The BBC has found its Hercule Poirot.
After Deadline revealed last month that the British broadcaster had greenlit a major reimagining of the Agatha Christie detective, the BBC has now confirmed the series — and cast its leading man.
Edward Bluemel, known for his work in Killing Eve and Sex Education, will play Poirot in Hercule. Aged just 33, Bluemel is the youngest actor to embody the famous Belgian sleuth on screen.
The BBC has also confirmed that BritBox will co-produce the Poirot series, meaning it will stream on the BBC Studios-owned service in the U.S.
Watch on Deadline
Deadline understands that there is a three-season commitment to Hercule. This was not confirmed by the BBC or BritBox, but that’s the intention as filming gets underway in Liverpool over the summer.
Here’s the logline: “The series is an intimate study of Hercule the man and an epic portrait of Britain between the wars. The series takes a magnifying glass to three of Christie’s most celebrated stories, while also charting Hercule’s burgeoning friendship with Captain Arthur Hastings, his early encounters with Scotland Yard’s James Japp, and introducing him to one particular nemesis.”
The Poirot reboot is housed at ITV Studios-backed Mammoth Screen, which has a long track record of adapting Christie’s work, having produced BBC series including And Then There Were None and Murder is Easy. Mammoth founder Damien Timmer executive-produced many episodes of Poirot, the David Suchet series that ran for nearly 25 years on ITV.
Responsibility for adapting Christie’s work has fallen to Benji Walters, who has credits on BBC series Noughts + Crosses and spent time developing an adaptation of Brideshead Revisited with Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino in 2020.
Jonny Campbell (Am I Being Unreasonable?) will direct the first two episodes. Charlie Palmer (A Woman Of Substance) is the series producer.
Hercule executive producers are Walters and Campbell; James Prichard for Agatha Christie Limited; Rebecca Durbin and Timmer for Mammoth Screen; Nick Lambon for the BBC; and Robert Schildhouse, Jon Farrar, and Stephen Nye for BritBox. Fifth Season is handling global distribution.
Agatha Christie Limited’s Prichard said: “My father had the privilege of working with David Suchet for nearly 25 years, and I now have the good fortune of being able to share my great grandmother’s brilliant stories with a new generation of viewers.
“Edward Bluemel is an extremely talented performer and will make a great addition to the long line of actors that have played this celebrated character, aided and abetted by Benji Walters’ thoughtful scripts. I cannot wait to see Edward on screen as Hercule Poirot.”
Durbin and Timmer added: “Edward Bluemel and Benji Walters are both extraordinary talents and it is a joy to see them take on this beloved character and make him their own. Hercule is both a love letter to Agatha Christie and a fascinating new perspective on an iconic figure – we hope viewers will find it as arresting as we do.”
BBC drama director Lindsay Salt said Hercule said it was a “privilege” to bring Poirot to the BBC, while Farrar, chief content officer for direct-to-consumer at BBC Studios, added: “This is an ambitious reimagining of one of Christie’s greatest creations.”
Bluemel is no stranger to the world of Christie, having starred in Netflix series Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials earlier this year. His other credits include Belgravia: The Next Chapter and A Discovery of Witches.
Several high-profile actors have portrayed Poirot over the years. British audiences will associate him with David Suchet, but he was played by John Malkovich in the 2018 limited series The ABC Murders (also produced by Mammoth). Kenneth Branagh donned the detective’s distinctive moustache in three movies: Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and A Haunting in Venice.
Hercule will add to BritBox’s embrace of Christie. The streamer is also planning to bring crime-fighting couple Tommy and Tuppence back to TV in Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence.