Guardian review criticises Netflix’s Agatha Christie adaptation Seven Dials

A Guardian review criticises Netflix’s three-part adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials, written by Chris Chibnall, calling the production dated and clumsy. The reviewer describes an opening in Ronda, 1920, in which Iain Glen’s character is gored by a bull after receiving a note printed with a clock, and notes that clocks recur throughout the story.

The action then moves to a country-house party hosted by the Cootes and rented from Lady Caterham (Helena Bonham Carter). The daughter, Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent (Mia McKenna-Bruce), is set to be proposed to by Gerry Wade (Corey Mylchreest) but he is found dead the next morning after an apparent sleeping-draught overdose; eight alarm clocks hidden in his room have been reduced to seven, with one later found broken on the lawn.

The review says a butterfingered working-class policeman damages the potential crime scene and Bundle takes it upon herself to investigate, while the Cootes depart in haste. The critic objects to grammatical slips in the dialogue and to what they describe as a tone that mixes period costume drama with modern emotional concerns, comparing the result to Enid Blyton and suggesting it plays for an international audience that mistakes Downton Abbey for reality.

As the plot proceeds the reviewer recounts telltale stains, anonymous notes mentioning “seven dials”, trips to London, the revelation of Iain Glen’s identity and the shooting of a prankster character played by Nabhaan Rizwan.

Key Topics

Culture, Seven Dials, Agatha Christie, Netflix, Chris Chibnall, Helena Bonham Carter