BBC Strikes Deal for Seven Agatha Christie Adaptations

Agatha Christie is having something of a purple patch.

With Ben Affleck having signed up to direct a film based on The Witness for the Prosecution and Murder on the Orient Express, being prepped by Kenneth Branagh, both for Fox, the BBC — which is currently shooting its own version of The Witness for the Prosecution with Toby Jones and Andrea Riseborough — has now signed a deal for seven more adaptations of the late author’s works.

Agatha Christie Productions will deliver the dramas over the next four years, once again working with growing banner Mammoth Screen — behind Witness for the Prosecution and last year’s And Then There Were None — on the first of the seven, Ordeal by Innocence, to be adapted by Sarah Phelps.

Other novels confirmed in the deal also include Death Comes As The End, set in ancient Egypt, and The ABC Murders, about a serial killer in 1930s Britain.

“And Then There Were None was a highlight of the 2015 BBC One Christmas schedule, and we are truly delighted to be building on the success of that show, first with The Witness for the Prosecution, and then with adaptations of seven more iconic Agatha Christie titles,” said Hilary Strong, CEO of Agatha Christie Limited, which in 2012 saw a 64 percent stake in the company sold to Acorn Media.

“What Sarah Phelps brought to And Then There Were None was a new way of interpreting Christie for a modern audience, and Agatha Christie Ltd is thrilled to be bringing this psychologically rich, visceral and contemporary sensibility to more classic Christie titles for a new generation of fans.”

Ordeal by Innocence will be executive produced by Strong and James Prichard for ACPL, Karen Thrussell and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen and Matthew Read for BBC.

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