Where to find it: It was made for BritBox, though I think in some countries you can watch it via Amazon Prime as well.
What is it, in summary?: Vicar's son Bobby Jones finds a dying man in time to hear his last words, “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” which gets him and an old friend, Lady Frances (Frankie) Derwent, entangled in a mystery. Based on the Agatha Christie novel of the same title.
What do you love about it?: Investigating a murder with your childhood crush is absolutely the vibe I’m here for! Bobby and Frankie have great banter and chemistry and the whole cast is great. In general, I think the series finds a very good balance of being a fun, jaunty mystery while still hitting the serious points when needed. I don’t mind an unrelentingly dark mystery once in a way but there seems to be much more of those out there than is my taste - this series (which was adapted by Hugh Laurie) is more light-hearted and very charming. If you know the book but haven’t seen this series yet I would say it’s a relatively faithful adaptation of the book, with changes that help make it translate better to screen and/or appeal to a modern audience (rather than changes that completely change the original story, like the Miss Marple adaptation of this story in 2009).
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Mostly shipfic for Frankie & Bobby, more character based stuff about their lives/relationship rather than detailed casefic.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: As it’s just a short mini series there isn’t anywhere to cut out. I will say that you don’t need to have also read the book, the series can stand alone.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Being a murder mystery there is death, but you don’t really see the gory details. There are a few instances of violence and I would put a suicide tw on it (both for visuals and discussion).
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Media: TV Mini Series
Approx length: 3 episodes, each about 50 minutes
Where to find it: It was made for BritBox, though I think in some countries you can watch it via Amazon Prime as well.
What is it, in summary?:
Vicar's son Bobby Jones finds a dying man in time to hear his last words, “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” which gets him and an old friend, Lady Frances (Frankie) Derwent, entangled in a mystery. Based on the Agatha Christie novel of the same title.
What do you love about it?:
Investigating a murder with your childhood crush is absolutely the vibe I’m here for! Bobby and Frankie have great banter and chemistry and the whole cast is great. In general, I think the series finds a very good balance of being a fun, jaunty mystery while still hitting the serious points when needed. I don’t mind an unrelentingly dark mystery once in a way but there seems to be much more of those out there than is my taste - this series (which was adapted by Hugh Laurie) is more light-hearted and very charming. If you know the book but haven’t seen this series yet I would say it’s a relatively faithful adaptation of the book, with changes that help make it translate better to screen and/or appeal to a modern audience (rather than changes that completely change the original story, like the Miss Marple adaptation of this story in 2009).
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:
Mostly shipfic for Frankie & Bobby, more character based stuff about their lives/relationship rather than detailed casefic.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: As it’s just a short mini series there isn’t anywhere to cut out. I will say that you don’t need to have also read the book, the series can stand alone.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence):
Being a murder mystery there is death, but you don’t really see the gory details. There are a few instances of violence and I would put a suicide tw on it (both for visuals and discussion).