Hot Picks: Towards Zero

The ‘Queen of Crime’ never seems to be far away from our screens, but interest in Agatha Christie spiked again earlier this year when Netflix announced a splashy new adaptation.

Handily, it served to shine a spotlight on the BBC’s forthcoming TV rendering of the Marple and Poirot creator’s novel Towards Zero, from Mammoth Screen. The producer is responsible for several previous Christies adaptations, such as The Pale Horse, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? and Murder Is Easy, which averaged more than 7 million viewers on BBC1 over Christmas 2023.

Towards Zero, also for BBC1 and BritBox International, and distributed by Fifth Season, aims to have a similarly powerful impact.

Set in 1936, the drama begins in the aftermath of a scandalous celebrity divorce between British tennis star Nevile Strange and his ex-wife Audrey. To the disapproval of his aunt Lady Tressilian, Strange and his ex-wife make the decision to spend the summer together at his childhood home, despite him having remarried and his new wife, Kay, also being in attendance.

The atmosphere is already uncomfortable and the other guests – 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 conman – only serve to make things more tense. When one of the guests is murdered, the story introduces a troubled detective who must untangle a toxic web of jealousy, deceit and dysfunction.

Acknowledging there are several high-profile detective dramas in the market, Fifth Season senior vicepresident of scripted TV strategy Arvand Khosravi says writer Rachel Bennette (NW; World On Fire) and director Sam Yates have combined to deliver an adaptation with a “beautifully cinematic quality”.

“Their combination elevates this show into the realm of premium drama,” he adds. “We wouldn’t have been able to attract a world-class cast of Academy, Emmy and SAG awardwinning legends unless the words on the page and the creative vision for the show were absolutely top-notch.”

Khosravi is referring to a cast that includes Anjelica Huston, Matthew Rhys, Clarke Peters, Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Anjana Vasan.

Khosravi is mindful that the “quite frigid” market, combined with “executives feeling nervous in the midst of so much corporate uncertainty and layoffs”, is making acquisitions execs more circumspect, and says Fifth Season is being “even more choosy about what projects we back”. However, he says, in Towards Zero, the distributor has a series ripe for all manner of buyers.

“The distinction between linear and streamer plays has become even murkier over the past year,” he adds. “We’re seeing a lot more crossover in terms of the content being picked up by both types of buyers.

“Agatha Christie has always attracted all buyers, from streamers to linear players, and Christie’s iconic characters appeal to a broad audience. This particular series feels like it could live just as easily on a local or global streamer as it could on a linear channel.”