EXCESS ALL AREAS
It’s worth taking a step back and thinking about how absurd Agatha Christie stories generally are. Take the murder mystery Towards Zero, which has enjoyed multiple film, stage and TV interpretations since it was published in 1944. It doesn’t hold anything back. Its maximalist plot involves a love triangle between a hunky tennis pro and two beautiful women; a bedridden but imposing matriarch and her headstrong companion; her legal representative and his light-fingered ward; the return of a notorious, long-lost relative of the family; a sinister manservant; a tormented police officer; a contested will; and an apparently cursed hotel. It seems safe to say that for Christie, “less is more” wasn’t a guiding aesthetic principle.
This isn’t necessarily a criticism but this choice presents a conundrum for anyone adapting these texts. Is it worth trying to tidy up this bedlam or do you lean in, luxuriate in the mayhem? This latest BBC version commits cheerfully and wholeheartedly to its set and setting. Subtlety isn’t really in the conversation.
This story is from the March 03, 2025 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 03, 2025 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
"This is the elite of the elite, I can't wait to get stuck in'
Lions recognition as a player escaped Richard Wigglesworth, which is why being part of the coaching team in Australia this summer will be extra special, he tells Harry Latham-Coyle
Albanese calls Australia general election for May
Australians will go to the polls in May for general elections with high costs of living and a shortage of housing likely weighing against the government as prime minister Anthony Albanese s centre-left Labour Party seeks a second three-year term.
Tsunoda lands dream seat the sport's poisoned chalice
When Yuki Tsunoda was asked at the last race in China whether he would be comfortable stepping up to Red Bull in front of his adoring Japanese fans next week as outlandish a proposition it seemed at the time he did not flinch.
Thousands of jobs at risk if British Steel furnaces close
Chinese parent company rejects government green subsidy
Chelsea dismantle City to secure semi-final place
Can we play you every week? At the culmination of four meetings in 12 days between Chelsea and Manchester City, perhaps even the answer from Sonia Bompastor’s side is a “no”.
British and French military chiefs to visit Kyiv, says PM
Britain and France are preparing to send a joint military delegation to Ukraine in an effort to determine how any future ceasefire deal can be supported on the ground, Sir Keir Starmer said after a summit in Paris yesterday.
Retaliating to Trump's tariff would lead us up a dead end
The government has only a few days to help prevent some serious damage to the British car industry. They will be well aware that the UK exports some 6bn worth of vehicles to the US, and the trade is vulnerable to the 25 per cent tariffs planned and indeed publicly signed into force – by Donald Trump, due to come into effect on 2 April.
How is Reeves really going to balance Labour's books?
One promise that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has kept is that there would be no tax changes in her spring statement, with all the action centred on those cuts in public services.
Five injured in knife attack in Amsterdam's city centre
An Amsterdam shop worker has described seeing people injured on the ground in the terrifying moments after a stabbing spree in the heart of the city’s tourist district.
Just Stop Oil to cease direct action after changes in law
Environmental campaign group Just Stop Oil announced it will cease disruptive action, following a final protest in Parliament Square on 26 April.
