BBC One Commissions New Agatha Christie Adaptation

LONDON/SILVER SPRING: The Agatha Christie 1925 short story The Witness For The Prosecution is to be adapted for BBC One, with Acorn Media Enterprises on board as the U.S. co-production partner.

The story will be adapted by Sarah Phelps, who worked on the Agatha Christie-based And Then There Were None last year. Julian Jarrold will direct the two-part miniseries, which will be co-produced by Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Productions. RLJ Entertainment’s Acorn Media Enterprises has secured all U.S. rights, as well as secondary rights in Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

“With And Then There Were None, we reminded viewers just how brilliant Agatha Christie’s plotting is and just how modern her stories could be,” said Hilary Strong, executive producer and CEO of Agatha Christie Limited. “We are delighted to be working with Mammoth Screen and Sarah Phelps again to deliver another iconic title for the BBC and our international co-production partners Acorn Media Enterprises and A+E Studios. With The Witness For The Prosecution, Sarah has worked her magic on Christie’s timeless story. Combining Sarah’s brilliance with the excellent and skillful eye of our director Julian Jarrold, we expect to deliver a show that will thrill both audiences who have enjoyed Christie’s work before and those who are coming to it for the first time.”

Writer Sarah Phelps said: “With the long terrible shadow of the Great War falling across the rackety, feral 1920s, The Witness For The Prosecution is a compelling story of deceit, desire, murder, money and morality, innocence and guilt, heartbreak and most painful and dangerous of all, love. At the center of this dark and tangled net is the astonishing character of Romaine, a noir heroine for all our times.”

Mammoth Screen Executive Producer Karen Thrussell added, “And Then There Were None made a huge impact last year, garnering great reviews and audiences of over 8 million. We’re thrilled to be reunited with Sarah Phelps as she takes on another iconic title, an incendiary courtroom drama that will keep you guessing right to the very end. The source material is so strong, and we hope the end result will be every bit as striking as And Then There Were None.”