Upcoming Detective Series Based On 104-Year-Old Novel Gives Agatha Christie The Sherlock Treatment

After numerous Agatha Christie adaptations that reveled in the period trappings of the late author’s work, an upcoming show is set to give two of her lesser known characters the Sherlock treatment with a present-day re-imagining. There have been a lot of Agatha Christie adaptations to date, and the prolific English author is arguably the most influential mystery writer of all time. Outside the many movies and shows directly based on her books and stories, Christie inspired innumerable entries into the murder mystery genre by helping to define most of its tropes and conventions.

Although Daniel Craig’s Knives Out movies could be called a love letter to Christie’s oeuvre, it is interesting to note that director Rian Johnson’s trilogy ran into a common problem when updating the author’s modus operandi. Christie wrote her books between 1920 and 1970, and the settings of her books were mostly contemporary at the time of writing. However, most adaptations of her work, including recent shows like Netflix’s hit Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials, are period pieces.

Not only do most Agatha Christie shows and movies not update the setting of her work to the current day, but many of them delight in showcasing the twee, nostalgic elements of their ‘20s, ’40s, or ‘50s settings. From 2022’s acclaimed Why Didn’t They Ask Evans to Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot movies, most Agatha Christie adaptations are pointedly old-fashioned, meaning their period settings are entirely justified. However, Britbox's upcoming Tommy and Tuppence adaptation is set to change this trend.

What Tommy And Tuppence Can Learn From Sherlock

Credit: Nick Wall/Courtesy of BritBox

Britbox's upcoming mystery show Agatha Christie's Tommy & Tuppence will be set in the modern day the same way BBC’s Sherlock was, meaning the series will also update its titular main characters. A well-matched couple, Tommy and Tuppence’s real names are Thomas and his wife Prudence Beresford. The couple is the main characters and active amateur sleuths in the Christie mystery books The Secret Adversary, Partners in Crime, N or M, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, and Postern of Fate.

The charming if flighty Tuppence is perfectly balanced out by her somewhat dull-witted but undeniably reliable husband, with Tuppence providing the wild theories about each book’s murder while Tommy’s stoic attitude keeps the pair closer to the truth of things. While many modern murder mysteries like The Sinner and True Detective are far darker in tone than Christie’s upbeat writings, there is still plenty of proof that viewers want playful, fun whodunnits like Agatha Christie's Tommy & Tuppence, especially if they have modern settings.

One need look no further than the major streaming services to find a deluge of shows that blend character comedy and murder mystery in a contemporary setting, from Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building and Peacock’s Poker Face to Netflix’s The Residence and Apple TV’s The After Party. Thus, it is clear that Agatha Christie's Tommy & Tuppence should have no trouble finding an audience, particularly with stars Antonia Thomas, Josh Dylan, Imelda Staunton, Sebastian de Souza, Charlie Condou, and Saffron Burrows already among its cast.

How Many Other Tommy And Tuppence Adaptations There Have Been

Credit: Lara Cornell/Courtesy of BritBox

While Netflix’s many hit murder mysteries prove that this adaptation arrives at a great time for the genre, there are a handful of existing Tommy and Tuppence adaptations that were less fortunate. Most recently, BBC’s six-episode adaptation of Partners in Crime received a mixed critical reception, while director Pascal Thomas’s 2005 adaptation of By the Pricking of My Thumbs fared scarcely better a decade earlier.

Before that, 1983’s ten-episode series Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime and its predecessor, 1982’s one-off TV movie The Secret Adversary, saw James Warwick and Francesca Annis play the pair. While both these cult hits were well-liked, their old-fashioned approach to Agatha Christie’s source material proves that Britbox is right to borrow Sherlock’s approach in this upcoming adaptation.

Release Date 2010 - 2017-00-00

Showrunner Steven Moffat

Directors Steven Moffat