BBC & BritBox International in US, Canada adapt Agatha Christie’s ‘Towards Zero’

Oliver Jackson-Cohen

The BBC and BritBox International have teamed up for their latest Agatha Christie adaptation, this time a reworking of Towards Zero.

The three-part drama is being adapted by Rachel Bennette and directed by Sam Yates (Magpie), with ITV Studios-owned Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited again producing.

BBC iPlayer and BBC One are co-commissioners with BritBox International, which has rights in the US and Canada, while Fifth Season is handling global distribution.

The story is set in England in 1936 and explores a murder that occurs in the aftermath of a scandalous celebrity divorce involving a British tennis star, played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and his ex-wife, played by Ella Lily Hyland.

The series will also star Jackie Clune (Motherland), Grace Doherty (Call the Midwife), Jack Farthing (Rain Dogs), Khalil Gharbia (Mary & George), Adam Hugill (Sherwood), Anjelica Huston (The Grifters), Mimi Keene (Sex Education), Clarke Peters (The Wire), Matthew Rhys (The Americans) an Anjana Vasan (Black Mirror: Demon 79).

Huston said: “I have long been a fan of Agatha Christie and the murder-mystery genre and always love the opportunity to film in England. I am thrilled to be working with director Sam Yates and this wonderful cast, and excited to play the clever and dignified Camilla, Lady Tressilian.”

James Prichard, executive producer for Agatha Christie Limited, added: “Rachel has done an extraordinary job on making my great-grandmother’s story even more dramatic, intense and troubling. Add in a cast of this calibre and viewers are in for a real treat.”=

Towards Zero is the latest Christie adaptation for the BBC, following 2023’s Murder Is Easy.

Filming on the show is underway in and around Bristol and on the Devon coast in the UK.