Am a huge Agatha Christie fan, have been ever since the age of 11 since reading 'And Then There Were None' (still one of my favourite books) and watching the Joan Hickson and David Suchet adaptations of 'A Murder is Announced' and 'Sad Cypress'. 'Ordeal By Innocence' may not be one of her very best works, but it is an expertly crafted work with an ending that one does not expect.
While there are worse Agatha Christie adaptations (i.e. the 'Partners in Crime' series from a few years ago, 'The Alphabet Murders', the 1989 'Ten Little Indians' and the worst ITV Marple adaptations, so 'At Bertram's Hotel', 'A Sittaford Mystery' and 'Why Didn't They Ask Evans'), 'Ordeal By Innocence' was a disappointment. Of Sarah Phelps' Christie adaptations, it is the weakest having loved 'And Then There Were None' and being mixed on 'Witness for the Prosecution. Don't know which is weaker between this and the Geraldine McEwen adaptation, both are underwhelming in their own way and neither do the book justice.
It is not that it is a poor adaptation of the book where my disappointment with 'Ordeal By Innocence' lies, not completely at least. It for me had far more issues on its own terms.
There are good things. The best thing about 'Ordeal By Innocence' is the production values. Gorgeously shot, sometimes imaginatively edited, sumptuously costumed, atmospherically lit and evocative in period detail with well chosen locations, visually 'Ordeal By Innocence' is exceptional.
Found too that it started off on a promising note. The opening scene was utterly transfixing and looking away was impossible, one of the few instances in the adaptation where chills were sent down the spine and goose-bumps were on my arm.
Didn't think highly of the acting really, but Bill Nighy does underplay with dignity and is sometimes affecting, a perfect approach towards the character that one feels most for in the source material. It may come over as dull and like he was slumming it to some but that is only when comparing it to the rest of the acting, which had a jarringly broad approach, someone had to take things seriously as ought and Nighy does that.
On the other hand, the rest of the cast play their roles too broadly and others are very bland, the latter especially applying to Matthew Goode. Instead of feeling much for the characters and their plight which one is meant to considering that in the book there is more emphasis on the family ordeal, one is irritated by that most of them do not come over as real people and more stale archetypes that have sketchy at best development, inexcusable for a three part mini-series.
Unfortunately, the mystery also doesn't engage. There are some dark and twisty moments in the last episode (another small plus point), but most of the time they are outweighed and over-shadowed by the overblown melodramatic tone pretty much the whole series adopts, the lack of tension and suspense and bad pacing. While the last episode is rushed and over-stuffed (packing in too much in a short space of time), most of 'Ordeal By Innocence' is long-winded and padded out by self-indulgence, overlong scenes and repetition, making the running time feel further over-stretched. Spacing the series over three weeks rather than days was a mistake, in danger of forgetting what happened before.
Much of the dialogue felt soapy and ham-fisted, as well as being too jarring for the period. The music is too brashly orchestrated and intrudes far too much. Furthermore many have expressed disappointment with the ending and count me in as another person who found it absurd and contrived, questioning the point of the changes and frustrated at how it misses the point. Anything included to spice things up to seemingly bring more grit or appeal to a wider audience instead comes over as mean-spirited and out of kilter as well as gratuitous.
In summary, disappointing. 4/10 Bethany Cox
