Agatha Christie fans are in for a treat this week, as U&Drama’s period whodunnit This Is Not a Murder Mystery is set to hit screens on Wednesday 29 April.
Set in the 1930s, the six-part murder mystery unfolds at a Downton Abbey-style estate in the English countryside, where a group of guests awake to find a dead body in their midst.
With only the other house guests as suspects, Scotland Yard sends in a copper and his crime-solving partner, who are tasked with tracking down the killer.
Stephen Tompkinson (DCI Banks, Wild at Heart) plays the quirky Detective Chief Inspector Thistlethwaite and sat down for an exclusive chat with HELLO!. Read on to find out why this series is just what Agatha Christie fans need – and what twists are in store.
© Studio CanalA ‘gravely shocking’ twist
There’s a lot that’s familiar about This Is Not a Murder Mystery, Stephen admits. “After a wild party at an English country estate, a body is discovered the next morning, so Scotland Yard are brought in and all the revellers are now suspects,” he explains.
But what makes this series more intriguing is the unique group of guests in the line-up, who are actually based on real-life surrealist artists such as René Magritte, Salvador Dalí and Max Ernst.
“They were completely revolutionary at the time in opening up new doors of perception – and gravely shocking, I would think, to a lot of the more traditionalists in UK society,” explains Stephen.
“These people coming in and just blowing people’s minds, quite literally, are a great bunch of suspects for a traditional Scotland Yard copper that I’m portraying to come in and look for oddities among this bunch of oddballs.”
Playing detective
This isn’t the first time Stephen has played a detective, thanks to his previous crime-solving roles as Alan Banks in ITV’s DCI Banks and DCI Chalmers in Channel 5’s Ellis.
Reflecting on how DCI Thistlethwaite differs from his previous roles, Stephen said: “While he does, to a certain extent, respect the societal expectations that governed the way most people were pigeonholed at the time, he can see that a new era is coming. He also very much mentors his detective partner, Agent Mary Quant, because he knows that she is the future and that his way of life is coming to an end.”
Where was This Is Not a Murder Mystery filmed?
The show was filmed over five months between Belgium and Ireland, including Runenborg Castle in Destelbergen, Hex Castle in Heers and the botanical glasshouses near Meise.
“We had a couple of stately homes that we used in Belgium, as well for different areas of the house,” explained Stephen. “So we were always tied down to their availability.”
“But the majority of it was on this incredible estate called the Curraghmore Estate in County Waterford, Ireland, which was beautiful, and very much encapsulated the world that we were trying to create.
“It just did it immediately, so we were all together in this very immersive playground.”
This Is Not a Murder Mystery premieres on U&Drama on Wednesday 29 April, with all episodes available to stream on U.
