TOMMY AND TUPPENCE – developed for television by Phoebe Eclair-Powell ⁓

Set in present-day London, this adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Tommy & Tuppence” begins with “Finessing the King”, continues with “The Affair of the Pink Pearl”, and finishes with “By the Pricking of My Thumbs”. In this modernized version, Tommy Beresford (Josh Dylan) is a mystery novelist whose book titles somewhat resemble Christie titles involving Tommmy and Tuppence (e.g. “Portent of Fate”, which is not far away from “Postern of Fate”.) This might suggest that Tommy is a self-portrayal by Christie, but in the books it always seemed that Tuppence was that.

Tommy’s Aunt Ada (Imelda Staunton), originally introduced in the 1968 novel “By the Pricking of My Thumbs”, is now not only a retirement home resident , but also the retired proprietor of “Blunt’s Brilliant Detectives”. Ada is the previous owner of Tommy’s flat in Hampstead. Said flat is located above a bar owned by Albert (Charlie Condou), the current incarnation of the lift boy who assisted T&T in all of their recorded adventures.

The Blunt Detective Agency was, in the books, a cover set up for the couple by a British Intelligence Officer named Carter to help them investigate Soviet spies. This happens in the short story “A Fairy in the Flat”, six years after T&T are married.

This present day version of Prudence “Tuppence” Cowley (Antonia Thomas) is married to an American named Julius (Nicholas Richardson), and has been living in the States. She is an actor (not a very successful one) and is in London only for auditions. She and Tommy had a fling of sorts years previously which in no way involved detecting, and it is strongly implied that Tuppence was Tommy’s first love and that he has never quite gotten over her. The pair have been apart long enough for her sister Constance (Eleanor Fanyinka) to give birth to two children (ages unknown). Julius has sent Tuppence divorce papers which she has not yet signed.

Finessing the King

As things begin, Tommy, who dabbles in photography, has agreed to take wedding pictures for his friend Captain Bingo Hale (Toby Regbo) who is marrying Alice (Madeleine Walker). Tuppence is coincidentally serving drinks at the same Alice-in-Wonderland-themed wedding as a favour to the bride.

Bingo is dressed as The White Rabbit, and is having an affair with Tatiana (Fola Evans-Akingbola), who is dressed as the Queen of Hearts. The two have arranged to meet secretly at midnight in the library. Tatiana is stabbed and before she dies tells Tuppence: “Bingo did it.” Once Tuppence reveals what Tatiana said with her dying breath, Bingo, who was seen running from the scene of the crime, is immediately arrested (with unrealistic and uncalled for roughness, given the situation).

Perhaps the best scene for Tuppence is the one she has with Tatiana in the Ladies Room shortly before the murder.

The original story is much the same, but the characters, especially Tommy and Tuppence, are very different. 1920s Tuppence finds a cryptic classified in the Daily Leader which reads: “I should go Three Hearts. 12 tricks. Ace of Spades. Necessary to finesse the King.” T&T deduce that “three Hearts” means the Three Arts Costume Ball. “Twelve tricks” means rendezvous at midnight, and that the “Ace of Spades” refers to a nearby club with that name and private booths. Bingo, it turns out, is having an affair with Lady Vere Merrivale, wife of his best friend Sir Arthur Merrivale. The “king” who needed finessing was Sir Arthur. After the ball, Lady Merrivale is stabbed in a booth adjacent to where Tommy and Tuppence are sitting, and it is Lady Merrivale who accuses Bingo as she dies.

D.S. Draper

Detective Inspector Marriot (Chizzy Akudolu) doesn’t like amateurs interfering with her investigations, but Detective Sergeant Clementine Draper (Callie Cook) is a big fan of Tommy’s books and quickly becomes infatuated with him. She provides the detectives with a great deal of assistance without letting her boss know anything about it. Tommmy decides at one point he should stop calling her Draper. He tries Clem, Clemmy, and Clementine, but Draper thinks all of those sound weird so Draper it continues to be. We are asked to wonder who Tommy will ultimately choose, Draper or Tuppence, and Draper is charming enough to make it a real contest.

“The Affair of the Pink Pearl” is similarly modified with Lawrence St. Vincent (nephew of the Earl of Cheriton) morphing into an actor named Archie St. Vincent (Alex Jennings) who manages to get himself murdered. There is no murder in Christie’s story, only theft.

Alice Krige turns in a memorable performance as Aunt Ada’s friend Mrs. Lancaster in episodes Five and Six, which are reasonably faithful to the 1968 novel “By the Pricking of My Thumbs”.

As episode six comes to an end, Constance tells her sister: “I actually just wanted to say to you…that what you did at Blunt at first seemed crazy, but you were actually, surprisingly, almost quite good at it.” A while later, she visits the detectives with a job offer. “The government needs your services,” she tells them. “Or at least the services of those who would never, ever be mistaken for professional spies. And I thought, who better?”

Of the seventeen short stories and four novels about Tommy and Tuppence, only a few are addressed in these six episodes. The remaining tales could fill several more seasons. One would especially like to see a new treatment of the 1941 novel “N or M”, and of the first of the short stories, “The Secret Adversary”, both of which are tales of espionage.

Miscellaneous Info

Tommy was something of a photographer in the books as well. In the third adventure described in Christie’s “Partners in Crime”, Tommy imitates the investigative techniques of Dr. Thorndyke, a fictional detective known for the use of gadgetry, and arrives at the client’s home with “special photographic apparatus”.

This is almost certainly not connected to D.S. Draper, but John Hamm, who played Don Draper on “Mad Men” was married in 2023 to Anna Osceola who was Clementine in the Mad Men series finale.

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TOMMY AND TUPPENCE can be streamed on Britbox, as can the 1983 miniseries PARTNERS IN CRIME, which presents much of the same material set in its natural time period.

All five of the Tommy and Tuppence books can be purchased from Kindle.