witness. Jodie Comer and Daisy Ridley come to mind.
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I am very surprised it took you so long to try Britbox, Brad. A match made in heaven, I expected. The mention of needing to switch on the captions when watching Sister Boniface had me chuckling!
FWIW, thought the 1980s version was charming, even if I trust everyone’s opinion that this this recent version is superior.
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I was a big fan of Francesca Anis from when she played Lillie Langtry in a British mini-series that aired on Masterpiece Theater here. But I thought she and Warwick played Tommy and Tuppence all wrong. (Since when do they dress like toffs and drink cocktails!?!) those contemporary adaptations of the thrillers just never appealed to me because the thrillers didn’t appeal to me. Like I said, I do own them, and I should probably give them another try.
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I don’t remember the “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” Anis/Warwick adaptation suffering from the same problem that annoyed you in the T&T adaptations.
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I’ll rewatch it one of these these days.
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In India it is streaming on Sony Liv, though I am yet to see it !
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Now that you have Britbox, you may be tempted to see The Pale Horse (2020), but it is simply HORRIBLE. It starts well, but towards the end, it becomes COMPLETE NONSENSE ! A very bad adaptation .
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Nope – not tempted in the least. After seeing what Sarah Phelps did to Ordeal by Innocence, I’m done with her.
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Thirding the recommendation for Death in Paradise. In my opinion it is the current show that best captures the appeal of Golden Age mysteries, with fairly clued puzzles that often include impossible crimes (locked rooms, no-footprints-on-sand, etc.) or “all plausible suspects have a good alibi” plots. The spinoff Beyond Paradise is not in the same league (from the 2-3 episodes I have sampled).
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Oh, Brad, you have opened up a wonderful world of shows on BritBox! Beyond the usual Agatha Christie stuff – Poirot, Marple – there are a lot of other great literary mystery adaptations. My New Years resolution is to get more into Margery Allingham and that includes watching the Peter Davison Campion series. The Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series can be found in its entirety as well and is really worth your time.
You also have access to almost all of Jonathan Creek which, if memory serves, you have watched most of. I also discovered Cracker on BritBox with the late great Robbie Coltrane. That gets into the soap opera side of the police a little more than I would like in my mystery shows, but the writing is great and touches on some really interesting social issues. All of the Ghost Stories for Christmas are worth exploring too. The original run directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark are to be found in a bundle and the newer Mark Gatiss adaptations are also there for some winter-time spooky enjoyment.
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If you can find it, New Zealand’s “Brokenwood Mysteries” is a superior version of “Midsummer Murders” and “Death in Paradise”.
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Why Didn’t They Ask Evans is one of my favourites, so there!
After watching multiple and thoroughly dissatisfying Christie adaptations, which finally culminated in the disaster and soft-porn bilge called Ordeal By Innocence starring Christopher Plummer and Faye Dunaway, I decided enough was enough and then resolved to studiously stay VERY FAR AWAY from Christie adaptations. The Kenneth Branagh starring Murder On The Orient Express did nothing to reverse my decision – I watched that for about ten minutes and then switched it off. But this adaptation of Why Didn’t They Ask Evans was very good, much to my pleasant surprise.
One of my favourite parts in the book is when Bobby admits to Frankie that he won’t see much of her in London and the two’s ensuing confrontation. Translated to screen, try as the director might, the depiction of this confrontation is somehow ineffective – it’s just another melodramatic dialogue exchange. I guess the best of visual descriptions can never take the place of the written word. Having said that, this particular adaptations with it’s beautiful settings, visuals and casting, is easily one of the best so far!
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I can only vehemently disagree, WDYAE aka The Boomerang Clue, is a long-standing favorite of mine.
I prefer the original adaptation with Warwick and Annis (who also played the Beresfords). The remake suffers from what all remakes suffer from: the need to go on and produce an original story instead of grafting their own tale on to an existing masterpiece.
Whenever I’m in the mood to find out how a man named Carstairs is also a man named Prichard, I just ask Evans.
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I’ve heard that Britbox may be going under. Which seems funny because I think the Brits would call it ‘shutter’ or ‘folding’. I’m not sure what to make out of it, because my subscription to Blockbuster Stream was a flop, and my AOL email was replaced with gmail. I miss the days when I just had to turn on the tele, flip a channel and Tune ‘Wallace and Ladmo’ on KPHO just as school got out. I don’t suppose BritBox streams ‘Ladmo’ does it? That would be great.
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Oh my God!! Wallace and Ladmo?!?!? I watched them every weekday when I was eight! Wallace’s straw hat? Ladmo wore a top hat, right?? I’ve never come across another adult who heard of them!!! ❤️
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I still got my Ladmo bag, are you kidding?!?
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