Murder Is Easy (TV series)

Murder Is Easy is a British mystery thriller television serial. It is based on the 1939 Agatha Christie novel of the same name. It is adapted by Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre and directed by Meenu Gaur. It premiered on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 27 December 2023.

Premise

In 1954, Luke Obiako Fitzwilliam is a Nigerian attaché on his way to Whitehall when he meets the mysterious Miss Lavinia Pinkerton on a train to London. Pinkerton discusses with him a series of deaths in the village of Wychwood-Under-Ashe which are not accidental and there's a killer on the loose. Later, Miss Pinkerton is killed in a hit-and-run, and Fitzwilliam steels himself to discover the murderer.

Cast

David Jonsson as Luke Obiako Fitzwilliam
Morfydd Clark as Bridget Conway
Penelope Wilton as Miss Lavinia Pinkerton
Sinead Matthews as Miss Honoria Waynflete
Tom Riley as Lord Whitfield
Douglas Henshall as Major Horton
Mathew Baynton as Dr Thomas
Mark Bonnar as Reverend Arthur Humbleby
Nimra Bucha as Mrs Humbleby
Tamzin Outhwaite as Mrs Pierce
Jon Pointing as Rivers
Phoebe Licorish as Rose Humbleby
Joe Fagan as the Butler
Holly Howden Gilchrist as Amy Gibbs

Production

Produced by Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited, it was a co-commission between the BBC and BritBox International. The Agatha Christie novel of the same name is adapted by Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre and directed by Meenu Gaur. It was produced by Karen Kelly. Executive producers are Ejiwunmi-Le Berre, James Prichard for Agatha Christie Limited, James Gandhi and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen, Danielle Scott-Haughton for the BBC and Reemah Sakaan and Stephen Nye for BritBox International.

Locations

Murder Is Easy was filmed on location in Scotland in the summer of 2023 on the two-part drama series. First-look images from the production were released in November 2023.
Filming took place in Tyninghame, Preston Mill in East Linton, Stirlingshire, Forbes Place in Paisley, Sorn Castle in Ayrshire, and Birkhill Station on the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway.
Waterloo Station in London can be seen briefly as the train carrying Miss Lavinia Pinkerton and Luke Fitzwilliam approaches and enters Waterloo Station.

Broadcast

The show aired on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK on 27 December 2023 and will be broadcast on BritBox International in the US, Canada and South Africa.

Reception

Rebecca Nicholson in The Guardian awarded it three out of five stars, praising its promising reworkings but finding the second episode unfocused, and that it "both overexplains and underexplains what is going on". Nick Hilton in The Independent awarded it two out of five stars.