“There’s a murder, a mystery, and Agatha Christie . . . Isn’t that a bit weird? Agatha Christie didn’t go around surrounded by murder, not really. I mean, that’s like meeting Charles Dickens and he’s surrounded by ghosts at Christmas.”
Welcome back to another Doctor Who meets an author episode. I love a good Agatha Christie story. Can’t help it. Even if she was too “British” and imperialist in reality, I can separate her from the books. And in this episode we don’t need worry about that as Christie is presented as no-nonsense and disillusioned with the world as it takes place right after her first husband leaves her (look it up, totally happened). What did not happen was Agatha going to a garden party where a man named Professor Plum is killed in a library by an alien being. That’s right - alien! It is Doctor Who after all!
So - remember to grab your sand shoes and brainy specs for David Tenant romp with the Time Lord and silly companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate). Let’s round up the suspects!
The cast includes Fenella Wollgar as Christie and Felicity Kendal, Christopher Benjamin, Tom Goodman-Hill, and Oscar nominee Felicity Jones as the list of shady characters who were already on edge because of the rumors of a famed jewel thief known as the Unicorn. While the Doctor and Agatha interview everyone, Donna is very excited to explore the house for clues. Instead, she finds a giant alien wasp.
As more deaths occur, the high class suspects turn to Christie as if her writer’s mind should be able to make all of this just go away. “What would Poirot do?” they ask, insisting that she has to help them. Agatha responds, “I’m just a writer.”
Despite her complete lack of confidence in herself, Christie still find clues and analyzes the people around her with bravery and complete curiosity. She’s depressed due to her crumbling marriage and will not let herself belief she is anything more than a hack writer. I believe this depression to also be true of Christie’s real life counterpart which was why she famously vanished in the midst of her reputation being harmed by her husband’s actions.
She and Donna find a tool kit and realize that the jewel thief the Unicorn is also somewhere in the house, leaving them to wonder the thief and the giant wasp are connected. As any good mystery writer, Christie shows she knows a lot about poisons, 1920s forensics, and the environment around her. The Doctor tells her that the murders mimic one of her books and she knows people so she much become one of her beloved detectives.
I’m not going to give away the end of the mystery, but I will tell you that at the end Agatha Christie is left with no memory of the events at a hotel. And that is where she was when she disappeared for a few days. Right? Right.
