BritBox Announces ‘The Detection Club’ Cast
BritBox announces the core cast for the upcoming series 'The Detection Club.'
Agatha Christie and G.K. Chesterton each wrote somewhere north of 75 mystery stories over their long, prolific careers. Still, after more than a century of adaptations, they’ve all been adapted in some form or another. Dorothy L. Sayers, in comparison, was more like Jane Austen – she only wrote a handful of mysteries, but they are so beloved by her fans that you would get endless adaptations of them if the Sayers Trust would just agree to allow it.
(They’re hitting the public domain starting in 2027. We’re waiting.)
Luckily for BritBox and the BBC, while the stories these authors wrote are timeless classics, their lives were also fascinating. Christie famously disappeared for a few weeks when she discovered she was going to get divorced; Sayers and Chesterton decided the best way to write detective fiction required a club, and they convinced Christie to join. Called “The Detection Club,” Chesterton was the founder and president when it began in 1930. When he retired, Sayers took over leadership, which then passed to Christie post-World War II. (The group still exists to this day.)
However, the club didn’t solve mysteries – it was about writers helping writers make sure their cases were airtight and didn’t use a solution the reader couldn’t work out themselves. It was also a way for the authors – many of whom lived alone as introverts – to socialize, compare notes, and share ideas.
That said, the idea of a group of mystery writers solving real-life crimes (which obviously would then go on to inspire their most famous stories) is far too juicy to pass up. Considering The Detection Club’s storied membership, it’s a perfect setup for a fictionalized mystery-of-the-week.
Here’s the series synopsis:
Set against a backdrop of literary glamour, social change, and deadly intrigue, The Detection Club follows the mysterious society formed by three of Britain’s most celebrated crime writers, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and G.K. Chesterton, as they are drawn into a series of real-life murder investigations. The series, set in 1930s London, follows the legendary crime writers as they hone their craft within the hallowed walls of a secret London location. After receiving an invitation that leads them to their first real murder case, our famous trio work together to solve a series of exciting mysteries.
Their amateur sleuthing brings them into the path of D.I. Greenway, an out-of-his-depth young police detective whose determination to prove himself is both helped and hindered by our writers’ extraordinary instincts.
The core cast of The Detection Club will star Bryony Hannah (Rivals) as Agatha Christie, Miles Jupp (Belgravia) as G.K. Chesterton, Cara Theobold (Downton Abbey) as Dorothy L. Sayers, and Viraj Juneja (Vera) as D.I. Greenway.
Kit Lambert (Father Brown) is the series creator and lead writer, based on an original idea by author (and current president of The Detection Club) Simon Brett. Director Hans Herbots (The Serpent) will helm the first two episodes, with Lee Thomas as producer. Lambert, Deborah Sathe, and Neil Irvine executive produce for BBC Studios, alongside Stephen Nye for BritBox.
Filming for The Detection Club is now underway in the U.K. The series is expected to premiere in 2027.
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