(Image: BBC)

First-look at Agatha Christie’s Towards Zero - with screen icon Anjelica Huston leading stellar BBC cast

Murder mystery fans are in for a treat with a new lavish BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie's crime thriller Towards Zero on the horizon - with Anjelica Huston, Matthew Rhys and Oliver Jackson-Cohen in the cast

by · The Mirror

The Americans star Matthew Rhys is moody and focused while acting legend Anjelica Huston is lost in thought in the first-look images of the BBC's lavish new Agatha Christie adaptation.

An all-star cast will appear in the three part drama based on Agatha's 1944 crime thriller Towards Zero. Welsh actor Matthew, 49, plays Inspector Leach who is pulled into a murder investigation while The Witches icon Anjelica, 73, plays Lady Tressilian.

The stars are joined by The Haunting of Hill House star Oliver Jackson-Cohen, 37, who plays tennis star Nevile Strange who causes scandal by spending time with his ex-wife Audrey, played by 25-year-old Ella Lily Hyland, and his new wife Kay, played by Mimi Keene, 26. Adapted for screen by BAFTA-nominated Rachel Bennette and directed by the Olivier Award-winning Sam Yates, the lavish drama includes scenes filmed in Bristol and the Devon coast.

The official BBC synopsis reads: "England, 1936. After a scandalous celebrity divorce, Nevile Strange and his ex-wife Audrey make the unthinkable decision to spend a summer together at Gull’s Point, their childhood home and the coastal estate of Nevile's aunt, Lady Tressilian.

Welsh actor Matthew Rhys plays Inspector Leach in the Agatha Christie adaptation( Image: BBC)
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"With unfinished business between the former childhood sweethearts, plus the presence of Nevile’s new wife Kay, tensions are running high. Add to this a long-suffering lady’s companion, a mysterious gentleman’s valet, an exiled cousin with a grudge, a venerable family lawyer, an inquisitive orphan and a French con man, and soon there will be murder.

"A troubled detective must rediscover his purpose to untangle a toxic web of jealousy, deceit and dysfunction. Can he solve the crime before another victim meets their death? An explosive love triangle, a formidable matriarch and a house party of enemies. All compelled… Towards Zero."

Writer, Rachel Bennette, says: “These are among the richest and most complex of Christie's characters, and I was captivated from the first by the charisma, in particular, of her female characters. It has been thrilling to bring them all to life in this disturbing tale of truth and lies, love and hate, a story which unfolds amidst the dark, cinematic glamour of the 1930s, yet feels startlingly of our time.”

Oliver Jackson-Cohen, as Nevile Strange, is torn between an old flame and his new wife - played by Ella Lily Hyland and Mimi Keene( Image: BBC)

Director, Sam Yates, says: “It has been an honour to bring this most psychological and sensual of Agatha Christie's stories to vibrant life with a peerless cast of actors and an extraordinary team. Audiences are in for a propulsive, intoxicating ride into the dark hearts of some of Christie's most irresistible characters.”

An exact release date is yet to be revealed. Towards Zero is made by Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited for BBC iPlayer and BBC One - who were behind the 2023 Agatha Christie mystery thriller Murder Is Easy which was unleashed last Christmas.

It starred Industry hunk David Jonsson, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power beauty Morfydd Clark, and legendary actress Penelope Wilton. The two-part drama attracted positive reviews and pulled in almost 7 million viewers when it aired over the 2023 festive season.

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