IR TV Review: AGATHA CHRISTIE’S SEVEN DIALS [Netflix]
The aspect of a mystery in the old school has been examined in recent memory with an approach like Kenneth Branagh or the "Knives Out" series. But in using "Agatha Christie's Seven Dials", the storytelling is taken back with a more simplistic and a lightness of touch (though without a Hallmark schmaltziness). This three episode series here looks like it was picked up by Netflix after its run in Europe but that could be incorrect. It is led by the charming (if not babyfaced) Mia McKenna-Bruce (who is actually in her early to mid 20s) who takes on the role of Bundle, an err-go-lucky but focused daughter of a house so led by her powerful if not offset mother Lady Caterman played by Helena Bonham Carter. Carter as always plays her characters with an aloofness until the times get dicey.
Bundle watches after one of her mother's parties when a certain paramour of hers (likely to propose) turns up dead but surrounded by seven clocks set at 7. She believes there is a bigger conspiracy as to why he died (it was set around a prank which someone took advantage of). Bundle tries to enlist one of her other male pals (they all seem to work for intelligence) to help her get to the bottom of the problem. There is a back story of what her father may or may not have done in service or against the country. The show actually begins with a very pointed prologue sequence of what happens to her father in Madrid. Bundle doesn't like taking no for an answer and, in probably a shock move for her day, continually tries to figure out what is going on.
A drive into London (and some neat period cars) really sets the big stage for what we are seeing (some exceptional effects of turn of the century London were realized by the Double Negative VFX house). As the aspect builds, it is finding the trust Bundle richly craves that gets lost in her search. Martin Freeman enters as Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard to investigate but there always seems something off about him, as if he was under someone's purview. This relates in Bundle's cousin who always seems to be there to lend credence and an ear to her conspiracy theories while not really fully getting involved. Battle warns Bundle off but she is not to be thwarted, McKenna-Bruce plays Bundle with such a sunny disposition but the great thing is that the viewer knows she is thinking things through but not with a vindictiveness but with an empathy at her heart and yet it doesn't feel forced. It is only when it builds to the climax (which quickly comes in three episodes), that she feels the sting of betrayal. She has lost her trust but the question is does it play to a bigger thought process? Bundle, like Nancy Drew, has that great intention while not losing her spirit and who she is...but also not being so coy as to not be vulnerable in the same keystone. Bonham Carter as her mother reminds her of that later on, that they might not be what they seem but the truth of them does come through. B+
By Tim Wassberg
