Sparks Fly in Modern-Day ‘Tommy & Tuppence’
Opposites attract — and solve murders — in this romantic whodunit that brings mystery novel queen Agatha Christie 's beloved daredevil British detectives Tommy and Tuppence Beresford into the 21stcentury. So, just how scary and sexy does the streaming version of Tommy & Tuppence get?
"Extreme end of the spectrum. 10 out of 10 on both," promises Josh Dylan ( The Buccaneers ), who plays Tommy, a successful but stalled crime novelist. "10 out of 10!" agrees Antonia Thomas ( The Good Doctor ), whose Tuppence is a struggling actress. Not exactly Christie's T&T, a flat-broke lieutenant and nurse looking to make a buck after WWI.
Fireworks are literally going off when these modern thirtysomethings, who were lovers in college and haven't seen each other in years, collide in the first of six episodes. They're at an extravagant Alice in Wonderland-themed wedding at an English country mansion. He's snapping pics for his friend, the groom. She's taking a break from L.A., rethinking her marriage to a Hollywood hotshot, and helping a caterer friend.
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"Sparks are flying from the get-go," says Dylan. Their relationship might have ended, but the passion never died. "There's a lot of unfinished business between them," says Thomas.
As is the case with many great loves, they were never a perfect pair. Like Christie's originals, Tuppence is bold; Tommy is methodical. "Tuppence walks into a room and changes the energy. She's sunshine and impulse and instinct," Dylan says. Thomas says of Tommy: "He's more cautious."
On that first night, before you can say "re-meet cute" Tuppence is horrified to encounter a party guest who has been stabbed. Before dying, the victim gives her a clue to the attacker's identity. The police charge someone Tommy and Tuppence believe to be innocent, so they try to solve the case.
Tommy's well-appointed apartment in upscale Hampstead becomes crime-board-central. "We are two haphazard idiots at the beginning who stumble into [detective work] with a lot of goodwill and good intentions," Dylan says. They're also stumbling over their desire for each other. As they make up Tommy's guest bed for Tuppence the night of the stabbing, the tension is tighter than a fitted sheet — but you'll have to wait until midway through the series to see just how hot and heavy things can get between them.
Luckily, they keep their cool (mostly) on the crime side. Helping them out is Tommy's Aunt Ada (British national treasure Imelda Staunton ). She once ran a small detective agency and offers guidance over martinis at her retirement home. Ada helps the rookies cope with the darkness of investigating murders. "She's so fun, so mischievous," Thomas says. "Initially them getting drawn into being detectives is linked to an upsetting crime, but there's a playfulness she inspires."
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Dylan acknowledges that this first English-language contemporary version of a Christie book could irk some die-hard fans of the author. The original Tommy and Tuppence debuted as adventure-seeking friends in the 1922 novel, The Secret Adversary . They next appeared as young marrieds in a short story collection and were the subjects of three more Christie novels. The film and television versions of their stories were, like numerous Christie screen adaptations, period pieces.
"There are going to be purists with Agatha Christie [who think] no one's ever going to touch that source material," Dylan says. "Living in the UK, [Christie] is part of the fabric. Her work touches on something that ignites people's curiosity and sense of adventure. To take it into new [present day] territory, we were very excited."
Thomas says, "That it's contemporary made it really interesting. What we think of as Agatha Christie, set in a very period world, can be in a contemporary setting. [That poses] fun challenges for acting and writing."
Besides, even in modern Britain you're never really that far from the past. The actors say that during shooting, they were swept up in the spectral atmosphere of London's foggy, dimly lit streets and the eerie rooms of old country homes. "There's often is a creepy house that you're filming in," Dylan says. "We would scamper around and tell ghost stories and look into the history of the house. There's a pub that we were filming in that was really haunted."
But for Tommy and Tuppence, it's real flesh-and-blood killers they have to watch out for in three tough cases, each spanning two episodes. The final one has elements of a Tommy and Tuppence novel, 1968's By the Pricking of My Thumbs , which involves strange goings-on at a retirement home. By the end of the intense shoot, the actors considered a career change. Thomas says, "We've talked about, do we become sleuths in real life?"
Tommy & Tuppence , Series Premiere, September 15, BritBox
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