Ordeal by Innocence – the perils of adapting Agatha Christie

A new BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Ordeal by Innocence has had a bit of a troubled life. Initially facing the axe because one of its stars, Ed Westwick, was the subject of sexual assault allegations, it reached screens again after a new actor stepped into his role. But now the final episode has rolled in, another controversy has hit – Sarah Phelps, the writer tasked with bringing the novel to the screen, has changed the killer, and fans are not pleased. Is this a fair reaction?

From this point on, we’re going to have a few Agatha Christie spoilers – please don’t read on if you’re worried about finding out whodunit.

The basic story is the same in both book and adaptation. Jacko Argyle dies in prison, serving a sentence for killing his adoptive mother Rachel. Two years later, his alibi – a Dr Calgary – turns up. The family must come to terms with the fact that Jacko was innocent and that one of them is the real murderer. In the novel, the killer is the family’s housekeeper, Kirsten Lindstrom – Jacko persuaded her that he was in love with her and convinced her to murder Rachel in a scheme to steal some much-needed money. Jacko’s wife soon turned up and Kirsten, realising the truth, left him to his fate. In this new adaptation, it was Rachel’s husband Leo (Bill Nighy) who killed her after she threatened him with divorce. Leo became a serial adulterer and rapist (with Jack being his child after raping Kirsten).

A lot of viewers complained about the alterations, comparing them to acts of sabotage, and asking whether Christie’s name was just used to help plug what was essentially a new story

Reactions to these changes were mixed. A lot of viewers complained about the alterations, comparing them to acts of sabotage, and asking whether Christie’s name was just used to help plug what was essentially a new story. Others were excited by the changes, with fans pleased at being able to appreciate a new version without knowing what was going to happen. After criticism on Twitter, Phelps noted that Christie frequently changed her own novels when adapting them (she removed Poirot from adaptations of The Hollow and Death on the Nile and altered the ending of And Then There Were None to make it happy).

ITV has aired adaptations of all of the Poirot and Miss Marple stories and was never one to shy away from changes. Christie’s short stories needed to be expanded to make feature-length episodes and, because of the shortage of Marple books, the character was added to a number of other Christie stories (By the Pricking of My Thumbs, Towards Zero). Different characters became killers (Dr Constantine became one of the conspirators in Murder on the Orient Express, and Dr Gerard became Lady Westholme’s accomplice for a completely different murder scheme in Appointment with Death) or new characters were introduced to create new sub-plots or relationships. In Elephants Can Remember, a Poirot story dealing with a historic murder-suicide, a grisly contemporary murder was introduced and an entirely new character was the killer.

If you can’t get over a changed killer or a new character, you’ll always be able to enjoy the books

The question here is what we expect our Christie adaptations to be. Obviously, no book-to-TV adaptation can be 100% faithful (nor should it be, seeing as they are completely different mediums), but a good adaptation should be true to the original and retain its spirit. New additions like lesbian relationships (The Body in the Library) drew some fire because it was felt that they didn’t fit in with the time period, but they were generally accepted by viewers. Although the new Sarah Phelps adaptations (And Then There Were None, The Witness for the Prosecution and Ordeal by Innocence) have generally been well-received, they have been criticised for an excessive amount of swearing –the incredible production design and atmosphere is frequently ruined by a curse word that feels completely out of time and, in a Christie adaptation, out of place.

Phelps has revealed that her next adaptation will be The ABC Murders – only time will tell how faithful it will be and whether it attracts the same amount of ire. Whatever the solution, remember the most important thing – if you can’t get over a changed killer or a new character, you’ll always be able to enjoy the books.