And Then There Were None is a 2015 mystery thriller television series that was first broadcast on BBC One from 26 to 28 December 2015. The three-part programme was adapted by Sarah Phelps and directed by Craig Viveiros and is based on Agatha Christie's 1939 novel of the same name. The series features an ensemble cast, including Douglas Booth, Charles Dance, Maeve Dermody, Burn Gorman, Anna Maxwell Martin, Sam Neill, Miranda Richardson, Toby Stephens, Noah Taylor, and Aidan Turner. The programme follows a group of strangers who are invited to an isolated island where they are murdered one by one for their past crimes.
The drama, debuting to 6 million viewers, received critical acclaim with many praising the writing, performances, and cinematography. It also scored high ratings.
In late August 1939, eight individuals previously unknown to each other arrive on Soldier Island, a fictional, isolated island situated off the coast of Devon, England. They have been invited under various pretexts by a "Mr and Mrs Owen".
Upon arrival at the islandâÂÂs house, the guests discover that their hosts are absent, and they are welcomed by the recently hired caretakers, Thomas and Ethel Rogers. At dinner, the guests observe a table centrepiece comprising ten stylised Art Deco figurines, apparently representing ten soldiers.
After the meal, a gramophone recording is played and an anonymous voice accuses each person present of having committed a murder. Soon afterwards, one of the guests dies from poisoning, followed by a series of further deaths. Each murder mirrors a line from a rhyme displayed in the bedrooms; and with every death, a figurine is removed from the centrepiece.
And Then There Were None was commissioned by Ben Stephenson and Charlotte Moore for the BBC to mark the 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth. The adaptation was produced by Mammoth Screen in partnership with Agatha Christie Productions.
Writer Sarah Phelps told the BBC that she was shocked by the starkness and brutality of the novel. Comparing the novel to Christie's other work, she stated, "Within the Marple and Poirot stories somebody is there to unravel the mystery, and that gives you a sense of safety and security, of predicting what is going to happen next... In this book that doesn't happen â no one is going to come to save you, absolutely nobody is coming to help or rescue or interpret."
Maeve Dermody was cast two days before the read through of the script and was in Myanmar at the time. She flew to the UK to begin work with a dialect coach and read the book in the first two weeks of filming.
Filming began in July 2015. Cornwall was used for many of the harbour and beach scenes, including Holywell Bay, Kynance Cove, and Mullion Cove. Harefield House in Hillingdon, outside London, served as the location for the island mansion. Production designer Sophie Beccher decorated the house in the style of 1930s designers like Syrie Maugham and Elsie de Wolfe. The below stairs and kitchen scenes were shot at Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire. Railway scenes were filmed at the South Devon Railway between Totnes and Buckfastleigh.
And Then There Were None received critical acclaim and was a ratings success for the BBC, with the first episode netting over 6 million viewers and becoming the second most watched programme on Boxing Day. Each of the two subsequent episodes netted over 5 million viewers.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, And Then There Were None has an approval rating of 86% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "Dark yet dashingly executed, And Then There Were None offers a brazenly misanthropic look at human nature."
Ben Dowell of the Radio Times gave a positive review. Jasper Reese for The Daily Telegraph gave the first episode 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a "pitch-black psychological thriller as teasing murder mystery" and "spiffingly watchable".
Reviewing the first episode, UK daily newspaper The Guardians Sam Wollaston noted, "[...] it also manages to be loyal, not just in plot but in spirit as well. I think the queen of crime would approve. I certainly do. Mass murder rarely gets as fun as this." Reviewing the final episode for The Daily Telegraph, Tim Martin gave it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a "class act", and praising the adaptation for highlighting the darkness of Christie's novel, which he claimed no previous adaptation had attempted.
And Then There Were None was the first in a series of Christie adaptations scripted by Sarah Phelps for the BBC. The further instalments consisted of: The Witness for the Prosecution (2016), Ordeal by Innocence (2018), The ABC Murders (2018) and The Pale Horse (2020).