Created by Chris Chibnall (Doctor Who, Broadchurch) and directed by Chris Sweeney (Back to Life, The Tourist, Apples Never Fall), this British three-part miniseries is based on Christie’s 1929 novel The Mystery of the Seven Dials. Mia McKenna-Bruce stars as Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent, who lives with her mother, Lady Caterham (Helena Bonham Carter), on their sprawling but aged estate. After a supposed suicide at a party, Bundle finds herself in the middle of a dangerous murder mystery. (three 52- to 56-min. episodes)
AGATHA CHRISTIE’S SEVEN DIALS
What’s it rated? TV-14
What’s it worth, Anna? Full price
What’s it worth, Glen? Full price
Where’s it showing? Netflix
Glen This old fashioned mystery moves between 1920 and the death of Lord Caterham (Iain Glen) and 1925 at the Caterham estate where Lady Caterham (Helena Bonham Carter) has rented out her house and grounds and is reluctantly overseeing a party thrown by steel Magnate Sir Oswald Coote (Mark Lewis Jones), who’s trying to secure a secret government contract. Caterham’s daughter, the precocious Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent, makes romantic plans with Gerry Wade (Corey Mylchreest), a friend of her late brother and one of the many overnight guests from Foreign Office, but by morning, all hell has broken loose when Gerry’s body is discovered alongside sleeping medication, suggesting suicide. What follows is Bundle getting in over her head as she tries to unravel the mystery. It’s full of twists, reveals, and red herrings, and its period setting is charming as heck.
Anna It takes place in a time of propriety, wealth, and class status where estates are sprawling and servants are plentiful—at least for the upper echelon, like the Cootes. Lady Caterham is vastly annoyed with having others invade her home, but without her husband around anymore, she must find ways to keep the estate in the black. Bundle is plucky and charming, a young woman who is “one of the boys” alongside the young men her age—Ronny (Nabhaan Rizwan), Jimmy (Edward Bluemel), Bill (Hughie O’Donnel), and sweet Gerry. Despite everyone around her discouraging her inquiries, Bundle refuses to accept that Gerry made a fatal mistake or took his own life. Christie is such a great twisty mystery writer, and Seven Dials is a classic piece of work from the author, brought to the screen brilliantly by this cast.
Glen The always welcome Martin Freeman stars as Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard, who’s also dissuading Bundle from prying into the case. He knows there’s more afoot than the death of a young man. Without giving anything important away, the case involves the invention of a metal-strengthening formula that has widespread military applications, a secret society that meets at a seedy London nightclub called the Seven Dials, and a retribution plot against the British government. It wouldn’t be an Agatha Christie story without a lot of byzantine plotting and hairpin twists and turns. I had no clue who did it, but my wife—Little Miss Mystery and Crime Lover and avowed Murderino—had her suspicions. Give it a watch and see if you can figure it out.
Anna It can be pretty hard to find a twisty turn I don’t see coming, but my inkling toward the ending didn’t ruin the series at all. Instead, it just left me hanging on tighter to see if my suspicions were right. McKenna-Bruce as Bundle is undeniably charming, and Freeman as Superintendent Battle also gives a winning performance. The two end up reluctantly working together to find the answer to the Seven Dials and who is the mastermind behind it all. At around three hours, this miniseries is a good watch without getting too drawn out, the action stays tight, and the luscious, rich atmosphere of 1920s English elite lifestyle is nothing but pleasant to watch. You’ll likely want to do what we did and binge this all in one night. ∆
Arts Editor Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Split Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 5, 2026.