‘Best ever Agatha Christie adaptation’ is streaming on iPlayer

An Agatha Christie adaptation with a murder twist that will come as a shock to even the biggest mystery fans is now streaming on BBC iPlayer.

Originally released in 2018, Ordeal By Innocence stars British acting legend Bill Nighy, 76, as Leo Argyll and Morven Christie, 44, as his housekeeper, Kirsten Lindstrom, who he rapes as a teenager. 

In the original story, wealthy but overbearing mother-of-five Rachel Argyle (Anna Chancellor) is murdered by housekeeper Kirsten.  

But the conclusion to the BBC series unveils a different person as her killer. 

The show’s IMDb synopsis reads: ‘Christmas 1954. Wealthy philanthropist Rachel Argyll is murdered at her family estate Sunny Point. Her adopted son Jack Argyll is arrested for her murder. He vehemently protests his innocence.’

Ordeal By Innocence has an impressive rating of 7.2 out of 10 on IMDb and an even more incredible Rotten Tomatoes score of 94%.  

Viewers have showered the series with praise and said it’s the perfect example of a British mystery drama.

They wrote: ‘Very entertaining watch. Perfect pacing and loved that it was 3 episodes. Will keep you guessing until the end.’

‘Further proof that when it comes to mysteries the Brits do it best.’; 

‘This three-part series is the best-adapted Agatha Christie mystery in recent memory. A well-casted character study of a family full of secrets, the series will have you fooled until the shocking reveal…’; 

‘A crime story based on Agatha Christie with a somewhat modern twist. Loved it!’  

Opening up about his character’s relationship to his estranged wife, Bill Nighy told the BBC about why it was so tumultuous. 

He said: ‘Leo and Rachel’s relationship is not sunny! They’ve seen better days in terms of their marriage. I don’t quite know when it started to corrode, but I should think Rachel’s habit of going out, without telling Leo, and coming back with one or two stray children may have had some damaging effect on their marriage.

‘The fact that she controls everything, because it is all her money, I suppose, in those days would have emasculated Leo. Paired with him being an unsuccessful writer, he doesn’t really have a leg to stand on in terms of economics. In those days, I think that would have been particularly corrosive to the relationship.’

The show’s addition to iPlayer comes as Agatha Christie’s great-grandson has revealed that letting the BBC change the identify of the killer for its version of Ordeal by Innocence was one of the hardest decisions he’s ever made.

The BBC One adaptation of the 1958 novel has caused major controversy over the change of murderer and its ‘expletive language’.

Despite the social media outrage, Dame Agatha’s great-grandson James Prichard says he is now at peace with upsetting some of her fans.

He told The Sunday Telegraph: ‘It was probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve taken in my working life. But in the end it felt right. 

The author’s grandson added: ‘Yes, we will upset a lot of my great-grandmother’s fans and to some extent I apologise to them and to some extent I don’t.’

He added that he believes Dame Agatha would actually approve of the decision. 

He said: ‘I do live by the mantra that she understood things needed to be changed for different audiences.’ 

Mr Prichard is now the chairman of the Agatha Christie estate after taking over from his father in 2015.

He had the decision to veto screenwriter Sarah Phelps’s bid to change the killer, but decided the change would be good for audiences.

At the time of its release in 2018, the Daily Mail gave Ordeal By Innocence a four out five star review. 

TV critic Christopher Stevens wrote that it is a perfect example of ‘what is so richly entertaining about an Agatha Christie. People do dreadful things, simply because they are so very dreadful.’ 

Order By Innocence is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.