BritBox To Produce Three Agatha Christie Adaptations As Streamer Doubles Creative & Investment Output

BritBox North America has struck a deal for three Agatha Christie adaptations and is to double its creative and investment output.

Head Emily Powers unveiled the news at this morning’s TCAs, at which point she revealed BritBox is co-producer on ITV’s The Confessions of Frannie Langton and has acquired the same network’s The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe and BBC One’s Martin Freeman-starring The Responder, both of which will be badged BritBox Originals. The BBC Studios/ITV streamer has also ordered a second season of Father Brown spin-off Sister Boniface Mysteries.

The Agatha Christie deal has been struck with Agatha Christie Limited and ITV Studios-backed The Serpent producer Mammoth Screen, and will see the trio of as-yet-unannounced shows produced over the coming years. Endeavor Content will handle international sales outside of the UK, Ireland and the Americas for all three projects.

The adaptations will be steered by a distinctive voice – a director, a writer or auteur – bringing a new perspective and style to the beloved mystery author’s novels, according to BritBox.

The deal is similar to the BBC and Amazon’s partnership with Agatha Christie Limited, which has seen adaptations of the likes of Ordeal By Innocence, And Then There Were None and The ABC Murders, the latter of which featured John Malkovich as Hercule Poirot. That deal will not be impacted by the BritBox deal.

Separately, Hugh Laurie is adapting Christie’s Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? for BritBox, which stars Dopesick’s Will Poulter and has been handed a Spring release date. The show is produced in association with Endeavor Content, which is handling sales outside of the UK, Ireland and the Americas.

Powers said BritBox is to double its creative and investment output on co-productions and originals, although she didn’t reveal budget or number of shows.

“In just a few short years, BritBox has grown to 2M subscribers and we’ve been able to do that by letting our content speak for itself,” said Powers. “We’re not just acquiring hours to boost catalogue, we’ve built out our own commissioning team and are partnering with renowned studios, production companies and talent.”

Also incoming are the two ITV dramas plus The Responder, the police thriller from Fremantle-backed Dancing Ledge Productions that has rated well on BBC One.

Powers was also promoting upcoming series Murder in Provence at a separate TCA panel, along with Stephen Merchant-starring The Barking Murders, another co-production with the BBC.