Agatha and the Midnight Murders

Agatha and the Midnight Murders is a 2020 British alternative history television drama film about crime writer Agatha Christie. The film premiered on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom on 5 October 2020,^[1] and on PBS in the United States 25 May 2021.^[2] It was directed by Joe Stephenson.^[3]

Agatha and the Midnight Murders
Genre	Crime Mystery
Written by	Tom Dalton
Directed by	Joe Stephenson
Starring	Helen Baxendale Blake Harrison Jacqueline Boatswain Gina Bramhill Daniel Caltagirone Thomas Chaanhing Scott Chambers
Composer	Blair Mowat
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Emily Dalton Sebastian Cardwell
Producers	Carol Harding Tom Dalton
Cinematography	Birgit Dierken
Editor	Fiona Brands
Running time	93 Minutes
Production companies	Darlow Smithson Productions Factual Fiction
Original release
Network	Channel 5
Release	5 October 2020 (2020-10-05)

Plot

Christie is having trouble collecting the American royalties on her published works. In a bid to make a private cash sale of a manuscript, therefore, she decides to kill off her most famous character, Hercule Poirot. She hires a low-life man to accompany her as a bodyguard for a cut of the price. The action takes place in a hotel where Christie expects to complete the transaction. Christie and her bodyguard encounter the prospective buyers and a varied group of hotel guests. The suspense builds as a series of murders takes place in the hotel.

Cast

• Helen Baxendale as Agatha Christie
• Blake Harrison as Travis Pickford
• Jacqueline Boatswain as Audrey Evans
• Gina Bramhill as Grace Nicory
• Daniel Caltagirone as Eli Schneider
• Thomas Chaanhing as Frankie Lei
• Scott Chambers as Clarence Allen
• Vanessa Grasse as Nell Lewis
• Jodie McNee as PC O'Hanauer
• Elizabeth Tan as Jun Yuhuan
• Morgan Watkins as Rocco Vella
• Alistair Petrie as Sir Malcolm Campbell

Production

Filming took place in Malta, back-to-back with Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar.^[4]

Reception

The show was poorly received by critics. Writing in The Guardian, Euan Ferguson said: "It was a mess: ill-plotted, playing bits for laughs or for horror without ever achieving either."^[5] Anita Singh of The Daily Telegraph gave the show 2 out of 5 stars, writing: "All of the characters' behavior felt a little weird, and it was not clear if that was by accident or design. Some were caricatures while others were barely there."^[3]