Now streaming — Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials features familiar genre talent

Review by C.J. Bunce

I’ve found Agatha Christie mysteries adapted to film to be more about ambience than intrigue. In Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials, it’s about both ambience and the actors. Although you may be unfamiliar with lead actress Mia McKenna-Bruce (Vampire Academy), many of the others are familiar genre actors. Best of all those actors deliver some of their best performances. It all happens in three quick episodes. It’s the early 1920s, and Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent isn’t the typical cosy mystery ingenue. When she comes up on the dead body of her best prospect for romance dead in her bed, she sets off to learn the secret of the letter he left hidden in her secretary. The series is from Doctor Who writer Chris Chibnall, and it’s now streaming on Netflix.

So who are those genre actors? First up is Eileen’s mother Lady Caterham, played by Helena Bonham Carter. Star of Shakespeare, Harry Potter, Terminator, Frankenstein, and Planet of the Apes movies, Carter often seems to be playing herself–or at least the same person. This round she’s perfect as a wealthy 1920s British widow disinterested in hobnobbing with other snobs, social seekers, and sycophants. Then Martin Freeman arrives as what could be the snappiest, most intriguing of Christie detectives. Freeman’s take on Superintendent Battle may be his best performance yet, a character that lacks the angst of the typical Freeman character.

Outlander, Star Wars, and Master and Commander actor Mark Lewis Jones plays Sir Oswald Cootes, possibly a member of a secret society, and definitely someone who is up to no good. Resident Evil, Kick-Ass, Doctor Who, and Game of Thrones’ Iain Glen plays Eileen’s ill-fated father. Edward Bluemel (Killing Eve, A Discovery of Witches), soon to play a young Poirot in his own series, plays Eileen’s confidante who accompanies Eileen on her sleuthing. And Life on Mars star Liz White plays a member of the house staff.

MacGuffins in Christie stories tend to be just that–merely a convenient storytelling tool and their reveal typically not the exciting revelation you’d hope for. The MacGuffin here–the Seven Dials–could be related to a speakeasy, or a secret society, or related to a secret wartime plot to acquire a strong, seemingly impenetrable metal.

The series is a good look at 1920s style, especially with its costumes, cars, sets, and Christie’s story. Series lead Mia McKenna-Bruce makes a good protagonist out of Christie’s character. She’s an actor with an atypical manner, someone you wouldn’t mind seeing again, especially in some kind of project with Freeman. They have chemistry here.

Unfortunately even with a wider supporting cast, few key players make the actual whodunnit not so surprising. But it makes up for it plenty in the final scene. Consider this Christie adaptation more about enjoying a good 1920s mystery vibe for a few hours than its dazzling storytelling. Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials is now streaming on Netflix.

Catch up with our reviews of other quality British TV series (including Australian and New Zealand shows you’d find on PBS, BritBox, Acorn TV, and Hulu) beginning with our Top 10: Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes, Zen, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?, Mr. Selfridge, Guilt, The IPCRESS File, The Hour, The Gentlemen, Black Doves, and Shetland—especially the first seasons. You could stay pretty busy with our full list of top British TV recommendations: Legends, Deadloch, The Artful Dodger, Van Der Valk, the first season of Sherlock, Troppo, Case Histories, This is Going to Hurt, Black Snow, Mystery Road: Origin, Death Valley, Dept. Q, Bodkin, The Bletchley Circle, Good Cop/Bad Cop, Grace, Steeltown Murders, Hinterland, Glitch, Mystery Road, Culprits, Harrow, Annika, Young Sherlock, The Day of the Jackal, Code of Silence, Luther, Professor T, and Supacell.

After you’ve seen all of those, try Viva Blackpool, Marchlands, Lightfields, State of Play, After the Flood, I, Jack Wright, Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials, Population 11, Sunny Nights, Protection, Traces, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Scrublands, The Survivors, Ordeal by Innocence, Unforgotten, The Bay, Wild Bill, Quirke, Requiem, The Gloaming, The Clearing, The One, The Tourist, The Tower, Collateral, Roadkill, Stay Close, The Salisbury Poisonings, and A Confession.

Other British series across genres that are worth checking out (a few still to be reviewed here) include fun romps like Monarch of the Glen, Para Handy, Cranford, Viva Blackpool, and As Time Goes By, and cozy mysteries Rosemary and Thyme, Father Brown, Hetty Wainthropp, and Death in Paradise. One of the best of all British productions is the reboot of All Creatures Great and Small, which is in our British Top 10 (and the original is good, too). Of course there’s always Doctor Who for your sci-fi fix (and spin-offs Torchwood and Class), The Watch for your fantasy fix, Truth Seekers and Sea of Souls for your supernatural fix, and Spaced for more sci-fi fun, and we really should add House, MD, for Brit lead Hugh Laurie’s one-of-a-kind performance. (We’ve also reviewed but don’t heartily recommend so much Dublin Murders, The ABC Murders, The Pale Horse, Reef Break, The One That Got Away, The Silence, The Five, The Missing, Thirteen, or Broadchurch, as well as No Offence, which could have merited a review for its first season but, like Sherlock, its later episodes were a disappointment).