Sarah Phelps's latest Agatha Christie adaptation, Ordeal By Innocence, has garnered a 94% rating from critics. The three-part mystery, based on Christie's 1958 novel, follows Phelps's previous acclaimed reworkings of And Then There Were None and Witness for the Prosecution.
The production faced a significant setback when actor Ed Westwick was replaced by Christian Cooke following historical sexual assault allegations. The cast reassembled in January to reshoot 35 scenes over 12 days, with Cooke playing Mickey Argyll. Despite the reshoots, the final product knits together seamlessly, with only occasional icy breaths betraying the midwinter Scottish location standing in for a July setting.
The story begins with the murder of Rachel Argyll (Anna Chancellor), a wealthy philanthropist, by a blow from a decanter. Her delinquent adopted son Jack is convicted and dies in prison, but a year later, Dr Arthur Calgary (Luke Treadaway) arrives with an alibi for Jack. This sets the stage for a classic Christie whodunnit, sifting truth from lies among the assembled family members.
The cast is uniformly brilliant, including Bill Nighy as widower Leo, Alice Eve as his secretary Gwenda, and Matthew Goode as the supercilious Philip. Phelps does not interfere with Christie's careful choreography but fleshes out the characters, drawing on a backdrop of postwar grief and instability.
