Agatha Christie’s Partners In Crime to be aired ‘at the end of July’

This morning our pals over at the excellent Past Offences blog alerted us to this story: the BBC’s new adaptations of Agatha Christie’s Partners In Crime is very much imminent. One of our first ever stories on this blog was the news that the corporation had acquired Christie’s estate (or at least was working with it on new adaptations) and that a new series is in the offing. So when will it air?

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Review: True Detective (S2 E2/8), Monday 29th June, Sky Atlantic

It’s almost a relief that last week’s first episode of the second series of True Detective has been and gone, because the fall-out from that episode was beginning to drive me mad. It was so eagerly awaited everyone, and I mean everyone, seemed to have an opinion on it (including, let’s be fair, me and this site). It wasn’t as visually engaging as series one, they said (and me); the characters or dialogue didn’t leap off the page like series one, they said (and me); it just wasn’t like series one and this was the ‘difficult sophomore effort’, they said. “They” said this after one 50-something-minute episode. I wonder what “They” will say after this second episode…

Review: Black Work (S1 E2/3), Sunday 28th June, ITV

This ITV three-parter, starring Sheridan Smith, has turned out to be an unexpectedly well constructed, noirish tale of paranoia and hidden identities. After last week’s first episode, where WPC Jo Gillespie (Smith) found out her freshly murdered copper husband was, in fact, an undercover officer who had been working on a case to bring a gun-trading gang down. This set her off into a downward spiral of suspicion, her short-cropped hair framing a face that frequently wandered off into a semi-permanent dazed, teary expression.

Review: The Interceptor (S1 E3/8), Wednesday 24th June 24, BBC1

The everyday story of Central London drug-smuggling folk continues apace, drawing in every creed, race and colour with its tentacles. This week’s fall guys are (tick another ethnic minority box) a corner shop-owning South Asian family of spotless repute who fall into the clutches of the central criminal conspiracy being tracked by the Unit – a team of supercops who converse entirely in pre-digested exposition.

Review: Hannibal (S3 E3/13), Wednesday 24th June, Sky Living

We’re reeling from the news that Hannibal has been cancelled by NBC – apparently the last episode will air in the US on September 3^rd, which at least implies that season three will reach the end of its 13-episode run. Speculation is that the axe has been wielded due to falling ratings, along with licensing difficulties regarding the Clarice Starling character, due to appear in season four. The hope is that a streaming service such as Amazon or Netflix might pick up the series, which is certainly at the height of its creative powers; it certainly couldn’t be brought to a satisfactory end in any other way. 

Review: Jordskott (S1 E3/10), Wednesday 24th June, ITV Encore

So we’re two episodes into what could have been the next great Scandinavian crime drama, but instead we’re teetering on the edge of the supernatural genre, with plant-based humans with roots for fingers creeping around the place. For police investigator Eva Thörnblad, who has returned to her hometown not only to deal with her father’s funeral but also try to find out what really happened to her daughter (who had disappeared eight years earlier, presumed drowned), an encounter with Flower Pot Girl added fuel to her fire. People told her that the hospital-bound Flower Pot Girl wasn’t her daughter Josefine, and indeed a DNA test confirmed there was no connection between the two, but she was having none of it. Mother’s intuition told her that Flower Pot Girl was Josefine, and that was that.

Stephen Mangan to play Houdini in new ITV Conan Doyle drama

We’ve just had an ITV drama featuring Sherlock Holmes creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but now the network has announced that it is returning to the 19th literary boss for more fictional stories. Like Arthur & George, Conan Doyle gets a partner in solving crime, but not quite the person you would imagine – the legendary escapologist Harry Houdini. Sound strange? Why yes, it does. But there’s a method behind the madness…