The BBC is once again diving into the catalogue of renowned crime writer Agatha Christie. This time, Murder is Easy is getting the all-star treatment as a two-night event slap bang in the middle of Christmas week, starting on December 27.
You can watch both episodes for FREE in the UK on BBC iPlayer. But don't worry if you're on holiday while it's on — because you can watch Murder is Easy on BBC iPlayer from anywhere with a VPN.
Murder is Easy tells the story of a chance encounter on a train between Luke Fitzwilliam (David Jonsson, Industry) and Miss Pinkerton (Penelope Wilton, Downton Abbey) that leads Fitzwilliam to the sleepy village of Wychwood under Ashe and ultimately sets him on the trail of a serial murderer. The adaptation promises to take a Hitchcockian approach to the mystery, but also to turn a modern lens on attitudes toward Fitzwilliam’s Nigerian detective and his relationship with the residents of a rural 1950s English community.
Also in the cast are Matthew Baynton (Ghosts), Morfydd Clark (Rings of Power), Douglas Henshall (Shetland) and Tamzin Outhwaite (Ridley Road). Meenu Gaur (World on Fire) directs from a script by Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre. This is sure to be perfect mid Christmas TV viewing while you sink into the sofa and finish off those leftovers.
Ready for another mystery from the Queen of Crime? Here's how to watch Murder is Easy from anywhere in the world. We've got all the information you'll need below.
How to watch Murder is Easy in the UK
How to watch Murder is Easy in the US
Murder is Easy will find a home alongside other BBC Agatha Christie adaptations on BritBox in the US, although an exact date is yet to be confirmed.
BritBox is available for $8.99 per month or $89.99 per year, however the 7-day free trial should see you through the festive period.
How to watch Murder is Easy from anywhere with a VPN
You can watch Murder is Easy on any of the streaming services above by using a VPN – no matter where you are in the world!
Normally a streaming service will know where you are trying to tune in from and block you if you're not in the right country but a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an app that hides your location. That means you can access your usual sports and entertainment services even while you're traveling abroad.
Our favorite VPN is ExpressVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.
How to use a VPN to watch any stream
- Download the app at ExpressVPN
- Choose the location of the streaming service you want to watch (UK, US, etc)
- Navigate to the streaming service and start watching!
When is the Murder is Easy release date?
Murder is Easy airs over two nights during the holidays on Wednesday, December 27 and Thursday, December 28 at 9pm GMT/4pm ET/1pm PT on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK. It will land on BritBox in the US at a later date.
- Murder is Easy: Episode 1 - Wednesday, December 27
- Murder is Easy: Episode 2 - Thursday, December 28
Murder is Easy trailer
What to know about Murder is Easy
Who is in the cast of Murder is Easy?
- David Jonsson as Fitzwilliam
- Morfydd Clark as Bridget
- Penelope Wilton as Miss Pinkerton
- Sinead Matthews as Miss Waynflete
- Tom Riley as Lord Whitfield
- Douglas Henshall as Major Horton
- Mathew Baynton as Dr Thomas
- Mark Bonnar as Reverend Humbleby
- Nimra Bucha as Mrs Humbleby
- Tamzin Outhwaite as Mrs Pierce
- Jon Pointing as Rivers
- Phoebe Licorish as Rose
- Joe Fagan as The Butler
What can we expect from Murder is Easy?
Meenu Gaur (Director): "When I first read Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy, I felt that while it offers all the pleasures of an Agatha Christie 'whodunnit', it had elements that would have worked well for a Hitchcock film. While Christie and Hitchcock may have never collaborated before, but if there was ever an opportunity to bring together the ‘Queen of Crime’ and the ‘Master of Suspense’, it was going to be in Murder is Easy."
Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre (Writer): "“What a furious little book”. That was my first reaction to reading Murder is Easy. I had an inkling that Christie had much in her life to rage at, but disappearing down a biographical rabbit hole wouldn’t help adapt the book. I needed to respond personally to the work, dramatise the story for a new and existing audience, while honouring its essence. But, to me, its essence was raging."
Who is Luke Fitzwilliam?
David Jonsson (Luke Fitzwilliam): "You find him on his way to England for the first time with a certain job in mind and he's got his life mapped out ahead of him, which quite swiftly gets derailed by an encounter with a stranger. He meets a lovely older lady called Miss Pinkerton, played by Penelope Wilton, and she quite quickly charms him. I think just by her natural energy, which is quite infectious, but she's also got information about a number of horrible deaths – which she thinks were murders, but have been brushed off as accidents – in her tiny English village. I think out of a certain moral compass Luke is naturally taken to it and then, without giving too much away, something quickly happens which forces him into action, following her trail to catch a murderer."
Who is Bridget Conway?
Morfydd Clark (Bridget Conway): "She was a secretary to Lord Whitfield (Tom Riley) and they fell in love, so she's climbed the ladder of status and hierarchy that way. But she’s playing a role, and she's surrounded by people but feels quite isolated and is also incredibly emotionally unavailable. She's had a deep heartbreak that has meant she's shut herself off from feelings, and then Fitzwilliam arrives and shakes all that off for her, much to her dismay."
Who is Miss Pinkerton?
Penelope Wilton (Miss Pinkerton): "She lives in the village and is the one who actually suspects that there is a mass murderer on the loose, and that the recent deaths have not been unfortunate accidents. We find her getting a train to London to go to Scotland Yard because she doesn’t think that the local policeman would believe that an elderly spinster lady would know about mass murder, and would probably be making it up. But she's a very sharp character and she thinks the best thing to do is to go to Scotland Yard and tell them what's going on. She meets along the way a young man called Fitzwilliam who has just come over from Nigeria to work at Whitehall. They become very friendly with one another on the train and she tells him about her suspicions because actually there isn't a lot of time. This killer is going to kill again. Miss Pinkerton lays out the entire plot of the story and from then on it's for Fitzwilliam to unravel."
Who was Agatha Christie?
Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was a prolific 20th century crime writer, penning 66 novels and notably creating fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Christie also wrote The Mousetrap, which holds the record as the world's longest running play and has run continuously in the West End since 1952.
Are there other BBC Agatha Christie adaptations?
The BBC has been adapting an Agatha Christie novel as one of its festive TV highlights for a number of years now. You can find previous adaptations, including The ABC Murders, And Then There Were None, Ordeal by Innocence and The Pale Horse, on BBC iPlayer in the UK and BritBox internationally.
Murder is Easy full episode guide
Murder is Easy: Episode 1 - Wednesday, December 27
England, 1954. Young and ambitious Luke Fitzwilliam arrives from Nigeria with the promise of a job in Whitehall. On the train to London, he meets the elderly Miss Pinkerton, who confides in him that there is a killer on the loose in her quiet village of Wychwood-Under-Ashe.
When Miss Pinkerton is struck down on her way to Scotland Yard, leaving the spoils of a lucrative Derby win in Fitzwilliam’s hands, he finds himself in a moral predicament. What should he do with the information bestowed on him? Should he attempt to return the winnings to her relatives? He sets off for the sleepy village of Wychwood with Miss Pinkerton’s words ringing in his ears.
Murder is Easy: Episode 2 - Thursday, December 28
As Wychwood reels after another tragic death, there are rumours that a murderer could be responsible. An inquest is held, and it’s announced that there will be a full autopsy of the deceased.
Confident that he has a suspect and a motive, Luke Fitzwilliam focuses his efforts on building his case and exposing the culprit. But when a new piece of information sees his theory crumble, he suddenly finds himself back to square one.
