Why dont they ask Evans Hugh Laurie?

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? stars Will Poulter and Lucy Boynton directed by Hugh Laurie.

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? stars Will Poulter and Lucy Boynton directed by Hugh Laurie. (Image credit: Mammoth/Jed Knight)

Agatha Christie’s captivating murder-mystery Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? will be coming to BritBox in April 2022. This three-part series is directed by Hugh Laurie and boasts an all-star cast. Based on the iconic 1934 novel by Agatha Christie, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? follows vicar’s son Bobby Jones, played by Will Poulter and his adventurous friend, socialite Lady Frances ‘Frankie’ Derwent (Lucy Boynton), as they dig deep into a murder. But their amateur sleuthing brings no end of trouble their way. There are some big names in the cast too, with Jim Broadbent and Emma Thompson playing aristocrats Lord and Lady Marcham, who are the parents of Lady Frances.

Here’s the lowdown on everything we know so far about the BritBox adaptation of Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?...

Will Poulter and Lucy Boynton in Why Didn't They Ask Evans?

Will Poulter and Lucy Boynton as Bobby and Frankie in Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (Image credit: c) Mammoth Screen/Agatha Christie Limited)

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? release date

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? will air on streaming service BritBox on Thursday April 14 2022, in the UK, US and Canada. It will arrive on ITV some time later.

Is there a Why Didn't They Ask Evans? trailer?

Yes BritBox has now released a trailer for Why Didn't They Ask Evans? which gives you a great glimpse of Will Poulter, Lucy Boynton, Jim Broadbent and Emma Thompson in action. Take a look below.

What is the plot of Agatha Christie's Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? 

When Bobby Jones and Frankie Derwent comes across the body of a dying man at tje bottom of a cliff, they hear his cryptic last words – ‘Why didn’t they ask Evans?’. They soon discover a photograph of a beautiful young woman in the dead man’s pocket and with that as their only clue they set about solving the mystery behind his death.

Bobby Jones (Will Poulter) and Frankie Derwent (Lucy Boynton) are on the case.

Bobby Jones (Will Poulter) and Frankie Derwent (Lucy Boynton) are on the case. (Image credit: BritBox)

Bobby looking for car clues perhaps?

Bobby looking for car clues perhaps? (Image credit: BritBox)

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? cast — Will Poulter on playing Bobby Jones

British star Will Poulter stars as Bobby Jones, the son of the local vicar. He’s amiable and honest to a fault, so is the perfect person to investigate a murder mystery. 

Will told us he jumped at the chance to star in an Agatha Chirstie drama: "I’m deeply honoured to have been given the opportunity to co-lead this project with Lucy. Agatha Christie’s such a well-loved name in literature, so you're off to a good start anyway but Hugh captures the spirit of the book and delivers on the things that people love about Christie's work, while also giving it contemporary energy and humor. There’s the thrill of the chase, but it’s peppered with jokes throughout and that was fun to play."

Will has been on our screens since he was a child, when he starred as Lee Carter in the 2007 film Son of Rambow. He went on to be cast in The Chronicles of Narnia and The Maze Runner films and appeared in the comedy movie We’re The Millers alongside Jennifer Aniston in 2013. He became a huge name after starring in The Revenant alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in 2015, playing Bridger. In 2021 Will starred in the series Dopesick.

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? star Will Poulter plays Vicar's son Bobby Jones.

Will Poulter as Vicar's son Bobby Jones in Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (Image credit: BritBox)

Bobby has lots of questions in the murder mystery.

Bobby has lots of questions in the murder mystery. (Image credit: BritBox)

Will Poulter

Will Poulter in 'Dopesick'. (Image credit: Hulu)

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? cast — Lucy Boynton on playing Lady Frances ‘Frankie’ Derwent 

Lucy Boynton plays whip-smart socialite Lady Frances ‘Frankie’ Derwent, who’s described as ‘a clever, unflappable woman with a flare for adventure’. 

Lucy says "I’m so thrilled to be working with Hugh and Will, and on this story from one of my favourite authors. I can’t wait to get started."

British star Lucy first hit our screens playing a young Beatrix Potter in the 2006 movie Miss Potter. She’s since starred in Sense and Sensibility, Don’t Knock Twice, Apostle and numerous other movies and will portray singer Marianne Faithfull in the biopic Faithfull, coming later this year. This isn’t Lucy’s first foray into the work of Agatha Christie as she played Countess Andrenyi in the 2017 film version of Murder On The Orient Express. She will appear in the ITV adaptation of The Ipcress Filein 2022.

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? star Lucy Boynton plays Lady Frances ‘Frankie’ Derwent.

Lucy Boynton as Lady Frances ‘Frankie’ Derwent in Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (Image credit: BritBox)

Lucy Boynton in 'The Ipcress File'.

