Murder Is Easy review: Wider themes make this Agatha Christie tale a delight

But Murder Is Easy is slotted nicely into the schedule for 27th December, providing a special brand of light-hearted wit, glamour and intrigue that will likely have viewers of all ages transfixed.

Led by David Jonsson, it's clear the actor is set to be one of the UK's 'next big things', having warmed hearts in Rye Lane earlier this year, and now again as the assured Luke Fitzwilliam.

Taking a step away from the original Christie novel, Fitzwilliam is no longer a police officer, and this change makes the two-part series all the more interesting.

Too many dramas are told through the eyes of law enforcement in this writer's opinion, and so it's refreshing that Fitzwilliam is not only a morally conscious individual who wants to do right by Miss Pinkerton (Penelope Wilton), but we meet him as he's bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, arriving in Britain for a new job in Whitehall.

What many adaptations on TV and the big screen often fail to do is do just that – adapt them, think about them in the context of where we are today and implement important changes to attempt to be that bit more relevant for modern day watchers.

Now, this isn't to say that Christie's work ever cries out for it, but this tale is much more intriguing to so many more people when we're following a character who isn't regularly portrayed in period dramas, let alone adaptations of Christie's work.

Sure, are some people going to have a problem with this? They will, but screenwriter Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre has, in changing the backstory of Fitzwilliam, paid homage to many Christie fans of colour, and framed him as more than just a curious detective.

In Murder Is Easy, we're not in a fictional post-racial village where nobody acknowledges the fact that Fitzwilliam is a Black man. Rather, we follow Fitz as he's learning to navigate a society that he was once comfortably at the top of in Nigeria, but remains slightly confused about in the UK.

The story kicks off with Fitzwilliam on his way into London as he meets Miss Pinkerton when the pair share a train carriage. It's all rather lovely as they eat fudge together and talk about the horse racing, but Miss Pinkerton is heading to the capital to go to Scotland Yard. Why? Well, there's a string of deaths that she is convinced is the doing of one person.

In telling Fitzwilliam about her suspicions, she sets off alarm bells in his own head, even more so when she winds up dead with no sign of a killer nearby.

Fitzwilliam spends that first night in England at the West African Education Centre, where he's met with friends who tell him not to venture to Miss Pinkerton's village in the hopes of investigating the murders.

But Fitz is just that much of a nice guy that he feels obliged to bring this killer to justice, and ventures out of London to Wychwood under Ashe, where he is met with dubious glances and even weirder interactions.

Again, it's a Christie adaptation, so from the outset, everyone we meet is in the line of suspicion. But as for who is the killer, a suitably dramatic Cluedo-like reveal is upon us in the final, second episode.

As well as honouring the very real immigrant experience of Fitz, Murder Is Easy is also driven by the smarts of the formidable women within it. From Bridget (Morfydd Clark) to Mrs Pierce (Tamzin Outhwaite), we come to learn about dreams that have been left behind, hopes that never were and a social hierarchy that continues to put women at the bottom.

But the series manages to keep a cleverly light touch with these topics, only becoming apparent once you sit back and realise that all the money, reputation and respect are very much tied up with the men at the heart of this tale.

The same goes for conversations around class and wealth - a prevalent theme in this series that means some people are revered, while others are ignored.

Yet behind the picture-perfect façade of Wychwood, not everything is quite as it seems, with the two episodes getting us to think about social mobility, healthcare inequality and more.

Christie tales have a knack for getting us to ponder high society and small town bubbles. In this adaptation, Murder Is Easy pushes us to think further, but still keeps that continuous vein of humour and charm about it.

Because really, that kind of smooth dialogue, old school glamour and rising tension is what Christie tales like The Witness for the Prosecution and The ABC Murders are all about.

Like any Christie tale, there are multiple moving parts and various characters to get acquainted with. While the pacing of the first episode will draw you in, slower moments and drawn out silences do unfortunately contribute to a feeling of waning excitement in the second.

Similarly, you start to realise that the characters you could potentially know more about don't get as much time on screen as others.

There's nothing more exciting in a whodunnit than being met with a village of people, all hiding their own secrets that we get to find out more about. So it's a slight disappointment we don't get to dig into them all that much more, especially where these meatier themes are involved.

Across two episodes, we get a faithful ode to the '50s and '60s with cinematic Easter eggs that pay homage to Alfred Hitchcock and his knack for pulsating thrillers like The Birds and To Catch A Thief.

But this adaptation is all about subtlety, with clues and indications woven through to give hints about true feelings that linger beneath the surface.

With Jonsson and Clark leading as an endearing duo, this is a sleepy village-set drama that may have dips in its pacing, but will surely be a delightful watch over the Christmas period. Because really, who doesn't love a whodunnit?

Read more:

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Agatha Christie's Murder Is Easy begins on BBC One on Wednesday 27th December at 9pm, with both episodes available on BBC iPlayer from 6am. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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