And Then There Were None (miniseries)

And Then There Were None
Series title with ten crumbled Jade figurines
Genre
Based on And Then There Were None 
by Agatha Christie
Written by Sarah Phelps
Directed by Craig Viveiros
Starring
Composer(s) Stuart Earl
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of episodes 3
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • Mathew Pritchard
  • Hilary Strong
  • Karen Thrussell
  • Damien Timmer
  • Matthew Read
  • Sara Phelps
Producer(s) Abi Bach
Cinematography John Pardue
Running time 180 minutes
Production company(s)
Distributor BBC
Release
Original network
Picture format HDTV 1080i
Audio format Stereo
Original release 26 December (2015-12-26) – 28 December 2015 (2015-12-28)
External links
Website

And Then There Were None is a 2015 British-American mystery drama thriller television serial that was broadcast on BBC One from 26 to 28 December 2015 and Lifetime Network in the U.S. on 13 and 14 March, 2016. The three-part programme was adapted by Sarah Phelps and directed by Craig Viveiros and is based on Agatha Christie's novel of the same name.[1][2][3]

Plot

On a hot day in late August sometime in the late 1930s eight people, all strangers to each other, are invited to a small, isolated island off the coast of Devon, England, by a "Mr and Mrs Owen". They settle in at a mansion tended by two newly hired servants, Thomas and Ethel Rogers, but their hosts are absent. When the guests sit down to dinner, they notice the centrepiece, ten figurines of soldiers in a circle. Afterward, Thomas Rogers puts on a gramophone record, from which a voice accuses them all of murder.[4] Shortly after this, one of the party dies from poisoning, and after this more and more people are murdered, all in methods synonymous with a nursery rhyme the island is named after.[5] The murderer removes a figurine from the dining table each time someone is killed. All this time, the survivors race against time to find out who the killer is, and if he or she is one of them.

Cast

Supporting cast

Differences from the original novel

Production

Conception

Douglas Booth
Miranda Richardson
Charles Dance
Maeve Dermody
Sam Neill
Aidan Turner
(From top to bottom, left to right), Douglas Booth, Miranda Richardson, Charles Dance, Maeve Dermody, Sam Neill and Aidan Turner.

And Then There Were None was commissioned by Ben Stephenson and Charlotte Moore for the BBC to mark the 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth.[8] The adaptation was produced by Mammoth Screen in partnership with Agatha Christie Productions.[9][10][11]

Writer Sarah Phelps told the BBC that she was shocked by the starkness and brutality of the novel. Comparing the novel to Christie's other work, she stated, "Within the Marple and Poirot stories somebody is there to unravel the mystery, and that gives you a sense of safety and security, of predicting what is going to happen next... In this book that doesn't happen – no one is going to come to save you, absolutely nobody is coming to help or rescue or interpret".[12]

Casting

Maeve Dermody was cast two days before the read through of the script and was in Burma (Myanmar) at the time.[13] She flew to the UK to begin work with a dialect coach and read the book in the first two weeks of filming.[14]

Filming

Filming began in July 2015.[15] Cornwall was used for many of the harbour and beach scenes, including Holywell Bay, Kynance Cove, and Mullion Cove.[16] Harefield House in Hillingdon, outside London, served as the location for the island mansion.[17] Production designer Sophie Beccher decorated the house in the style of 1930s designers like Syrie Maugham and Elsie de Wolfe.[18] Railway scenes were filmed at the South Devon Railway between Totnes and Buckfastleigh.[19]

Episodes

No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date UK viewers
(millions)
1"Episode 1"Craig ViveirosSarah Phelps26 December 2015 (2015-12-26)9.56[20][lower-alpha 1]
In August 1939, seven strangers are invited to a weekend house party on Soldier Island by the anonymous Mr. & Mrs. U.N. Owen, along with domestic staff, Mr. & Mrs. Rogers, and Vera Claythorne, who has been offered a secretarial post. There is no host to greet them, and they discover the children's rhyme Ten Little Soldiers in each room and ten miniature jade figures of soldiers on the dining room table. After dinner, Rogers is instructed to play a record, which names them all as being responsible for a death for which they were not caught and punished. One of the guests is revealed to be an impostor, and each guest refutes the accusations made against them – except for two; Philip Lombard, and Anthony Marston, the latter whom dies by choking on poisoned gin in a similar manner of the first little soldier. The next day, the cook Mrs. Rogers is found dead in her bed from unknown causes, like the second verse from the poem. Vera Claythorne shows Dr. Armstrong that two of the soldiers in the dining room have been removed.
2"Episode 2"Craig ViveirosSarah Phelps27 December 2015 (2015-12-27)8.45[20][lower-alpha 1]
Two figurines out of a set of ten found on the dining table are missing, arousing suspicion from the other eight that one of them is the murderer. The poisoning of both victims casts suspicion on Dr. Armstrong who has his bag searched. As a hunt for the mysterious Mr. Owen is conducted on the island, the nature behind the accusations begin to come to light; Philip Lombard confirms that he killed 21 Africans for a diamond reward, Emily Brent recounts the fateful past of her former maid, Beatrice Taylor, and General MacArthur succumbs to insanity, crippled with guilt over killing his subordinate and wife's lover, Arthur Richmond. After the General is found with his head smashed in with a telescope, the remaining seven realise that whoever left the mysterious message intends to make good on their threat, according to the rules of the nursery rhyme Ten Little Soldiers. Judge Wargrave proposes a damning theory to the others that the killer is one of them. After the butler, Mr. Rogers, is found split open with an axe, and Emily Brent is impaled with one of her knitting needles, the five survivors band together to search all the rooms and belongings to unmask the killer and save themselves.
3"Episode 3"Craig ViveirosSarah Phelps28 December 2015 (2015-12-28)8.33[20][lower-alpha 1]
Five of the original ten are left. During a moment of confusion, Judge Wargrave is found shot in the head, and dressed up to the match the Chancery verse of the poem. Terror turns to frivolity as the remaining four engage in a demented bacchanal with alcohol and drugs. In the night, Dr. Armstrong escapes the house, leaving the other three to believe he is the killer. An attempt for rescue is initiated, but Blore is ambushed by the killer wearing a bear skin rug, and is fatally stabbed. Subsequently, Dr. Armstrong's corpse is brought in the by tide, leaving only Philip and Vera alive. Vera manages to take Philip's revolver and kill him. Delirious, Vera returns to her room where a noose is waiting. As she begins to hang herself, Judge Wargrave walks in alive and reveals how he wanted to create an unsolvable mystery and punish the guilty, and how he intends to shoot himself to complete the poem. Vera bargains with Wargrave to try to save herself, but Wargrave pulls the chair from under her and leaves her to die as he returns to the dining room, loading the revolver with the final bullet, and shoots himself.

