Airing originally as a six-part miniseries, fans of the British mystery novelist will love that they can own this and watch it at their leisure. Situated in 1950s Britain and with mysteries aplenty. The dynamic between the loving couple is a fun one with some fighting and plenty of bright insights.
Tommy (played by David Walliams) and Tuppence Beresford (played by Jessica Raine) are a married couple who also fancy themselves amateur sleuths. There is nothing normal about this couple as they always seem to find themselves in the middle of something to solve. Deeper than that they end up going rather sideways into the spy game and demonstrate themselves very able.
It is the beginning of the Cold War and the world is a rather tense place. At first the Beresfords have a rather normal and quiet life but an unexpected meeting on a Paris train changes all that. The couple is on the train back to London after having traveled to purchase a queen bee to begin a venture as beekeepers.
While showing off the purchase to a young woman they meet on the train the couple does not notice her slipping something into the package. She soon disappears from the train and Tuppence realizes she has left a book behind.
Tommy asks his Uncle Carter (played by James Fleet), who works in the British Secret Service, for a job. Carter does not find his nephew suited for the occupation. Tuppence is another story altogether as she is not quite as reticent as her husband. She is determined to locate the owner of the book and as fate would have it Jane Finn (played by Camilla Beeput) is tied to a Soviet assassin whom Carter is pursuing.
In the second half of the mini-series, Tommy and Tuppence are in London for the opera and some work. Uncle Carter is not interested in Tommy’s latest scheme, rather he has a job for him. It seems simple. Just meet up with an undercover agent in their box at the opera and bring his message back to Carter.
This becomes quite difficult due to the fact the agent is poisoned before he can get that message to Tommy. Or was he? Tommy and Tuppence aim to figure that out.
The source material for the miniseries is two novels by Agatha Christie. Within each episode there is a variety of fun like humour, intrigue, spy stuff, great visuals, and faithful period sets and costumes. Where they differ from Christie’s better known detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple is that the mysteries are not quite as complex and as such the pacing is a little slower. The production values are high and the chemistry between Walliams and Raine strong.
Special Features:
Two behind-the-scenes featurettes about the making of the show and the costume design (89 min.)
Interview with Clarke Peters (25 min.)
Photo Gallery
