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<\/p>\nAgatha Christie’s great-grandson has suggested she would have ‘welcomed’ the BBC’s decision to change the race of the protagonist in the new adaptation of the crime writer’s 1939 novel Murder is Easy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the BBC’s new series, the lead role of\u00a0Luke Fitzwilliam – a retired police officer who investigates a serial killer in an English village-\u00a0 will be played by David Jonsson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The role had previously been played by Benedict Cumberbatch in a 2009 series.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2022, Jonsson was named best actor at the Black British Theatre Awards and he previously appeared on the BBC’s Industry and ITV’s Endeavour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Previous changes to Christie’s work for modern adaptations have occasionally provoked ire, however her great-grandson James Pritchard has said in general his ancestor appreciated ‘radical adaptations of her work.’\u00a0<\/p>\n
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In the BBC’s new series, the lead role of Luke Fitzwilliam will be played by David Jonsson (left)<\/p>\n
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Agatha Christie’s great-grandson has suggested she would have ‘welcomed’ changes to her work<\/p>\n
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The novel concerns a retired police officer who investigates a serial killer in an English village<\/p>\n
Mr Pritchard, who is an executive producer for Agatha Christie Limited which holds the rights to her entire works, stressed that with all adaptions production companies had a ‘degree of license to change things.’\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He told the Radio Times: ‘I also believe these are adaptations, not translations, and you are always looking at the story from where you are now, 90 years after this was first written.<\/p>\n
And Then There Were None – 2015<\/span><\/p>\n The BBC’s three-part adaptation of Christie’s most famous novel – in which ten people are murdered on an island – provoked anger due to mature content.\u00a0<\/p>\n The BBC’s adaptation included several sex scenes and lude swearing not found in the novel.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Witness for the Prosecution – 2016\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Fans were also left aghast when sex scenes and swearing were added to the material.\u00a0<\/p>\n The ABC Murders – 2018<\/span><\/p>\n In the mini series, John Malkovich played the role of Hercule Poirot.\u00a0<\/p>\n The adaptation contained references\u00a0 to the British Union of Fascists and Oswald Mosely that were not in the novel.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ordeal by Innocence – 2018\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This mini series starred Bill Nighy in the role of Leo Argyll from the 1958 novel.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a shock twist, Nighy’s character was made the murderer , despite the novel’s original murderer being a female housekeeper.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘The first few adaptations of her plays were done by other people, and she didn\u2019t like them because she didn\u2019t think they were radical enough for the change in medium.’\u00a0<\/p>\n Recent BBC adaptations of Christie’s work have drawn the ire of some fans due to graphic content.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2015, the BBC’s three-part adaptation of Christie’s most famous novel And Then There Were None provoked anger due to mature content.\u00a0<\/p>\n The BBC’s adaptation included several sex scenes and lude swearing not found in the novel.\u00a0<\/p>\n TV writer Sarah Phelps, who wrote And Then There Were None amongst others, said that the changes were justified.\u00a0<\/p>\n Defending her creative decisions in 2020,\u00a0Phelps said: ‘Yes, of course I\u2019ve taken liberties. Have I changed a load of stuff? Yeah, of course I have, loads and loads and loads of stuff.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘Otherwise you\u2019d have 30 hours of TV and would you want to watch it? No.<\/p>\n ‘But, you always go for the beating heart of what she\u2019s getting at.’<\/p>\n In March this year, it was revealed that some of Christie’s books were to be rewritten to eliminate verbiage that has been deemed insensitive or inappropriate.\u00a0<\/p>\n Several of the passages in the author’s\u00a0Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries were reportedly reworked or stripped altogether from new editions of the books.<\/p>\n Publisher HarperCollins eliminated text containing ‘insults or references to ethnicity’, as well as descriptions of certain characters’ physiques, The Telegraph\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n New editions of Ms Christie’s novels, reviewed by the newspaper, showed that editors have made ‘scores of changes’ to her books.<\/p>\n The novels, penned between\u00a01920 and 1976, were stripped of sections of ‘unsympathetic’ dialogue, apparent insults and character descriptions.<\/p>\n The BBC’s new adaptation of Murder is Easy will be screened over the Christmas holidays\u00a0<\/p>\n The BBC’s adaptation of and Then There Were None was criticised by some for mature content\u00a0<\/p>\n For example, the word ‘Oriental’ has been removed from her 1937 mystery\u00a0Death on the Nile, which follows\u00a0sleuth Hercule Poirot as he investigates a murder on a luxury cruise.<\/p>\n The publisher changed dialogue of\u00a0character of Mrs Allerton, who was complaining about pestering children.\u00a0<\/p>\n The original text said: ‘They come back and stare, and stare, and their eyes are simply disgusting, and so are their noses, and I don\u2019t believe I really like children.’<\/p>\n The rewritten version reportedly reads: ‘They come back and stare, and stare. And I don\u2019t believe I really like children.’<\/p>\n The publisher also eliminated the n-word from character dialogue and Ms Christie’s prose.<\/p>\n Ms Christie’s novels have been altered in the past. Her 1939 book was retitled And Then There Were None after its original name featured a racist term.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/11\/07\/78812191-12849243-image-a-8_1702280209147.jpg\")
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<\/p>\nREAD MORE:\u00a0Now Agatha Christie novels are being rewritten<\/h3>\n