How Chris Chibnall Cracked the Code for Netflix’s Agatha Christie Adaptation ‘Seven Dials’

Chris Chibnall has an esteemed history of working on some of the most acclaimed British TV shows, whether that’s being the showrunner of cult sci-fi Doctor Who or writing crime drama Broadchurch. His latest drama, Seven Dials, adapts the novel of the same name by the ‘Queen of Crime’ herself, Agatha Christie. The short and stylish, 3-part drama is less of a one-to-one adaptation and angles itself as a reimagining of the 1929 story. It takes creative liberties, and Chibnall changes things to make it work coherently as a modern, serialised drama. We caught up with Chibnall over email following the launch of Seven Dials.

Set in the 1920s, Seven Dials begins at an English country mansion called the Chimneys. The story picks up at a lavish, glamorous house party at the stately home, hosted by Sir Oswald Coote and his wife, Lady Coote, and attended by the guests of Chimneys’ owner, Lord Caterham. There, the handsome and much desirable Gerry Wade (Corey Mylchreest) flirts with Bundle —  Caterham’s daughter — hinting at a possible matrimony. However, the next morning, when everyone wakes up still exhausted following the night before, Bundle finds herself rather shocked to learn that Gerry Wade appears to have overslept. This is particularly strange given that seven alarm clocks rang in his bedroom.

Turns out, Wade’s slumber is not as it seems. He died in the night, or worse yet, was killed, as Bundle believes. This sets her on a steadfast and ardent quest to find the killer of her future fiancée, helped out by companions Ronnie Devereux (Nabhaan Rizwan) and Jimmy Thesiger (Edward Bluemel). But the deeper she dives into the case, the more dangerous it becomes.

“I read a lot of Agatha Christie as a teenager — she was one of the authors who made reading such a pleasurable and addictive activity early on in my life,” Chibnall explains. “So when I was asked if I had any interest in adapting her work, I jumped at the chance.”

Once adapting a work of Agatha Christie was set in place, the task was finding a story. There’s a glut of them; Agatha Christie published over 60 novels. “I then (re-)read a lot of novels and short stories,” he said. “Of the ones I read this time round, The Seven Dials Mystery jumped out at me.”

“First of all, it’s all the things people love about Agatha Christie, but with lots of things in addition. It’s not just a one-location whodunnit (though the mystery of who killed Gerry Wade is the mystery spine), it’s an on-the-move rollicking conspiracy thriller. It’s also incredibly funny, which is not something one automatically associates with Agatha Christie. It’s full of great characters — bright young things as well as older generations. But most of all, it has this incredible central character of Bundle, or Lady Eileen Brent. She zings off the page, yet she’s been rather neglected for the past century. She spoke to me immediately, and we all felt the same. To bring Bundle into the heart of modern popular culture via Netflix felt irresistible.”

Picture Credit: Netflix

Of course, Agatha Christie fans have already seen myriad adaptations of her work, whether that’s Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, and so on. The Netflix series marks only the third time we’ve seen Bundle in live-action. “As for why now, first of all, Bundle is an incredibly dynamic central character, and I think she speaks to everyone.” But also, the story reflects our modern world. “Secondly, it’s full of echoes and resonances with now. The show is in 1925, a few years after the Spanish Flu pandemic, the shadow of conflict hangs over society, and people are trying to figure out (and vie for supremacy) in the coming world.”

Adapting a story by an author as renowned and coveted as Christie comes with its own unique set of challenges, but striking the right balance was the most important thing to keep intact. “Keeping all the aspects in balance — particularly getting the tone right,” he said. “I wanted the audience to really care and feel for these characters, to get a sense of their emotional lives, while also wanting to preserve the witty, sparking, rollicking tone. It’s a mad story, but it also needed to feel grounded in some ways. We all wanted to honour what Agatha Christie wrote, and the essence of the novel, while finding the right voice and pace for Netflix audiences now.

As for which scene was particularly difficult to get right, one stands out above the rest, “When I first wrote the opening sequence of a character being gored in a bullring (which isn’t in the novel), I merrily wrote “Ronda, Spain, 1920” and then a dialogue-free action sequence that I imagined to be like an opening sequence from a Connery-era Bond film. I had no idea if or how we could achieve it. But every department, and mainly our super director Chris Sweeney, were on board with making it happen — and we did.” 

Chibnall’s version of Seven Dials reimagines the original work — some parts change, others remain untouched. “The main thing was to tell the story from Bundle’s point of view. The novel is mainly but not exclusively from her point of view. So that was the main driver — to put her front and centre for every minute of the show. Once I’d made that decision, other changes come from it. For example, in the novel Bundle gets knocked out and the men solve the mystery. I didn’t want that to happen to hour lead character. That also gave me the opportunity to put the denouement on a train (in the novel they return to the Seven Dials club for the reveal of the whodunnit), which is a nod to Christie in other ways. We wanted the show to always feel like the essence of Christie, in every moment.”

Given the 3-episode run (relatively short compared to other Netflix limited series), some of the original story was trimmed. “I chose three parts as the structure because it felt right to me. There are a few sections of the book we didn’t have time for. Bundle has a delightful scene with her aunt in the novel, but it didn’t quite propel the narrative along on screen, and a few more characters — but it’s a big ensemble even without them. Mostly we tried to get as much of the novel in as we could.”

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In our review, we rhapsodised at length about Mia McKenna Bruce’s portrayal of Bundle; she’s bursting with energy, and it’s an all-around electrifying performance. Suffice to say, Chibnall was impressed too. “I love Bundle’s energy, wit, her warmth and humour. What Mia brought was herself — she showed us who Bundle was, a 1920s character for 2026 audiences. It’s not in any way an old-fashioned reading of the part — her performance is an incredible mix of vintage and modern. I love that people are responding to her so wonderfully.”

Chris Chibnall is ready for more adaptations

Chris Chibnall is best known for his original storytelling — as we’ve mentioned, he took the reins of Doctor Who, and also wrote Broadchurch. The latter certainly helped him in developing Seven Dials. “It was a big influence, but then Broadchurch was influenced by Agatha Christie in the first place, so I feel like I’m repaying the debt,” he said. “Broadchurch taught me how to build that long-form mystery narrative over multiple episodes with multiple strands, and there’s lots of that in Seven Dials.”

After Seven Dials, he’s ready to explore more adaptations. “Yes, definitely! There’s a long list! I’ve loved doing an adaptation. It’s taken me a long time to say yes to doing one, and now I’ve really caught the bug.”

Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials is now streaming on Netflix.