Agatha Christie's Seven Dials' brings feisty flavor to murder mystery

LONDON – The creators of the upcoming Netflix series Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials aim to introduce a new generation to the queen of crime, the legendary author of more than 60 mystery novels.

The three-part series, debuting Thursday, is based on Christie’s 1929 novel The Seven Dials Mystery. It stars Mia McKenna-Bruce, known for How to Have Sex, as the clever and spirited young aristocrat Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent.

When a guest dies under suspicious circumstances during a glamorous gathering at her country mansion, Bundle takes it upon herself to uncover the truth. Using her intelligence, determination, and the seven clocks left at the scene, she becomes entangled in a shadowy plot.

“The fact that Bundle is leading the charge—a young, fearless, feisty girl—is something we haven’t seen very much of. I think that really gives it a new, exciting feel,” McKenna-Bruce said at the London premiere on Tuesday, just one day after the 50th anniversary of Christie’s death.

The series also features Helena Bonham Carter as Bundle’s mother and Martin Freeman as Scotland Yard’s Superintendent Battle.

“The show has a lot of energy, and it’s done with a lot of gusto,” said Bonham-Carter. Director Chris Sweeney credited Bundle as the source of that energy, describing her as a “cannonball of a person.”

Unlike typical country house mysteries, where characters spend much of the story sitting and talking, “Bundle is always moving,” Sweeney said.

With writer Chris Chibnall, Sweeney also sought to bring the 1920s setting to life. “It takes place in September 1925, in the shadow of war but also with lots of bright young things who are partying through the ’20s,” Chibnall said.

Famous for characters like Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and amateur sleuth Miss Marple, Christie became the world’s best-selling fiction writer, with more than 2 billion copies of her works sold.

“If this show can be the gateway to introduce a whole new generation to Agatha Christie’s books and adaptations, that would be a joy. It would repay all the joy she’s brought to my life and billions of readers,” Chibnall added.

-Reporting by Hanna Rantala; Editing by Cynthia Osterman/Reuters