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BBC adapting Agatha Christie's 'Witness for the Prosecution' as a miniseries

By Karen Butler
Agatha Christie in a 1954 UPI File Photo.
Agatha Christie in a 1954 UPI File Photo. | License Photo

LONDON, June 21 (UPI) -- The BBC said it has ordered a small-screen adaptation of Agatha Christie's mystery novel The Witness for the Prosecution.

Set in 1920s London, it will be written by Sarah Phelps and directed by Julian Jarrold. No casting has been announced yet.

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The project follows the success of last year's three-part thriller And Then There Were None, which was also based on a Christie classic.

"With And Then There Were None, we reminded viewers just how brilliant Agatha Christie's plotting is and just how modern her stories could be," Hilary Strong, chief executive officer of Agatha Christie Limited and executive producer of the miniseries, said in a statement. "We are delighted to be working with Mammoth Screen and Sarah Phelps again to deliver another iconic title for the BBC and our international co-production partners Acorn Media Enterprises and A+E Studios. With The Witness for the Prosecution, Sarah has worked her magic on Christie's timeless story. Combining Sarah's brilliance with the excellent and skillful eye of our director, Julian Jarrold, we expect to deliver a show that will thrill both audiences who have enjoyed Christie's work before and those who are coming to it for the first time."

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"With the long, terrible shadow of the Great War falling across the rackety, feral 1920s, The Witness for the Prosecution is a compelling story of deceit, desire, murder, money and morality, innocence and guilt, heartbreak and -- most painful and dangerous of all -- love. At the center of this dark and tangled net is the astonishing character of Romaine, a noir heroine for all our times," Phelps added.

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