Reception

And Then There Were None was a ratings success for the BBC, with the first episode netting over 6 million viewers and becoming the second most watched programme on Boxing Day. Each of the two subsequent episodes netted over 5 million viewers.[21]

Despite criticism ahead of the programme's launch from the Daily Mail that the production deviated from Agatha Christie's source material,[22] And Then There Were None received critical acclaim. Ben Dowell of the Radio Times gave a positive review.[23] Jasper Reese for The Daily Telegraph gave the first episode 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a "pitch-black psychological thriller as teasing murder mystery" and "spiffingly watchable".[24]

Reviewing the first episode, UK daily newspaper The Guardian's Sam Wollaston noted, "[...] it also manages to be loyal, not just in plot but in spirit as well. I think the queen of crime would approve. I certainly do. Mass murder rarely gets as fun as this."[25] Reviewing the final episode for The Daily Telegraph, Tim Martin gave it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a "class act", and praising the adaptation for highlighting the darkness of Christie's novel, which he claimed no previous adaptation had attempted.[26]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 28 day data

References

  1. Plunkett, John (28 February 2014). "David Walliams to star as BBC bags Agatha Christie drama deal". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  2. Dowell, Ben (28 February 2014). "David Walliams heralds new era for BBC as the new home of Agatha Christie adaptations". Radio Times. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  3. "David Walliams to star in new Agatha Christie BBC drama". Independent. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  4. "Filming begins on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None", agathachristie.com; accessed 24 December 2015.
  5. "And Then There Were None What's Up With the Epigraph?". Shmoop.com. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  6. "And Then There Were None Plot Analysis". Shmoop.com. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  7. "And Then There Were None What's Up With the Ending?". Shmoop.com. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  8. "BBC One to become new home of Agatha Christie in UK". BBC. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  9. Kemp, Stuart (27 February 2014). "BBC Commissions Two New Agatha Christie Adaptations". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  10. Barraclough, Leo (28 February 2014). "BBC Plots Agatha Christie Adaptations for Writer's 125th Anniversary". Variety. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  11. Kanter, Jake (28 February 2014). "BBC signs Agatha Christie deal". Broadcast. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  12. Staff (17 December 2015). "Adapting Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None' for BBC One". BBC Online. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  13. Dermody, Maeve. "Maeve Dermody plays Vera Claythorne". Agatha Christie.com. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  14. Dermody, Maeve. "Behind the scenes". Agatha Christie.com. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  15. "Filming begins on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None for BBC One". BBC. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  16. "Not Poldark: Aidan Turner back in Cornwall with Charles Dance and Sam Neill in Agatha Christie drama". West Briton. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  17. Tom Deehan (22 December 2015). "BBC's And Then There Were None filmed in Cornwall and Hillingdon". The Location Guide. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  18. "And Then There Were None: A Landmark Adaptation of the World's Best SElling Crime Novel" (PDF) (Press release). BBC. December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  19. "Steam railway is a star in Christie's ratings winner". Western Morning News. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  20. 1 2 3 "Top 30 Programmes". BARB. 14 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  21. Jackson, Jasper (29 December 2015). "And Then There Were None helps BBC dominate Christmas ratings". Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  22. Hastings, Chris (12 December 2015). "What HAS the BBC done to Agatha Christie? Christmas viewers will be stunned by controversial new adaption featuring drugs, gruesome violence and the F-word". Daily Mail. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  23. Dowell, Ben (26 December 2015). "And Then There Were None is a creepy, chilling Agatha Christie... with a helping of Aidan Turner". Radio Times (London). Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  24. Rees, Jasper (26 December 2015). "And Then There Were None, review: 'spiffingly watchable'". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  25. Wollaston, Sam (26 December 2015). "Dickensian review – a labour of love obscured by too much fog and too many hats". The Guardian (London, UK). Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  26. Martin, Tim (28 December 2015). "And Then There Were None, episode three, review: 'a class act'". The Daily Telegraph (London, UK). Retrieved 29 February 2016.

External links

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