TV preview: The Witness for the Prosecution

The Witness for the Prosecution is the major new Agatha Christie adaptation by Sarah Phelps.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Dec 2016, 12:00 BST
Updated 29th Dec 2016, 14:12 BST
GUILTY PLEASURE: The Witness for the Prosecution features an outstanding cast in a new adaptation of Agatha Christies mystery.GUILTY PLEASURE: The Witness for the Prosecution features an outstanding cast in a new adaptation of Agatha Christies mystery.
GUILTY PLEASURE: The Witness for the Prosecution features an outstanding cast in a new adaptation of Agatha Christies mystery.

The two-part drama reunites the team behind last year’s critically acclaimed And Then There Were None, which achieved ratings of more than million.

Adapted from Christie’s short story of the same title, The Witness for the Prosecution is directed by the acclaimed film and television director Julian Jarrold.

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The action opens in 1920s London where murder, brutal and bloodthirsty, has stained the plush carpets of a handsome townhouse. The victim is the glamorous and rich Emily French (Kim Cattrall). All the evidence points to Leonard Vole (Billy Howle), a young chancer to whom the heiress left her vast fortune and who ruthlessly took her life. At least, this is the story that Emily’s dedicated housekeeper Janet McIntyre (Monica Dolan) stands by in court. Leonard however, is adamant that his partner, the enigmatic chorus girl Romaine (Andrea Riseborough), can prove his innocence. Tasked with representing Leonard is his solicitor John Mayhew (Toby Jones) and King’s Counsel, Sir Charles Carter KC (David Haig).

Phelps says: “When I read the short story it felt like the most perfect Film Noir for 1920s London. Dark, strange, unsettling and thrilling, you feel the rug of your certainties twitched from under your feet.”

The Witness for the Prosecution, BBC1, Boxing Day, 9pm

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