35 scenes featuring Ed Westwick were reshot in January and February delaying the original Christmas release until Easter. It was a good story of suspense, the characters were not overly odious, some were even likable. Ordeal by Innocence: Viewers outraged as BBC change killers identity Agatha knew best. But now the murderer is running scared and will kill againI did figure out "who done it". Calgary returns he happens upon a two year old newspaper and immediately sets out to make amends to the Argyle family:The "family" are all adopted children, housekeeper, & secretary of Rachel & Leo Argyle (who had altruistically taken in children during the war, then adopted several of them):Mary: Calm, controlling of her husband Phil (a victim of polio and the one to stir the pot) who convinced Rachel to become her "Mother"Michael (Micky): Angry at his "Mother" for not being allowed to return to his mother & familyHester: Young frightened and repressed by "Mother" who knows bestTina: Quiet, unassuming, loving, & grateful to "Mother" for the comforts of her new lifeJack (Jacko): A cunning malicious miscreant whom "Mother" always bailed out, until that fateful night.Kirsten (Kirsty): Housekeeper always looking out for & protecting the childrenGwenda: Leo's secretary, now his fianceeNow that Jacko has been proven innocent, there is a murderer among the family, all who were perfectly happy & willing to let the past die with him. Calgary has a nasty bump & a bit of amnesia then takes off for the South Pole.When Dr. Calgary had indeed picked the hitchhiking Jacko up (so that he was nowhere near the house at the time of his mother's murder). The wardrobe is also part of the rich viewing experience here: tweed jackets, elegant dinner gowns.Īs for the new twists? No spoilers here, but suffice to say this version of “Ordeal by Innocence” is a worthy if not slightly darker take on an old classic.Two years after Jacko was convicted of murdering his mother & dying in prison of pneumonia a man comes forward and corroborates Jacko's alibi. Family secrets unfold in the foggy English countryside, the wooded forests and inside the ornate Argyll mansion.
AGATHA CHRISTIE ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE FULL
The Argylls in this adaptation are not particularly likable, but they are all intriguing and full of mystery. The collective talent of the cast - Nighy, Chancellor, Goode - is another critical piece in bringing Christie’s tale to life by honoring the author’s attention to detail in her characters.
AGATHA CHRISTIE ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE SERIES
The series does a great job in giving everyone here - including maid Kirsten (Morven Christie) - ample motives to stab her in the parlor, or was it the drawing room?
No one particularly liked, let alone loved, the prickly, cold matriarch. Calgary (Luke Treadaway) shows up on the Argylls’ polished doorstep claiming that the wrong man was convicted of Rachel’s murder, new questions arise around Rachel’s death and the family begins to suspect one another.Įach hour-long episode takes audiences through a series of flashbacks that paints a vivid picture of the dysfunctional, mother-child relationships. Left are Mickey (Christian Cooke), Hester (Ella Purnell), Mary (Eleanor Tomlinson) and Tina (Crystal Clarke) as well as drunken, bitter son-in-law Philip (Matthew Goode) and Leo’s new flame, voluptuous gold digger Gwenda (Alice Eve).īut when a mysterious man who goes by the name of Dr. Ordeal by Innocence By: Agatha Christie Narrated by: Hugh Fraser Unabridged Audiobook Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery 4.4 out of 5 stars. The perp, black-sheep son Jack (Anthony Boyle), has since died in jail. Rachel Argyll (Anna Chancellor) was murdered over a year ago, and one of the family’s five adopted adult children was convicted of the crime. A mystery revolving around the murder of an heiress and the prison sentence. The Amazon three-parter is a star-studded but ponderous tale about toxic family dysfunction. Egyptologist Leo Argyll (Bill Nighy) is the patriarch of the well-to-do British family, his philanthropist Mrs. Ordeal by Innocence Is the Darkest Agatha Christie Drama Yet. It’s the mid-1950s when we meet the Argyll family. for BBC One does an artful job building out new puzzles atop the old while still honoring the work of Christie. The unexpected twist here, however, is that the three-episode period drama deviates from the book’s narrative yet still manages to weave an equally intriguing whodunit.Ĭhristie devotees may find the off-the-book story lines disrespectful to the beloved author - if not altogether blasphemous. The limited series, out Friday, is adapted from her 1958 novel of the same name, the first of three original Christie adaptations to premiere on the streaming service. Stylistically, Amazon Prime’s “Ordeal by Innocence” is Agatha Christie through and through, and that should come as no surprise.