It’s fair to say that Agatha Christie was a genius when it came to writing murder mysteries – something the plethora of novels to her name will attest to. And because of the sheer number of books that she wrote, we’ve been lucky enough to witness countless TV adaptations of her novels.
Now it’s the turn of Agatha Christie's 1929 book The Seven Dials Mystery and for the first time ever, Netflix are behind the adaptation. Naturally we’re hoping that means a big budget. And to be fair, from what we’ve seen so far of the star-studded cast list, costumes and filming locations, the streaming service has put that money to good use.
What is Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials about?
Let’s head back in time to 1925. We’re at a lavish masked party at Chimneys – a stunning country house in England – that’s attended by the crème de la crème of the British elite. However, the discovery of a body naturally ruins the festivities, especially when Lady Eileen ‘Bundle’ Brent (Mia McKenna-Bruce) comes to suspect that the death was unnatural and starts investigating.
What is the meaning behind a letter written by the deceased before their death? And why were seven clocks found arranged on the mantelpiece in the room where the body was discovered?
Who stars in Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials?
Mia McKenna-Bruce as Lady Eileen ‘Bundle’ Brent
Introducing her character, Mia McKenna-Bruce shares, ‘Bundle has an answer for everything and a love of words, so she really knows how to use her words and how to get what she wanted. The other thing I love about Bundle is the way she is with people. There's no real way to describe her, she just is this piece of magic that bounces about, that everyone loves and everyone listens to.’
After making her acting debut in 2008 in an episode of Small Dark Places as Ester, Mia McKenna-Bruce shot to fame as Tee Taylor in Tracy Beaker Returns (2010-2012) and The Dumping Ground (2013-2018).
Other notable TV roles of Mia’s include Bree Deringer in Get Even (2020) and Mia Karp in Vampire Academy (2022), but her biggest role to date was playing Tara in How To Have Sex (2023). For the role Mia won the BAFTA Rising Star.
Helena Bonham Carter as Lady Caterham
‘Lady Caterham is governed by the loss of her husband and son,’ details Helena. ‘She’s psychologically very fragile and spends a lot of her time gardening. She’s forced into the situation of responsibility and has to act as man of the house. Bundle is all she has and she relies on her heavily.’
A hugely prolific actress, Helena Bonham Carter received her first major acting nomination in 1992 for her role in the film Howards End – a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. This was followed by a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role and a nomination for the Best Actress Academy Award for her role as Kate Croy in The Wings of the Dove (1997). Eventually Helena won the BAFTA for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for playing Queen Elizabeth in The King’s Speech (2010).
And Helena has been just as lauded for her TV work winning the Emmy Award for Best Actress in 2010 for playing Enid Blyton in Enid. She also received a BAFTA nomination for that role, as well as for playing Elizabeth Taylor in Burton & Taylor (2014), Princess Margaret in The Crown (2019-2020) and Noele Gordon in Nolly (2023).
Martin Freeman as Superintendent Battle
The character of Superintendent Battle actually appears in multiple Agatha Christie novels. He’s described as having good sense – although not quite as much as our protagonist Bundle - and an impressive moustache.
Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials boasts quite the cast list, so you’ll not be surprised to know that Martin Freeman has starred in plenty of our favourite TV series over the years. He played Tim Canterbury in The Office (2001-2003), Dr. John Watson in Sherlock (2010-2017), Lester Nygaard in Fargo (2014-2015), Paul Worsley in Breeders (2020-2023) and PC Chris Carson in The Responder (2022-2024).
Film-wise, you may also recognise Martin from Love Actually (2003) in which he played John, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005) in which he played Arthur Dent, Nativity! (2009) in which he played Paul Maddens, What’s Your Number? (2011) in which he played Simon, The Hobbit franchise (2012-2014) in which he played Bilbo Baggins and even the Marvel universe thanks to Black Panther (2018) in which he played Everett K. Ross.
Corey Mylchreest as Gerry Wade
An attendee of the high-end party at Chimneys, Gerry Wade is a young Foreign Officer worker who’s always late thanks to his habit of oversleeping.
Corey Mylchreest shot to fame when he played Young George III in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story and he’s been a regular on Netflix ever since. As well as the upcoming Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials, in 2025 Corey appeared as Jamie Davenport in My Oxford Year and in Hostage as Matheo Lewis.
Nabhaan Rizwan as Ronnie Deveruex
A friend of Gerry Wade thanks to his work in the Foreign Office, Ronnie Deveruex is another guest at the party.
The brother of actor and writer Mawaan Rizwan, Nabhaan Rizwan made his acting debut in 2018 with Raza Shar in Informer. This was followed by his role as Tim Das in The Accident (2019), Hari Dhar in Industry (2020), Frank Chaudhary in Station Eleven (2021-2022), Isaac Jamshidi in Juice (2023-present), Dionysus in Kaos (2024), Noa in Film Club (2025) and Silas Huxley in Dope Girls (2025). He sure knows how to pick a good project!
Ed Bluemel as Jimmy Thesinger
Lovely rogue Jimmy Thesinger is another guest at the Chimneys house party.
Film-wise you may recognise Ed Bluemel from How to Build a Girl (2019) in which he played Strange Cages Manager, and Persuasion (2022) in which he played Captain Harville.
You’ll also probably recognise Ed from his many TV roles including Toby Hamilton in The Halcyon (2017), Marcus Whitmore in A Discovery of Witches (2018-2022), Hugo in Killing Eve (2019-2022), Sean Wiley in Sex Education (2019-2023), Luke in Ten Percent (2022), Dr. Stephen Ellerby in Belgravia: The Next Chapter (2024), Lord Guilford Dudley in My Lady Jane (2024) and Levi in We Might Regret This (2024).
Where was Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials filmed?
Thanks to that big Netflix budget, the filming of Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials took the cast all over the UK.
Chimneys is actually Badminton House in Badminton, whilst the Seven Dials Nightclub is Bristol Barrel House – the inside that is because the outside is in London’s All Saints Street. Corn Market meanwhile served as Battle’s office, Cardiff Crown Court as Market Basing Train Station and The Ox restaurant as Bon Temps Restaurant.
When does Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials air?
Start your binge-watching on Thursday 15 January when the series arrives on Netflix.
Daisy Hall became a writer for TVChoice after realising that she could make a career out of her incredible ability to extensively name an actor's credits when they randomly pop up in whatever she's watching. Her friends find it infuriating, but hopefully you find it useful!