Wiip Sets Up TV Series On Teenage Years Of Agatha Christie

EXCLUSIVE: Former ABC chief Paul Lee’s independent studio wiip is developing a TV series exploring the teenage years of Agatha Christie, the iconic British crime writer behind genre-defining characters including Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

Wiip has enlisted UK writers Rebecca Pollock and Kas Graham, who penned Ruth Wilson feature The Book Of Ruth, to work up the series, which will tell the story of how a precocious teenager mourning her father’s death became one of the most prolific and beloved mystery novelists of all time.

Set in the early 1900s in Devon, England, Pollock and Graham are planning on writing an action-packed drama, which will be titled Young Agatha. They said it would be a “dynamic and supercharged coming-of-age story” that would offer an “empowering and adventurous take on how she became the greatest mystery writer in history.”

The writing duo’s other credits include 2019 script Betty Ford, which appeared on The Black List and was optioned by Ryan Murphy with Sarah Paulson attached. They are also developing a ViacomCBS International Studios series on Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga, while an action-thriller feature is in development for Sugar 23/Netflix.

Young Agatha will be executive produced by Pollock and Graham alongside wiip’s Lee, David Flynn and Josh Stern. Commenting on Pollock and Graham’s involvement, Flynn and Stern said: “They are wonderfully equipped to honor the legacy and spirit of Agatha Christie and at the same time have found a deeply modern and inventive way into her story.”

It is the second iconic literary project that wiip has set up this year after we revealed in January that the company optioned the rights to Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan’s 1984 stage show.

Pollock and Graham are repped by CAA, Kaplan/Perrone, Independent Talent, and JAB Management. Their deal was brokered by Joel VanderKloot of Vanderkloot Law, and Lauren Fox of CAA.