TV
Ordeal by Innocence Casting
*A Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited production*
Filming begins this month on Ordeal By Innocence, a major adaptation by Sarah Phelps of Agatha Christie’s classic title. The new three-part drama reunites the production team behind last December’s The Witness for the Prosecution and And Then There Were None in December 2015, both of which were critical successes for BBC One.
Bill Nighy (Love Actually, Pirates of the Caribbean) and Anna Chancellor (Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Hour) are joined by Matthew Goode (The Good Wife, Downton Abbey), Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark, Loving Vincent), Anthony Boyle (Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams: The Commuter), Ed Westwick (White Gold, Gossip Girl), Luke Treadaway (Fortitude, A Street Cat Named Bob), Morven Christie (The A Word, The Replacement), Crystal Clarke (Assassin’s Creed, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens), Ella Purnell (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Churchill) and Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness, Black Mirror).
Adapted from Christie’s 1958 novel of the same title, Ordeal By Innocence will be directed by Sandra Goldbacher (Victoria, The Hour, Me Without You) and produced by Roopesh Parekh, (Poldark, And Then There Were None, The Hollow Crown).
The plot: Christmas 1954. Wealthy philanthropist Rachel Argyll is murdered at her family estate Sunny Point. Her adopted son Jack Argyll, a young delinquent, is arrested for her murder. He vehemently protests his innocence. Eighteen months later, Dr Arthur Calgary, a scientist, walks onto the velvety lawns of Sunny Point claiming to have just returned from an expedition to the Arctic. Even more extraordinary is his claim to hold the alibi that can prove Jack’s innocence. But Jack died in prison before the case could come to trial, and the Argyll family is reluctant to dig up the secrets of the past. Rachel’s widower Leo is about to remarry his secretary Gwenda and none of Rachel’s other adopted children Mary, Mickey, Tina or Hester, nor longstanding housekeeper Kirsten, is willing to reopen that most horrendous chapter of their lives. However, the shattering implications of Calgary’s story are too big to avoid; if he is telling the truth then the wrong person was arrested for Rachel’s murder. And if Jack was not the killer, then it must have been somebody else at Sunny Point.
Damien Timmer, Executive Producer of Mammoth Screen said, “Sarah Phelps has excelled herself with this spellbinding adaptation of one of Agatha Christie’s most celebrated stories. A gloriously dark deconstruction of an apparently perfect family, we hope it delights and chills viewers when it airs!”
James Prichard, Executive Producer and Executive Chairman of Agatha Christie Limited added, "Ordeal By Innocence was one of Christie's personal favourites and I cannot wait to see how this outstanding cast will bring her story to life under the skillful direction of Sandra Goldbacher and the Mammoth Screen production team. To have Bill Nighy and Catherine Keener head up this all-star cast really is a testament to the depth and quality of my great grandmother’s writing."
Gaynor Holmes, BBC Executive Producer, said: "We're delighted to be continuing our special relationship with Agatha Christie on BBC One. Sarah Phelps' stunningly crafted adaptation of this wonderful novel has attracted a brilliantly stellar cast and will thrill audiences."
Ordeal By Innocence continues BBC One and Agatha Christie Limited’s unique production deal that will see ACL and Mammoth deliver seven Christie adaptations.
Ordeal By Innocence is a Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited drama for BBC One. The executive producers are Sarah Phelps, Karen Thrussell, Damien Timmer, and Helen Ziegler for Mammoth Screen, James Prichard and Basi Akpabio for Agatha Christie Limited, Gaynor Holmes for BBC.
IMG will handle all sales internationally.
