BritBox’s Hot Young ‘Hercule’ Series Announces All-Star Cast
The BBC and BritBox’s hot 'Hercule' series lands a high-profile cast.
Prequel series for a long-running franchise are a dicey proposition, and (once upon a time) were considered ill-advised. Part of the problem is that the audience already knows how the story will end, or at least, where the story they know begins. When done incorrectly, it completely removes any sort of tension from the narrative, since the future is already set.
However, since the advent of streaming and the plethora of spinoffs from all directions of well-known shows, prequels for popular British mystery series have become almost de rigueur. From Morse spinoff Endeavour to Guy Ritchie’s newest hit Young Sherlock, recasting a well-known British detective at an age when they’re still young and beautiful has worked quite well, especially for shows with decades of history to back it up.
All that being said, the idea of a Hunky Hercule Poirot feels awkward on its face. The character, whom Agatha Christie wrote as a complete outsider to upper-class English culture, has never been portrayed as attractive on screen, and certainly not ever granted a serious love interest. (While she would probably not have used the term, Christie’s Poirot today would be categorized as asexually queer-coded.)
That makes the entire enterprise of the BBC and BritBox’s Young Hercule series feel slightly daft on its face. “Hot Poirot” feels a little like an oxymoron of a concept, even if the actor who plays him, Edward Bluemel, definitely fits the bill... at least, sans mustaches. However, until we are granted our first images of him in costume, we are steadfastly reserving judgment on the new series. After all, the cast is pretty stacked, and the creative team seems like a good fit. Perhaps what we needed all along is a Hercule who f*cks.
Here’s the series synopsis:
Hercule will chronicle the story of the world’s greatest detective – and how he became it. The series, due to commence filming soon, primarily in Liverpool, is an intimate study of Hercule Poirot, the man, and an epic portrait of Britain between the wars. It will center around three of Christie’s early stories, while also introducing Hercule Poirot to future friends and allies and one particular nemesis…
Bluemel (My Lady Jane) will be joined by Henry Ashton (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder), James D’Arcy (Oppenheimer), Calvin Demba (Supacell), Phil Dunning (Smoggie Queens), Jack Gleeson (House of Guinness), Tamsin Greig (Riot Women), James Nesbitt (Bloodlands), Guy Remmers (The Buccaneers), Rebecca Rittenhouse (Four Weddings & a Funeral) and Mawaan Rizwan (The Split Up).
The six-part series will be written by Benji Walters (Code of Silence), with director Jonny Campbell (Am I Being Unreasonable) helming the first two episodes and Charlie Palmer as producer. Walters and Campbell executive produce alongside Prichard for Agatha Christie Limited, Rebecca Durbin & Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen, Nick Lambon for the BBC, and Robert Schildhouse, Jon Farrar & Stephen Nye for BritBox.
Filming for Hercule is now underway in the U.K. The series is expected to debut on the BBC and BritBox in 2027.
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