Big Difference #1: The Character and Actions of Mark Easterbrook
Perhaps the biggest difference between the two works is the depiction of the main character, Mark Easterbrook (played on the show by Rufus Sewell). In the book, he’s an avuncular sort of fellow, flummoxed to find that a few people he knows are on the mysterious murder list. Speaking of the list, his name is most notably not on the list in the book, though a few of his acquaintances are. And speaking of acquaintances, he’s not currently married in the book or sleeping with the young Thomasina, one of the first people to die. He also—and again, major spoiler warning here!—isn’t currently married and hasn’t murdered his first wife. Christie’s Easterbrook is an amateur sleuth at best, sometimes wooed in by the three witches’ theatrical hocus pocus, and at a bit of a loss without the help of Inspector Lejeune and Ginger—a new friend of his who joins him in trying to solve the case.
Big Difference #3: The Ending
The show’s ending is anything but happy—to start, there’s no Ginger for Easterbrook to happily end up with. In fact, the audience hates Easterbrook by the end, when it’s revealed that he killed his first wife, was cheating on his second, and pretty much only cares about himself when those around him are dying. And while the person behind the murders is basically the same—the over-eager Osborne is the head of the operation in both works—the final few minutes of the show are anything but satisfying or happy. On the show, Easterbrook ends up killing Osborne and burning his place down (he’s merely arrested by Lejeune in the book). Easterbrook then stumbles back to his apartment in a crazed daze, and picks up a newspaper emblazoned with the headline that’s he’s died a horrible death. And then he sees his dead first wife standing in front of him and moans the words, “Please, not again,” before the credits come up. What does that mean exactly? Has he officially gone mad? Are ghosts actually real? And what in the world is that final word, “again,” all about—him tired of having the same dream of her death over and over? Did he die in that fire and this is now his personal hell? Whatever the answer, one thing is certain: the ending for Easterbrook is definitely not happy.
Big Difference #4: There’s No Agatha Christie-like Character on the Show
One of the most delightful characters in the book is Mrs. Oliver, a well-known mystery writer who hates making public appearance and is struggling to resolve her current mystery masterpiece. Mrs. Oliver is, of course, a thinly veiled stand-in for Agatha Christie, and her quips and constant berating of Easterbrook brings levity to an already fairly lighthearted murder mystery. Given the serious tone of the mini-series, it’s understandable why the character of Mrs. Oliver was left on the cutting room floor. For Agatha Christie fans, however, she is a character to be missed, that little bit of flair that makes for a signature Agatha Christie book.
By Vanessa Armstrong/March 9, 2020 10:00 am EST
Big Difference #1: The Character and Actions of Mark Easterbrook
Perhaps the biggest difference between the two works is the depiction of the main character, Mark Easterbrook (played on the show by Rufus Sewell). In the book, he’s an avuncular sort of fellow, flummoxed to find that a few people he knows are on the mysterious murder list. Speaking of the list, his name is most notably not on the list in the book, though a few of his acquaintances are. And speaking of acquaintances, he’s not currently married in the book or sleeping with the young Thomasina, one of the first people to die. He also—and again, major spoiler warning here!—isn’t currently married and hasn’t murdered his first wife. Christie’s Easterbrook is an amateur sleuth at best, sometimes wooed in by the three witches’ theatrical hocus pocus, and at a bit of a loss without the help of Inspector Lejeune and Ginger—a new friend of his who joins him in trying to solve the case.
Big Difference #2: The Show Doesn’t Have Ginger, the Young Woman Who’s Actually Competent at Figuring Things Out
Big Difference #3: The Ending
The show’s ending is anything but happy—to start, there’s no Ginger for Easterbrook to happily end up with. In fact, the audience hates Easterbrook by the end, when it’s revealed that he killed his first wife, was cheating on his second, and pretty much only cares about himself when those around him are dying. And while the person behind the murders is basically the same—the over-eager Osborne is the head of the operation in both works—the final few minutes of the show are anything but satisfying or happy. On the show, Easterbrook ends up killing Osborne and burning his place down (he’s merely arrested by Lejeune in the book). Easterbrook then stumbles back to his apartment in a crazed daze, and picks up a newspaper emblazoned with the headline that’s he’s died a horrible death. And then he sees his dead first wife standing in front of him and moans the words, “Please, not again,” before the credits come up. What does that mean exactly? Has he officially gone mad? Are ghosts actually real? And what in the world is that final word, “again,” all about—him tired of having the same dream of her death over and over? Did he die in that fire and this is now his personal hell? Whatever the answer, one thing is certain: the ending for Easterbrook is definitely not happy.
Big Difference #4: There’s No Agatha Christie-like Character on the Show
One of the most delightful characters in the book is Mrs. Oliver, a well-known mystery writer who hates making public appearance and is struggling to resolve her current mystery masterpiece. Mrs. Oliver is, of course, a thinly veiled stand-in for Agatha Christie, and her quips and constant berating of Easterbrook brings levity to an already fairly lighthearted murder mystery. Given the serious tone of the mini-series, it’s understandable why the character of Mrs. Oliver was left on the cutting room floor. For Agatha Christie fans, however, she is a character to be missed, that little bit of flair that makes for a signature Agatha Christie book.
