WHODUNNIT alert! Hugh Laurie adapts, directs and stars in a new BritBox Original limited series based on Agatha Christie’s 1930s detective novel Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? With an all-star cast, the three-parter premieres exclusively on BritBox on April 12.
A cracking crime mystery, it features memorable cameo appearances from Academy Award-winners Jim Broadbent (Iris, The Iron Lady) and Emma Thompson (Howard’s End, Sense and Sensibility), alongside a strong ensemble roll call of suspects – as can be expected from an Agatha Christie murder mystery.
Based on her 1934 novel, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? opens with a fine Agatha Christie enigma: a man lies dying at the foot of a cliff, apparently the victim of an accidental fall; with his final breath, he utters the mysterious question of the title and promptly expires. Some people – perhaps most people – might shrug at the impenetrable oddness of the words and move on with their lives.
But Bobby Jones, played by Will Poulter (Dopesick), and his childhood friend, Lady Frances “Frankie” Derwent, played by Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody), are not most people. They resolve to honour the dead man by deciphering, and then answering, his final question. In so doing, they hit upon a dark conspiracy of deceit, betrayal and – perhaps unsurprisingly – murder.
In addition to directing, Hugh Laurie (House, The Night Manager, Veep) will also portray Dr Nicholson.
The 2022 rendition of the popular Easter From King’s concert will be available for South Africans to watch exclusively on BritBox from Easter Sunday, featuring well-loved choral music for Holy Week direct from King’s College Chapel in Cambridge.
Piping-hot from its British TV premiere, season seven of the long-running favourite Grantchester is also heading to BritBox this month – with some interesting new faces set to spice up this highly enjoyable 1950s-set detective drama. From April 28.
And you can never have enough crime, can you? David Morrissey (State of Play, The Walking Dead) stars as a cabbie who unwittingly gets mixed up in a dodgy syndicate in the drama series The Driver (April 21).
April’s public holidays, long weekend and school breaks are tailor-made for binge-watching lifestyle shows, and this month sees Jamie Oliver cooking up a storm with traditional Mediterranean recipes in Jamie Cooks Italy (April 7) and Tony Robinson taking us on a scenic natural history trip through the UK in the third and latest season of his popular Coast to Coast (April 28) series, Britain’s Greatest River. Here, Tony travels the full length of the Thames, from the Cotswolds in the west to the estuary in the east, taking in stunning scenery and delving into the river’s vast history. In true Tony Robinson style, the local people he encounters during his travels are just as colourful and interesting as the landscapes.
Sit back, grab a sticky hot cross bun and settle in for a selection of crime fare and spiritual music express from the UK, as well as a healthy dose of food and travel inspiration.
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