BritBox and the BBC are putting a new spin on one of the most famous fictional detectives of the past century.
The two outlets have greenlit Hercule, a six-episode mystery that will delve into the younger days of Agatha Christie’s iconic detective Hercule Poirot. Edward Bluemel (My Lady Jane, Sex Education) will play the title character.
Benji Walters (Code of Silence) is writing the series, and Jonny Campbell (In the Flesh, Am I Being Unreasonable?) is set to direct the first two episodes. Mammoth Screen (part of ITV Studios) and Agatha Christie Limited are producing Hercule.
Bluemel — who’s coming off another series based on Christie’s work, Netflix’s Seven Dials — will be the latest actor to take on Poirot. David Suchet played the idiosyncratic Belgian detective for nearly 25 years in the ITV series; Kenneth Branagh, Albert Finney and Peter Ustinov, among others, have also played Poirot. Whether the new series asks Bluemel to adopt the character’s singular appearance — most notably a waxed mustache and a fastidious fashion sense — remain to be seen.
My father had the privilege of working with David Suchet for nearly 25 years, and I now have the good fortune of being able to share my great grandmother’s brilliant stories with a new generation of viewers,” said James Prichard, who’s executive producing the series for Agatha Christie Limited. “Edward Bluemel is an extremely talented performer and will make a great addition to the long line of actors that have played this celebrated character, aided and abetted by Benji Walters’ thoughtful scripts. I cannot wait to see Edward on screen as Hercule Poirot.”
Hercule is described as “an intimate study of Hercule the man and an epic portrait of Britain between the wars. The series takes a magnifying glass to three of Christie’s most celebrated stories, while also charting Hercule’s burgeoning friendship with Captain Arthur Hastings and his early encounters with Scotland Yard’s James Japp, and introducing him to one particular nemesis.”
“I feel very lucky to have been trusted with such an iconic character who has been played by so many great actors,” said Bluemel. “I can’t wait to continue Hercule’s legacy.”
Walters and Campbell executive produce Hercule with Prichard for Agatha Christie Limited, Rebecca Durbin and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen, Nick Lambon for the BBC, and Robert Schildhouse, Jon Farrar and Stephen Nye for BritBox. Charlie Palmer is series producer.
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