Last Updated on September 12, 2025
“I like a good detective story,” opines lawyer Frederick Treves in BritBox’s new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Towards Zero” (2025), the story surrounding a recently divorced British tennis player holidaying at his aristocratic aunt’s house on the south coast of England, “but you know, they… begin with the murder. The murder is the end.”
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Indeed, the enjoyment of “Towards Zero” lies in the slow anticipation built over three episodes of this limited series, as the characters dance around each other and move inexorably towards the promised murder. There’s a satisfying explanation waiting for mystery purists at the end of the series, and viewers will luxuriate in the character-driven drama along the way.
Agatha Christie’s Towards Zero (2025) is AVAILABLE to STREAM
Starring Ella Lily Hyland, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Anjana Vasan, Mimi Keene, Anjelica Huston, Matthew Rhys.
3 episodes, rated TV-MA. Watch the trailer below.
Agatha Christie was known for infusing the classic detective story with a fresh perspective (see our reviews of “Crooked House” and “Murder on the Orient Express” for just two examples), and her 1944 novel Towards Zero is no exception. This psychological mystery set in the 1930s opens as tennis star Nevile Strange (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) battles his wife Audrey (Ella Lily Hyland) in a high-profile divorce court hearing. The two grew up together at Gull’s Point, raised by Lady Tressilian (Anjelica Huston) and her late husband, and theirs has always been a volatile relationship. But for Audrey, things have gone too far.
Forced to admit to his dalliance with beautiful Kay (Mimi Keene), Nevile grants Audrey her divorce and immediately marries Kay. So far, so scandalous. But when Audrey pays her annual visit to Lady Tressilian at the end of the summer, Nevile changes his own plans so that he and his new bride can honeymoon at Gull’s Point at the exact same time—with his ex-wife.
Nevile and Audrey explain away this arrangement as trying to be friends, though Lady Tressilian suspects otherwise. “It’s a very delicious set-up,” says Jackson-Cohen. “[You’re] not really sure of anyone’s intentions, or what anyone’s game is that they’re playing.” Audrey and Nevile are stuck in a “co-dependent and toxic” relationship that slowly unravels as the series progresses. Adds Hyland, “They’re accustomed to this ancient game that they’ve been playing since they were kids, so they’re kind of operating subconsciously in that way, which is fascinating.”
Kay, meanwhile, is unwilling to abandon the power she’s just grasped in marrying Nevile. “She wants to be seen and heard, she wants to draw attention and get to the front and get all the experiences that she can, because she’s been sort of deprived of that growing up,” explains Keene.
To make matters even worse, Lady Tressilian’s mousy companion, Mary Aldin (Anjana Vasan), secretly orchestrates the return of Thomas Royde (Jack Farthing), who’s been banned from Gull’s Point for unknown reasons. Add to this Nevile’s worryingly violent driver Mac (Adam Hugill), the family lawyer Treves (Clarke Peters) and his kleptomaniac ward Sylvia (Grace Doherty), and you have a recipe for an incredibly awkward vacation that, yes, eventually turns towards murder.
Presiding over the crime scene is Inspector Leach (Matthew Rhys), likely the most worn-out, beaten-down detective ever to grace the small screen. Rhys admirably carries the investigative scenes as he questions the suspects and begins to think that all is not as it seems at Gull’s Point. Nearly everyone has something to hide, and the three-episode runtime allows the period drama to delve further into the backstories of nearly all the characters.
Even Mary Aldin, beleaguered companion to Lady Tressilian, holds her own cards close to her chest. Trapped at Gull’s Point, she “wants to get out, but she doesn’t know what she wants,” says Vasan of her character. Ironically, the tense house party offers her new opportunities, and we spend much of the series wondering if she’ll turn on her employer or seize romance with Thomas Royde.
While writer Rachel Bennette changes some of the plot twists of Christie’s novel for the television series, it’s largely in service of exploring the characters in greater depth, and she maintains the spirit of the original. “Towards Zero” is a tense, well-acted escape to the South Devon coast, and fans of the golden age of crime will enjoy this adaptation of Christie’s work.
Watch “Towards Zero” (2025) Now
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Abby Murphy writes young adult books about girls discovering their strengths. A member of SCBWI and The Historical Novel Society, she is represented by Laura Crockett of Triada US Literary Agency. You can visit her blog here, where she writes about reading, writing, history, and her incurable Anglophilia.
If you enjoyed this post, you’ll want to wander over to The Period Films List. You’ll also want to see our list of period dramas currently on BritBox. You’ll also like Movie vs. Book: Crooked House and our list of Best British TV Period Mystery Adaptations Based on Books.