Agatha and the Midnight Murders on C5 sees Helen Baxendale star as the legendary crime writer
Agatha and the Midnight Murders is a new feature length film coming to Channel 5 this week starring Helen Baxendale.
The Friends and Cuckoo actress plays legendary writer Agatha Christie in the story, which is set during World War Two. It’s written by Tom Dalton, who penned C5’s previous two hit Christie dramas - Agatha and the Truth of Murder and The Curse of Ishtar.
Agatha and the Midnight Murders start date - when will it air on Channel 5?
Agatha and the Midnight Murders airs on Channel 5 of Wednesday 7th October at 9pm.
What’s the plot of Agatha and the Midnight Murders?
Opening in London in 1940 during The Blitz, it sees Christie decide to kill off her most famous creation - Hercule Poirot! Christie reckons she should be a rich woman after writing twelve novels about the Belgian detective in six years. But she is struggling with money as the tax authorities in America and the UK investigate her. She has a plan though. She wants to sell the novel of Poirot’s death to a superfan private buyer. The superfan will pay to keep Poirot alive!
And Christie decides that Travis Pickford, a charmer and one-time murder suspect she met years ago during her eleven-day disappearance, is the perfect man to broker the deal. Travis agrees his cut and then arranges a late night exchange at an infamous London hotel. What could possibly go wrong?
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Who’s in the cast of Agatha and the Midnight Murders?
Along with Helen Baxendale as Christie, The Inbetweeners star Blake Harrison returns as Travis Pickford - the character also featured in Agatha and the Truth of Murder. The cast also includes Alistair Petrie (Sex Education) and Elizabeth Tan (The Singapore Grip).
Talking about playing Christie, Helen says: “I really like a character that takes me away from myself and a look that just isn’t me and so I loved it. I don’t really get the chance to do many period roles; I am normally cast in contemporary drama, so it was a treat. My costume is mostly original 1940s clothing and I had a piece wig which was fun.
“I just knew it would be good fun playing Agatha Christie! I had been in Agatha Christie dramas before – a Marple and a Poirot set in different eras, but obviously playing Christie herself is a whole other thing.”
Is there a trailer?
No, still no sign of one.
Anything else we know about the drama?
It was filmed in Malta. “We didn’t see a lot of it but I’m sure Malta is nice! We were all together in this fusty old basement in an amazing Maltese mansion. We’d go in in the morning and come out and it’d be dark!,” Helen tells us.
Agatha and the Midnight Murders airs on Channel 5 of Wednesday 7 October at 9pm
