The series was broadcast by The BBC, from the creators of the 2015 adaptation of And Then There Were None. It starred Toby Jones as John Mayhew.
This television adaptation contains examples of:
- Actor Allusion: When Leonard Vole meets Mrs. French for the second time - in the movie theater - Vole tells Mrs. French that the movie is about Jesse James. Tyrone Power starred as the famous outlaw in Jesse James (1939).
- Adaptation Name Change: Janet Mackenzie (French's maid) is named Janet McIntyre here.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: For John Mayhew in particular. To begin with, he's given a tragic backstory involving the death of his son during the First World War in a gas attack that continues to haunt him throughout the plot. Then, it's taken up to eleven by the end where he discovers, in rapid succession, that he has unwittingly helped a murderer get away scot-free, has contributed actively to sending an innocent woman to the gallows, and that his wife doesn't love him and has never forgiven him for coming home from the war while their son didn't. All this ultimately leads to him committing suicide.
- Adaptational Villainy:
- Subverted with Janet McIntyre, who at first appears to be Emily French's killer due to having been in love with her, but is ultimately revealed to be innocent of the crime.
- Played straight with Romaine, who comes across as a far more manipulative and cruel person than the relatively more sympathetic character she was in previous adaptations.
- Awful Wedded Life:
- John Mayhew's life is revealed to be this in the final episode. He and his wife Alice were once happily married, but as he points out on a holiday following the trial, she never says that she loves him anymore. Having just learnt that he helped the guilty Leonard, escape his well-deserved death John confronts her and pleads for her to show him some affection. Alice however, acts evasive. In the end, when John won't stop, she finally cracks and reveals that NO - she doesn't love him anymore. Alice makes it clear to John that her affection for him ended when he allowed their underage son to accompany him to the trenches, where he died and John lived. She then tells her husband flat out that she will honour their marital vows, but that is it. She will never love him again and does not care if he cheats on her.
- It is heavily implied that Leonard and Romaine's marriage is this as well. Romaine's final statement is implied to be a veiled death threat and that if necessary she will kill Leonard.
- Darker and Edgier: When compared to the 1957 film and the play it is based on, and even arguably the original short story. There are explicit sex scenes, a lot of swearing and a complete lack of Politically Correct History (most notably in the scene where Leonard's senior counsel refers to him as a victim of "the perfidy of women"). Leonard Vole gets away with murder, without the Karmic Death he suffered in previous adaptations. Romaine also comes across as a far more manipulative and cruel person than the relatively more sympathetic character she was in previous adaptations. Emily French's maid is convicted of her murder and hanged. Worse still, the attorney John Mayhew is a man battling his own personal demons involving his son's death in the war, which his wife blames him for, and the miniseries ends with him, overwhelmed by both his depressing personal situation and the knowledge that he has helped a murderer get away and helped send an innocent woman to the gallows, killing himself by walking into the sea.
- Death by Adaptation: Janet McIntyre and John Mayhew.
- Downer Ending: This adaptation ends on an even more cynical note than Christie's original short story - Leonard Vole gets away with murder, inherits Emily French's wealth, and lives a life of luxury abroad with Romaine (though it is very subtly implied that being the manipulative bitch that she is, she might someday decide to do away with him as well); Ms. McIntyre, Emily French's maid, is convicted of the murder, seemingly driven insane though the court proceedings and eventually hanged; John Mayhew eventually discovers his own unwitting culpability in causing these miscarriages of justice to happen and is naturally devastated but worse still, when he tries to take some solace in the fact that he did what he did to provide for his wife, she admits to him that she simply cannot reciprocate his love because she has never forgiven him for the death of their son during the war (John wanted to go off to war together with his son, and they did, with John falsifying the latter's age) - leading Mayhew to kill himself by walking into the ocean. Really, it's a bleak ending for pretty much every character in the story, except perhaps Romaine, who's possibly the most evil of the lot!
- Mythology Gag: The fellow actress whom Romaine replaced and impersonated is named Christine, which is what Romaine's character was renamed to in other adaptations.
- Named by the Adaptation: Mr. Mayhew (the attorney) is named John Mayhew here.
- Psycho Lesbian: Subverted with Janet McIntyre (see Adaptational Villainy above).
- Revised Ending: The ending is based upon Christie's original version from 1933, where Vole gets away with the murder. Most of the other film or television adaptations show Vole getting his comeuppance immediately after being acquitted, once Romaine learns Leonard was cheating on her.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Mayhew is subjected to one by Vole and Romaine, who both declare that he has no right to criticise them, given that his generation, in their words, "murdered the younger generation" by sending them to their deaths during the first World War. Given that Mayhew's son was one of those people, this not only has an element of truth to it but cuts deep. They also gloatingly remind him that he was the one who called for Janet MacIntyre's death even though Leonard wanted to pay her off.
- Suicide by Sea: The miniseries ends with John Mayhew drowning himself in the sea at the end after hitting the Despair Event Horizon, when his wife reveals she no longer loves him, and he learns that the man he helped liberate was in fact guilty of the crime he was accused of.
- Truer to the Text: To a significant extent, being based on the original Christie short story as opposed to the 1957 film, which was based on the play. This adaptation, most notably, retains the original ending - Leonard Vole gets away with murder, inherits Emily French's money, and is free to live a life of luxury with Romaine. Also, the character names are identical or close to what they were in the original story, as opposed to the film. This adaptation is also set in the 1920s, the period when the original story was published, as opposed to the film which had a Setting Update to the 1950s.
- Wham Shot: The reveal of Leonard's new wife: it's Romaine.
