Why you can trust TechRadar
We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best. Learn more about how we test.
There has been a murder, and I am not just referring to the plot of the Agatha Christie's Seven dials. In fact, I am referring to the Netflix adaptation itself. The infamous crime author has sold between 2 and 4 billion copies of her work, but somehow, the television version of The mystery of the seven dials It feels absolutely criminal.
Not to brag, but I'm ordering myself as an expert here. In the 2000s, the British television channel ITV had a monopoly on adaptations of Poirot and Miss Marple, and I grew up watching them. Add film classics like Peter Ustinov Death on the Nile and devouring her books since I was 14, and I'm one application away from joining the Agatha Christie fan club.
The Seven Dials Mystery is Agatha Christie's wrong story to adapt to Netflix
Look
I'd confidently bet £10 (or $10/AU$10 for my US and Australian friends) that you've never heard of The mystery of the seven dials before. Not only was he not a great hitter like And then there were none either Murder on the Orient Expressbut the novel from which it takes characters, The secret of chimneysIt was a much bigger success. The mystery of the seven dials released to mostly bad reviews from critics, and these three points together are not the best basis for an adaptation.
Is the original book really one of Christie's best? I don't think so. It definitely has a more light-hearted tone, but that's only noticeable if you're from the 1920s. The overall mystery doesn't really persist and everything is too complicated for its own good.
None of these things are The seven spheres of Agatha Christie guilt, plus what he has to deal with. There were a million better stories for the world's largest streaming service to choose from for its own original content, especially if it wants to create a visual catalog of Christie's work.
foaming cyanide, crooked house either Cards on the table It could have made shrewd choices, especially since its narrative structures are much stronger. But this is when we start to run into our other problem.
If you've seen any of the latest Agatha Christie TV adaptations over the last decade, whether for the BBC or straight to Britbox, you'll have noticed a subtle downward spiral in quality. By Kim Cattrall Prosecution witness to Anjelica Huston in Towards zerono new series seems to gain favor with anyone who watches it.
So are the glory days of adapting Agatha Christie to the small screen over? It certainly feels that way for standalone novels. I think a streaming service like Netflix could score some points with a Miss Marple reboot, but even that is a big ask.
The changes Agatha Christie's Seven Dials make to the original book don't work either
WARNING: spoilers for The seven spheres of Agatha Christie forward.
When Murder, she wrote and Colombo Used to air in the 1980s, viewers quickly realized that whoever was the biggest star of an episode was also the killer, to the point that the creators had to change their casting tactics. It is evident that we learn nothing from history, since the most important stars in history The seven spheres of Agatha Christie They are the ones who give away the game.
Without giving away the definitive whodunit (although you can read the book if you want the answer), Lord Caterham has been changed to Lady Caterham in this adaptation, and that's a big deal. Frankly, casting executives could and should do anything to get Helena Bonham Carter in their production, and she's as stunning and quirky as you'd expect in the limited time she has on screen.
However, it also reveals the secrets of the Seven Dials in a way that would not have happened if our lady had still been a lord. It's an incredibly dumb mistake that tears down the central pillars of the narrative, and I can't believe the decision came from the same man who made wide church.
If you want to keep some mystery until the end, I would almost recommend skipping episode 2 entirely. You can resolve all the connections and logistics at play halfway through, something the Crime Queen would never have allowed to happen under her command, even if it was one of her weaker stories.
So what do I really get out of this streaming experience? A feeling of disappointment and not seeing enough of Bonham Carter. Shout out to Martin Freeman, who is clearly having the time of his life playing a Netflix game. Cluedo.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
