Hugh Laurie's New Murder Mystery Show: What to Know

House star Hugh Laurie is the star, writer, producer and director of a new TV adaptation of Agatha Christie's acclaimed novel Why Didn't They Ask Evans? The story was first written in 1934, and is now a three-part miniseries available on Britbox. It premiered on April 12, 2022, and is available to stream now in the U.S.

Laurie plays the supporting role of Dr. James Nicholson in Why Didn't They Ask Evans? The story centers around a young couple named Bobby Jones and Lady Francesca "Frankie" Derwent, and for them, he cast Will Poulter and Lucy Boynton respectively. Other stars include  Emma Thompson, Jonathan Jules, Paul Whitehouse, Benedict Wolf, Carlie Enoch and Nia Trussler Jones. Like much of Christie's work, this is a murder mystery. In this case, young Bobby happens across another man in his dying moments and seeks to unravel the mystery of his dying words — "Why didn't they ask Evans?"

Laurie spoke to reporters from Reuters about the premiere of the show, explaining why it was such an important project to him. He said: "I would say the novel has been a passion of mine for a long time. The more I thought about it, the more I enjoyed the idea of trying to get what I thought was a sort of comic adventure spirit onto the screen."

Laurie's take on the story keeps many elements of the original novel intact. Like Christie's book, it is set in Wales, and it explores the childhood friendship between Bobby Jones (Poulter) and Lady Frances Derwent (Boynton). Laurie said that he believes the setting and stylistic choices are an important part of what makes the story fun.

"There's a snappy, almost American kind of style to it that I think she [Christie] was going for," the 62-year-old actor said. "I felt it was a very precious thing to try and preserve and maybe in some places, go and explore a little further. But I'm trying to be as faithful to the spirit of the thing as I could."

Laurie's adaptation of the book was made for BritBox and premiered there without airing on broadcast or cable TV first. All three episodes aired at once. There's no hint that Laurie or the producers intend to take the story any further, though many novel adaptations now extend well beyond their source material.

Still, the miniseries has been well received so far, and Christie has plenty of other material ripe for adaptation if Laurie stays interested. In the meantime, Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is streaming now on BritBox.