On Tuesday morning, Variety reported that the Academy Award-winning actress Emma Thompson is officially joining the cast of BritBox’s adaptation of Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? with Jim Broadbent also set to star in the series.
According to Variety, Thompson and Broadbent will portray the British aristocrats Lord and Lady Marcham. Their daughter, Lady Frankie, will be played by Lucy Boynton, who sets out on a “murder mystery adventure” with Bobby Jones (Will Poulter). This three-part series is based on Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name, which was first published in 1934.
The novel is centered around Bobby and Frankie’s investigation of a “suspicious death in their neighborhood,” but in their attempt to solve the mystery, almost end up getting murdered themselves. The action picks up when Bobby comes across a dying man and finds a photograph of a woman in his pocket. He then enlists the help of Frankie “who purposely crashes her car in order to be cared for by the slightly strange Bassington-French family, whom she and Bobby suspect are involved,” according to Variety.
The cast also includes Maeve Dermody, Conleth Hill, Daniel Ings, Jonathan Jules, Miles Jupp, Amy Nuttall, Alistair Petrie, Paul Whitehouse, Morwenna Banks, and Joshua James. Hugh Laurie will direct the series and star as Dr. James Nicholson, a macabre clinical director in a sanatorium.
Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? is set to premiere sometime in 2022.