The Trailer for Agatha Christie's 'Towards Zero' Scores One for Murder

Ever since the early 1980s BBC debut of Miss Marple, starring Agatha Christie's handpicked star Joan Hickson in the titular role, adaptations of the celebrated English author have been a reliable ratings draw. The BBC's Partners in Crime followed in the mid-1980s before ITV struck gold with David Suchet in Poirot and remaking Marple and Partners in Crime. However, since ITV's three series concluded, it's the BBC that's returned to the Christie well, first with its Sarah Phelps-penned run of miniseries, and now its latest set, done in conjunction with BritBox, the newest of which is Towards Zero.

The first of the new series, Why Didn't They Ask Evans? was spectacularly done, but sadly, BritBox's low profile caused it to tank in the U.S., despite starring Hugh Laurie (who most U.S. viewers still think is an American actor due to House) and Marvel star Will Poulter. The second one, Murder is Easy, starring Industry's David Jonsson and Lord of the Rings' Morfydd Clark, did better partly because it took genuine risks in its adaptation, and BritBox was finally expanding its audience base. Murder is Easy also debuted over the holidays in the U.K., giving it a lot of momentum as it headed across the pond.

The newest installment, Towards Zero, once again has topline actors that both Americans and Brits will easily recognize (in fact, the leading four are split nicely between two America-born but might-as-well-be-British actors and two British-born but might-as-well-be-American actors.