Witness for the Prosecution, BBC1: cast, locations, and four other things to know about the Agatha Christie drama

The team behind And Then There Were None are back with another adaptation
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Ben Travis26 December 2016

One of the biggest treats of last year’s Christmas TV schedule was And Then There Were None.

The Agatha Christie adaptation gave us a stellar cast (including Aidan Turner looking more James Bond-ready than ever) with a thrilling, compelling, and dark mystery.

Now the team behind that drama are back with another Christie story: The Witness for the Prosecution.

Here are six things you need to know.

1) It’s a murder mystery

Obviously. This is Agatha Christie after all.

The victim is the glamorous Emily French, killed in a 1920s London townhouse. The evidence suggests Leonard Vole is behind the murder – the man who will legally receive her glittering fortune.

While French’s housekeeper claims Vole is guilty, he has an alibi in the form of chorus girl Romaine.

2) The cast is seriously impressive

There are some big name actors assembled for Witness for the Prosecution – playing French is Kim Cattrall, of Sex and the City fame, while the prolific Toby Jones plays Leonard Vole’s lawyer John Mayhew.

Andrea Riseborough is Romaine, while David Haig plays Sir Charles Carter.

Playing Vole is Billy Howle – a fairly new face, but he looks set to become a household name any time now.

3) It’s all about the after-effects of war

The story is set in 1923, five years after the end of the First World War – which still looms large in the characters’ minds.

“Everyone is in shock and picking up the pieces,” explains Toby Jones. “Not just externally in society but internally and personally; physiologically everyone is reconstructing themselves and trying to establish what was broken.

“It’s those spirits that haunt the events of this film. It’s the ghost of war and all the effects of it.”

4) It was filmed in Liverpool

As with many dramas set in period London, Witness for the Prosecution was actually filmed in Liverpool, which has architecture that resembles the capital back in the day.

“Weirdly Liverpool is much better at being London than London because there are so many buildings that have been preserved,” says director Julian Jarrold. “So much of London has been modernised and steamcleaned.”

BBC/Milk

5) Kim Catrall considers her character to be feminist

The Sex and the City actress says Emily French is ‘very much a feminist’ – and is self-directed about what she wants.

“First of all she goes out at night hoping to find exciting partners and new friendships,” she explains. “When she meets this gorgeous, vulnerable young man [Leonard Vole] he is different from anyone around her and her interest is piqued.

“This is not simply about an older woman preying on a younger man, it’s more than just her gratification; she wants an adventure.”

Christmas TV Highlights 2016 - in pictures

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6) There’s more Christie to come

Witness for the Prosecution is only two episodes long – but there are plenty of Christie adaptations coming to the BBC in the next few years.

There are seven more Christie stories coming to TV in the next four years – including Ordeal by Innocence, Death Comes as the End, and The ABC Murders.

BBC One, Boxing Day, 9pm

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