BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Ordeal by Innocence is well worth the wait…
It was due to air at Christmas and the BBC's three-part murder mystery finally kicks off this Easter Sunday
It’s the Agatha Christie murder mystery fans feared they might never see. After original cast member Ed Westwick was accused of sexual misconduct, which he denies, the BBC removed the miniseries at the last minute from the Christmas schedules.
Where The Heart Is actor Christian Cooke replaced Ed as Mickey Argyll and the all-star cast – including Bill Nighy, Morven Christie and Anna Chancellor – returned to Scotland to re-shoot the production.
“The general feeling from the rest of the cast was that they were happy the work was going to be shown,” explains Christian, 30.
“They’d all worked so hard on it and were so proud of what they’d done, so they were all very welcoming.”
Ordeal By Innocence is one of Christie’s most unusual stories in that there is no murder to kick it off.
A man, Jacko Argyll, dies in prison having been sentenced for killing his adoptive mother Rachel (Anna Chancellor).
Two years later, a stranger named Arthur Calgary turns up at the Argyll residence stating that he is Jacko’s alibi – which means not only was Jacko innocent, but another family member was the real killer, and each of the four remaining adopted children suspects the others…
“With every character at some point you think: ‘Yeah, obviously they did it,’” says Bill, 68, who plays Rachel’s widower Leo.
“I hadn’t seen the previous adaptations [And Then There Were None and The Witness For The Prosecution], but I made a couple of calls and everybody said they were great, very cool and made like films.
"I read Agatha Christie when I was a boy – it’s a sort of phenomenon.”
Ordeal by Innocence, Easter Sunday, 9pm, BBC One
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