Lucy Boynton is also starring in The Ipcress File on ITV in 2022. (Image credit: ITV)

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? director Hugh Laurie also stars as Dr James Nicholson

House and The Night Manager actor and comedian Hugh Laurie is directing and executive producing the series. As well as that he'll also play psychologist Dr James Nicholson. The psychologist is the clinical director of the sanatorium near the Bassington-ffrench estate, Merroway Court. This will be Hugh’s first major TV drama in the writer and director’s chair and he has loved the novel since he was a child. Hugh says: ‘The hairs on the back of my neck haven’t properly settled down from the first time I grasped the beauty of the essential mystery. Since then, I have fallen deeper and deeper in love with the characters, and feel immensely honoured to have been given the chance to retell their story in this form. I will wear a tie on set, and give it everything I have.’

Hugh Laurie directs and stars in 'Why Didn't They Ask Evans?'

Hugh Laurie both directs and stars in 'Why Didn't They Ask Evans?' (Image credit: Getty Images)

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? cast — who else is starring

As with most Agatha Christie mysteries there are all sorts of characters, so in Why Didn't They Ask Evans? look out for plenty of other cast, most notably Jim Broadbent and Emma Thompson as aristocrats Lord and Lady Marcham. 

The Secret Garden star Maeve Dermody plays Moira, the troubled wife of psychiatrist Dr James Nicholson (Hugh Laurie, see above). Game of Thrones and Holdingactor Conleth Hill plays Bobby’s genial mentor Dr Alwyn Thomas. Daniel Ings (I Hate Suzie) takes on the role of suspect Roger Bassington-ffrench while The Durrells star Miles Jupp is his brother, Henry. Amy Nuttall (Downton Abbey, Emmerdale) stars as Sylvia Bassington-ffrench, the American wife of Henry. Jonathan Jules (Small Axe) is Bobby’s shipmate, Ralph, while Morwenna Banks also stars as Mrs Cayman, the dead man’s sister. 

Alistair Petrie (Deep Heat, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) is Bobby’s father, Rev Richard Jones, along with Paul Whitehouse (The Personal History of David Copperfield) as the landlord of a country inn and Joshua James (Black Mirror) as Frankie’s long-suffering ally, Dr George Arbuthnot.

Amy Nuttall is playing Sylvia Basington-ffrench.

Amy Nuttall is playing Sylvia Bassington-ffrench. (Image credit: BritBox)

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? stars Jim Broadbent and Emma Thompson with Lucy Boynton, all directed by Hugh Laurie.

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? stars Jim Broadbent and Emma Thompson with Lucy Boynton, all directed by Hugh Laurie. (Image credit: Mammoth/Jed Knight)

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? — the famous 1980 TV version 

Agatha Christie's novel Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (opens in new tab)was first adapted for television in 1980 and starred Sir John Gielgud as Bobby’s father Reverend Jones. Francesca Annis played Lady Frances Derwent while James Warwick took on the role of Bobby Jones. Fawlty Towers star Connie Booth played Sylvia Bassington-ffrench. 

As Agatha Christie was notoriously protective of her work, not allowing the slightest deviation from the script, it took 18 months of negotiations with her estate before the 1980 drama could be made. Before that there were relatively few adaptations of Agatha Christie’s work on TV, rather than film, as she disliked the medium. When ‘And Then There Were None’ was shown on telly in 1949 there were several errors, including one of the corpses standing up and walking off set on camera, and from then on a furious Agatha Christie refused to give television rights. This only changed after the author's death in 1976.

Agatha Christie wrote 'Why Didn't They Ask Evans?' in 1934.

Agatha Christie wrote Why Didn't They Ask Evans? in 1934. (Image credit: Alamy)
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I'm a huge fan of television so I really have found the perfect job, as I've been writing about TV shows, films and interviewing major television, film and sports stars for over 25 years. I'm currently TV Content Director on What's On TV, TV Times, TV and Satellite Week magazines plus Whattowatch.com. I previously worked on Woman and Woman's Own in the 1990s. Outside of work I swim every morning, support Charlton Athletic football club and get nostalgic about TV shows Cagney & Lacey, I Claudius, Dallas and Tenko. I'm totally on top of everything good coming up too.

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Why didn't they ask Evans who was Evans?

First of all, Evans is a woman. The short(ish) answer as to why *they* didn't ask her is because Evans would have blown the whistle. Evans was a parlourmaid in a house owned by Rose Templeton. Rose is actually Moira Nicholson — her husband Dr Nicholson not a killer at all.

Why didnt they ask Evans Christie?

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in September 1934 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1935 under the title of The Boomerang Clue.

Why didn't they ask Evans filming locations?

The series was filmed throughout the UK in 2021. Laurie made sure his adaptation stayed true to the setting of the source material, as production took place between June and August 2021 primarily on location in the UK. The mystery man takes a fall at Three Cliffs Bay in Wales.

Why didn't they ask Evans TV show release date?

April 12, 2022Why Didn't They Ask Evans? / First episode datenull