Agatha Christie's Seven Dials review: Netflix adaptation is forumla-busting – and that’s a problem

On one level, Agatha Christie's staying power and the continuing cultural dominance of her works is remarkable. On another it really isn't.

Christie is the best-selling fiction author of all time for a reason, the same reason her works are also so frequently adapted - her stories are just that good.

Since 2020 alone, there have been six English-language on screen adaptations of her work - The Pale Horse, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, Murder is Easy and Towards Zero on TV, alongside Death on the Nile and A Haunting in Venice on the big screen.

These adaptations have admittedly been of varying quality but its notable that, at least on the small screen, efforts are being made of late to take on some of Christie's lesser-known works, rather than returning again and again to the old favourites.

There is certainly method behind this, but having now watched the latest addition to the on-screen Christie canon, Netflix's Seven Dials, one does start to wonder whether some of these stories are lesser-known for a reason.

Agatha Christie's Seven Dials, which has been adapted by Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall, stars Mia McKenna-Bruce as Lady Eileen 'Bundle' Brent, a young, rebellious socialite in 1920s England.

As with many Christie novels, this one is all about death, suspicion and back-stabbing, with this one ticking into action the morning after a country house party where one of the guests is found to have died. A prank appears to have been played on the deceased, with seven alarm clocks being set to go off one after the other, but their death is deemed to be unsuspicious and unrelated to the crime, according to the majority of the guests, that is apart from Bundle.

Looking to get justice, she springs into action, but uncovers a conspiracy far bigger than she could have imagined.

As with so many Christie adaptations, this one features a stacked cast, including the likes of Martin Freeman, Helena Bonham Carter and Alex Macqueen in central roles.

It's glossy and filled with sumptuous locations and visual flair. It's also fast-paced and filled with fun, committed performances and delightful period detail. It's the sort of thing you can absolutely stick on and enjoy, in a sort of 'passing you by' kind of way.

Yet... there's an issue here. Something stops Seven Dials from becoming top-tier, on-screen Christie and being properly engaging with on a deeper level - and it has to do with the mystery itself.

Christie's back catalogue runs the gamut in terms of style, structure and tone of mystery, but many of the most acclaimed and beloved stick to a relatively simple whodunnit formula, just in a variety of different, fiendishly clever contexts.

First, you introduce a host of suspects, and start to outline some of their interpersonal relationships. They're often all in the same place, meaning that it's easy to track them, and opportunity is established for all of them at once.

Then, you have the murder - a crime for which we quickly realise a number of the suspects had a surefire motive. What follows is the investigation, either by an amateur or professional sleuth. In the end, the suspects are rounded up, the perpetrator unmasked and justice restored.

But this well-rehearsed formula is only half-heartedly followed by Seven Dials. There are suspects, but they're a diffuse bunch who are difficult to intimately understand, particularly as the plot darts around without giving any of them a proper look in.

Formulas can become tired, there's no doubt about that. But as already established, people love Christie's stories, and the formula is a large part of that. There's something comforting and engrossing about it, like watching an effortless well-oiled machine at work.

While watching Seven Dials, I have to admit that I never really cared who had done the murder. I was aware there was a mystery to solve, but I didn't know any of these characters enough, or have a firm enough grasp of who the suspects actually were.

Characters also kept popping up at random moments and there was so many elements to question that it was hard to keep track of anything. Neither Bundle nor Freeman's Superintendent Battle felt like they were helping the audience along with this, as is the case with all the best on-screen sleuths.

All this being said, the show's denouement is still relatively effective, being delivered during a fun, thrilling sequence. Genuine surprises are delivered, too, even if the detail surrounding motives or specific aspects of the crime felt oddly superfluous to proceedings.

However, it all does feel like too little too late.

A cursory bit of research will tell you that The Seven Dials Mystery was not one of Christie's more successful novels. In fact, it was largely considered a bit of a dud upon the time of its release, and there doesn't appear to have been any major re-evaluation since then.

One therefore wonders, perhaps, whether this was always just a novel less in need of an adaptation. Wanting to keep things fresh for an audience is understandable, but to do so by taking on lesser material isn't necessarily going to yield the the best results.

In the end, Agatha Christie's Seven Dials is entirely fine. In many ways, it feels like a perfectly designed pairing between Christie and Netflix.

It has carried over all of the surface level elements of Christie, enough so that subscribers will surely allow the episodes to keep rolling into each other, but has done away with the compelling mystery element, which may prove too difficult to follow when doing so-called 'second-screen viewing'.

It's a passable few hours of entertainment, with a gloss and level of performance above the norm, but it's not a mystery on the level of even the middling Christie adaptations - making the ticking clock metaphor surprisingly apt.

Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials is available to watch on Netflix now. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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