A century after her literary debut, one of Agatha Christie's lesser-known but most spirited detectives is stepping into the global spotlight. Lady Eileen 'Bundle' Brent, the sharp-witted heroine of the 1929 novel The Seven Dials Mystery, is the star of a major new Netflix adaptation, set to premiere on 15 January.
Who is Bundle Brent? Christie's Modern Heroine Reborn
While Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are household names, Bundle Brent has languished in relative obscurity. Now, Netflix's three-part series Seven Dials aims to change that. Portrayed by BAFTA Rising Star winner Mia McKenna-Bruce, Bundle is a 20-year-old aristocrat in 1925 who couldn't care less about her privileged birth. She's politically engaged, pragmatic, and fiercely independent—a character who, according to the show's creators, shares the pioneering spirit of Agatha Christie herself.
"She's an individualist who doesn't give a fig for hierarchical structures," the production notes explain. In one telling scene, when a pompous Foreign Office official proposes marriage, Bundle's horror leads her to jump straight out of a window. For her, the thrill of solving crime far outweighs the prospect of a conventional life.
A Stellar Cast and a Fresh Take on a Classic Mystery
The series boasts an impressive British cast. Helena Bonham Carter plays Bundle's dishevelled, moat-obsessed mother, Lady Caterham, while Martin Freeman takes on the role of the stoic Superintendent Battle from Scotland Yard. The story, written by Chris Chibnall of Broadchurch fame, kicks off with a glamorous masked ball at the Brent family estate, Chimneys, which is swiftly followed by the discovery of a dead body.
The mystery deepens with a second murder, a fight over a scientific discovery, and a conspiracy involving politicians and industrialists. Central to the puzzle are seven clocks found at the scene of the crime, leading Bundle to investigate a seedy nightclub in London's Seven Dials district. Chibnall's adaptation takes bold liberties with the source material, including a dramatically altered climax on a train, but has the full backing of the Agatha Christie Estate.
Connecting Bundle to Agatha Christie's Own Legacy
The series highlights the parallels between Bundle and her creator. Both were formidably clever and intrepid women ahead of their time. Christie, born decades before women won equal voting rights, became the best-selling novelist of all time. She was a qualified apothecary's assistant, an avid traveller, and is even believed to have been the first Western woman to surf, catching waves in Hawaii in the 1920s.
This spirit is channelled into Bundle, who picks locks with a hairpin, wears men's brogues, and tears around in a bright red Lagonda. Mia McKenna-Bruce notes, "Supposedly there are traits in Bundle that were from Agatha herself... she's so strong and driven." To prepare, the actor cut her own hair into a 1920s bob for the role and donated it to charity, and underwent lessons in period movement, dance, and accent.
The lavish production, filmed at locations like Badminton House in Gloucestershire, is executive produced by Suzanne Mackie of The Crown fame. With Netflix stating that Seven Dials marks its entry into "the wider Christie universe," the door is firmly open for more adventures featuring the irrepressible Lady Eileen Brent. As the final credits roll on this stylish, three-hour mystery, one question remains: when will Bundle find her next case?
