Doctor Who Vs. Agatha and the Truth of Murder

This channel 5 thriller is another
fictionalised account of what
happened to Agatha Christie

during the eleven days in late
1926 when the newly published
crime writer went missing. It is
revealed that Christie (portrayed
here by Ruth Bradley) staged
her disappearance and evaded
the ensuing nationwide hunt to

investigate the real-life unsolved
murder of Florence Nightingale
Shore (goddaughter of the
Crimean war nurse) who was
bludgeoned to death on a Sussex

bound train in 1920.

The Queen of Crime (1890-1976)

had writer's block and posed here as Mary Westmacott, her later pen-name.

The thriller spawned two sequels for 5 - The Curse of Ishtar (in 2019), and

The Midnight Murders (2020). The channel later broadcast documentaries

Inside the Mind of Agatha Christie and Agatha Christie's England.

First shown at Christmas 2018 (then rerun on Boxing Day and New Year's

Day 2019) the film was repeated on Drama tonight - it featured Ralph

Ineson, Dean Andrews, Michael McElhatton, and six Doctor Who cast

connections: 

• Tim McInnerny (Randolph here; Rev. Clement in The Murder at the Vicarage, 2004) was Klineman Halpen in Planet of the Ood, and voiced Admiral Dolne for Big Finish's The Well-Mannered War (2015)
• Pippa Haywood (Mabel here; Mrs. Price in Ordeal by Innocence, 2007; Mrs. Upjohn in Cat Among the Pigeons, 2008) voiced the Prime Minister for Seed of Chaos and The Destructive Quality of Life (both 2017), Jaxa for Seizure, Teremon for The War Master 2 (both 2018), and Captain Graff for Genetics of the Daleks (2020)
• Blake Harrison (Travis here & Agatha and the Midnight Murders) voiced Lieutenant Daniel Hopkins for The Helliax Rift, Hour of the Cybermen and Warlock's Cross (all 2018), then starred in Village of the Angels as Namaca Ost Parvess Po
• Brian McCardie (Persimmion here; Gould in Ordeal by Innocence, 2018) voiced Alan Weir for Masters of Earth (2014)
• Samantha Spiro (Pamela) was Hazran in The Doctor Falls
• Joshua Silver (Franklin) voiced Charlie Nisbett for The Romance of Crime (2015)