Before Fallout, Ella Purnell played in an Agatha Christie adaptation with a stacked casting

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The contrast between the optimist who lives in the safe Lucy (Ella Purnell) and the vast chipable wasteland in “Fallout” is a force majeure exercised by the main video series. Purnell’s expressive eyes convey tender hope, which is overwhelmed several times during his trip through the post-nuclear landscape marked by a range of horrible threats. At one point, these same eyes shrink from rage, because Lucy is not afraid to respond to cruelty without being formulated with a feeling of similar attempt. This dichotomy makes Lucy a complex “fallout” protagonist, because it can now find its base while being no longer blinded by an unhindered empathy or an sheltered illusion. Years before “Fallout”, Purnell played another character who carries his emotions on his sleeve – the tragic Hester Argyle in the interpretation of BBC One of “The by innocence” of Agatha Christie.

This 1958 Christian novel did not exactly drop out of the shelves at the exit, because the devoted fans of the author were not sure of the unequal psychological facets of this intriguing detective fiction. The novel opens with the geophysicist Arthur Calgary arriving on an old crime scene, where a certain Rachel Argyle was matraquked in death two years ago. While Rachel’s son Jacko was accused of the crime (and died in prison shortly after), Calgary said that Jacko was innocent, when he realized a little too late than he He himself was the man’s alibi that night. The Argyle family remains without depreciation by this revelation, but the possibility that the murderer is still in general propels the events towards a new police investigation.

This initial premise alone is ideal for a limited standard format, which considerably benefits “the innocence test” of BBC One. Although there is much to love here, a story in three parts also means padded arcs, which are bogged down by characters who have little to offer, except the fact that they are all morally questionable. While these moral vacuum cleaners can undoubtedly be interesting, “test by innocence” is based a little too much on a stacked cast (Matthew Goode! Bill Nighy! Alice Eve! Anna Chancellor!) Instead of channeling a certain energy in memorable characters of engraving.

While Christie’s book opens with Calgary’s point of view (with great emphasis on his guilt and inaction), the show opens with Jack (Anthony Boyle) accused of having brutally killed his mother, Rachel (Chancellor). Jack died in prison 18 months later, but these tragic events do not dissuade Rachel’s husband, Leo (Nighy), to get engaged to his former secretary, Gwenda (Eve), shortly after. The rest of the children of Argyll, including Hester de Purnell, are completely devastated by the tragedy, but they are forced to bear the presence of a new maternal figure which is easily upset during conversations. Just when they think things cannot get worse, a stranger named Calgary (Luke Treadaway) arrives at their door, saying that Jack could have been innocent from the start.

Director Sandra Goldbacher brings enthusiastic changes to the material source of Christie, but most of them feel nailed because they rarely register with the existing premise. You see, the characters of Christie in “Terk by innocence” are deeply imperfect, but finally deserve situational sympathy despite not being the best fathers or girls. The BBC series portrays almost all the characters as despicable, and real concerns of history turn into a melodrama fairly quickly, which makes research difficult for anyone. We know that Rachel’s murderer hides among these familiar faces, but almost everyone Seems capable of such an odious act at a given time. In most cases, such moral ambiguity becomes an urgent fuel for a well woven whodunnit, but the interpretation of the BBC cannot make good use of it.

It goes without saying that the supporters of Christian’s original could find the modified identity of the unpleasant or unconvincing killer, but “the by innocence” test of the BBC has a few laps in its sleeve. The design of production is really spectacular, the Argyll manor looming on events like a lively and supersaturated party in the senses. But this same opulence is not reflected in history, in particular in that which is marked by great performance at all levels.

For those looking for a decent mystery (bonus points if you have not read Christie’s novel), I believe that “the by innocence” test “is worth meeting your Whoidunnit needs. Alternatively, you could fuel three perfect Christie adaptations that cement the timeless appeal of her works instead.