The Best Agatha Christie Miniseries Is a Whodunit ‘Succession’

The Big Picture

• Agatha Christie’s ability to write compelling characters sets her adaptations apart, with morally ambiguous characters and a brilliant sleuth at the forefront.
• The BBC miniseries adaptation of Christie’s novel
  Ordeal by Innocence
  subverts the whodunit genre by examining family dynamics and interpersonal relationships.
• Ordeal by Innocence
  darkly satirizes the wealthy, with a comically ornate setting and a modern exploration of the consequences of privilege.

The work of the beloved author Agatha Christie has been frequently adapted to the big and small screen, as the compelling mysteries within her novels and short stories are perfectly suited for dramatic interpretations. While the intricate nature of the mysteries themselves is a major reason why these adaptations are made so frequently, Christie’s work stands out due to her strong ability to write characters. Viewers enjoy watching different versions of Hercule Poirot solve mysteries because of the brilliant sleuth’s heroic intentions; his strong-willed appreciation for justice offers a requiem to the violent nature of the crimes Christie details. However, Christie has also dabbled in morally ambiguous territory with ethically gray characters. The excellent BBC miniseries adaptation of Christie’s novel Ordeal by Innocence inverts the whodunit genre by using it to analyze family dynamics.

What Is ‘Ordeal by Innocence’ About?

Based on Christie’s 1958 novel of the same name, Ordeal by Innocence explores the aftermath of the death of the wealthy heiress Rachel Argyll (Anna Chancellor), whose body was found bludgeoned to death in her luxurious home. Although Rachel’s son, Jack (Anthony Boyle), is arrested after his fingerprints are found at the scene of the crime, questions about the nature of her murder continue to arise. Less than two years later, her ex-husband Leo (Bill Nighy) prepares to wed his young secretary Gwenda Vaughn (Alice Eve) in an event that gathers his grown children Mary (Eleanor Tomlinson), Mickey (Christian Cooke), Tina (Crystal Clarke), and Hester (Ella Purnell), and their maid, Kirsten Lindquist (Morven Christie). The murder itself serves as an inciting incident to analyze the family’s interpersonal relationships; this subverts the traditional whodunit narrative with its “eat the rich” themes.

While a straightforward whodunit series would spend more time examining the specifics of the murder itself, Ordeal by Innocence reveals details about the characters through their reaction to Rachel’s murder. In the brief window of time between their mother’s murder and their father’s marriage, the five children have gone their separate ways, each choosing to ignore the gruesome nature of the crime. Their willingness to ignore Jack in the aftermath reveals a deep disparity between them, suggesting that their childhood together was not exactly pleasant. Jack’s death in jail before he can stand trial gives each of the characters a deep sense of guilt that permeates the rest of the series; it serves as a fascinating examination of the consequences of abandonment. Even when an enigmatic doctor, Arthur Calgary (Luke Treadaway), arrives claiming to have knowledge of Jack’s innocence, it’s implied that keeping the information secret is preferable to a painful reality.

Like many of the best Christie television adaptations, Ordeal by Innocence utilizes a nonlinear narrative structure in order to handle its exposition. The series centers on the Christmas holiday when Rachel was murdered, and flashes to each of the characters’ experiences on the fateful night. It’s an interesting approach, as it puts a barrier between the audience and the truth; the viewer is only privy to limited details that are colored by each child’s perception of events. As a result, the series does not have a central narrator whose opinion is completely objective. This creates an almost unbearable level of suspense, as any of the children could be revealed to be guilty.

‘Ordeal by Innocence’ Darkly Satirizes the Wealthy

While the series certainly does not shy away from graphic content, Ordeal by Innocence has a dark sense of humor in its satire of wealthy families. The extravagant nature of the Argyll estate is almost comically ornate; despite living life to its lavish excesses, the Argyll children all seem to be perpetually miserable. Screenwriter Sarah Phelps, who also penned the excellent BBC adaptation of Christie’s And Then There Were None, does a great job at updating the source material and addressing how the upper class seems to live life without consequences. While the series retains its 1950s setting, it speaks to the cruelty inherent within privileged families in a manner that feels decidedly modern.

Given the stressful scenario that the Argyll children are in, Ordeal by Innocence contains a lot of great banter as the characters all come to suspect each other’s stories. It’s evident that despite the individual success that they have each found in their respective professions, they still revert back to childhood bickering. While spending so much time with such unlikeable characters could have made Ordeal by Innocence an irritating experience, the series takes a note from Succession’s book by allowing the audience to laugh at the characters. It’s hard not to laugh at how they each reflect their selfishness while a more sinister threat emerges.

‘Ordeal by Innocence’ Has Incredible Performances Within Its Cast

While Christie’s great material gave the series a strong foundation to work from, Ordeal by Innocence has a terrific ensemble of actors that feel like a real family. While the flashbacks reveal some details about their shared history, much of the series rests on how each of the children responds and reacts to their siblings. Boyle, in particular, does a great job at generating empathy for Jack when shocking details about his parentage occur; the future Masters of the Air star gives an emotional performance that makes his early demise more tragic. An appearance by the great Matthew Goode as Mary’s husband, Phillip, offers the important perspective of an outsider to the family.

As great as the performers portraying the Argyll children are, Ordeal by Innocence is anchored by an uncharacteristically villainous performance by Bill Nighy. While Nighy is known for playing warm-hearted characters in his many great film roles, Leo is a nasty aristocrat whose lack of compassion makes him utterly despicable. Leo’s willingness to move forward in his relationship with Gwenda reveals that Rachel’s death did not fundamentally affect him in any significant ways, as he merely sees his children as an extension of his wealth. Ordeal by Innocence certainly gets nasty at points, but its chaotic twists and turns make it an unmissable adaptation for fans of Christie’s work.

Ordeal by Innocence is streaming on Prime Video.

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