An explosive love triangle, a formidable matriarch and a tangled, toxic web of jealousy, deceit and dysfunction are on the televisual menu for Sunday night.
When all these combine in the form of a house party, the guests are compelled… Towards Zero.
Agatha Christie’s classic novel has been adapted for BBC One by Rachel Bennette and directed by Sam Yates, with Anjelica Huston leading a cast which also includes Matthew Rhys and Clarke Peters.
James Prichard, one of the executive producers, said: “Put simply, Towards Zero is a great story.
“It is perhaps an under appreciated story (although my great grandmother ranked it amongst her best).
“But it has a very modern feel with contemporary themes of love and jealousy and family relationships, all in a fantastic setting.”
Towards Zero will transport viewers back to England in 1936.
After a scandalous celebrity divorce, British tennis star Nevile Strange (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and his ex-wife Audrey (Ella Lily Hyland) make the unthinkable decision to spend a summer together at Gull’s Point.
This is their childhood home and the coastal estate of Nevile’s aunt, Lady Tressilian (Anjelica Huston).
With unfinished business between the former childhood sweethearts and the presence of Nevile’s new wife Kay (Mimi Keene), tensions are running high.
Throw into the mix Lady Tressilian’s long-suffering companion, a mysterious gentleman’s valet, an exiled cousin with a grudge, a venerable family lawyer, an inquisitive orphan and a French con man and the inevitable outcome is murder.
Now troubled detective Inspector Leach (Matthew Rhys) must rediscover his purpose and untangle the web of lies.
The question is can he solve the crime before the killer strikes again.
Anjelica Huston leads the cast as wealthy matriarch Lady Tressilian.
The American actress said: “Lady Tressilian is the matriarch of a very disjointed, unruly family.
“They have lots of problems and it’s up to her to try and corral everyone – or at least that’s how she sees it.
“She has a way of getting everyone to do what she wants them to do.”
The Academy Award-winning actress has starred in films such as Prizzi’s Honor, Crimes and Misdemeanours, The Witches, The Adams Family and The Royal Tenenbaums.
On television, the 73-year-old has appeared in Smash, The Watcher in the Woods and Transparent.
Matthew Rhys plays troubled police officer Inspector Leach, responsible for solving the murder case.
Welsh actor Rhys, 50, will be best know to television audiences as Kevin Walker in Brothers & Sisters and Philip Jennings in the spy drama The Americans, a role for which he won an Emmy Award.
He played poet Dylan Thomas in the 2008 film The Edge of Love and Daniel Ellsberg in The Post.
Oliver Jackson-Cohen stars as celebrity tennis player and divorcé Nevile Strange.
The actor said of his character: “He’s sort of the David Beckham of his time.
“His wife, Audrey, and him are a celebrity couple.
“Always in the papers, much beloved.
“You’d probably describe him as the arrogant cad.”
Jackson-Cohen, 38, rose to prominence playing Phillip White in the period drama Larkrise to Candleford. He has since appeared on television in Mr Selfridge, Dracula, Emerald City and The Haunting of Hill House.
Ella Lily Hyland takes on the role of Audrey Strange, the former wife of Nevile.
The Irish actress said of her character: “Audrey moved to Gull’s Point when she was a kid because she was an orphan.
“Her and Nevile were together from a really early age – a sibling relationship that turned into something romantic.
“I would describe her as twisted, nihilistic and hedonistic.”
Hyland, 26, starred in the tennis-based drama Fifteen-Love and appeared last year in the spy series Black Doves.
She is currently in the historical drama A Thousand Blows.
The cast of Towards Zero also includes:
Filming for Towards Zero took place last summer in Bristol and on the coast in Devon.
City scenes were captured in the Georgian and Victorian surrounds of Bristol.
While the cast spent time along the Devon coastline for the scenes at Gull’s Point and Easterhead Bay Hotel.
Crews also shot some of the scenes at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon.
Oliver Jackson-Cohen revealed the cast were in Devon on the beach for the second week of filming.
He said: “It was absolutely freezing trying to get into the water.
“That is always a good bonding experience for a couple of days!”
Adam Hugill, who plays Mac, said despite the dual settings of London and Devon the filming was done on location rather than at a studio.
“We were not on a studio backlot, we were surrounded by the real period, the real setting”, he said, “Everything was there for us, it was so immersive and perfect, because we were in the costumes and in the real rooms.”
James Prichard, on the executive producers, said there was “something nice” about filming some of it in Devon where Agatha Christie grew up and spent a lot of time.
He said: “It’s where an awful lot of the inspiration for these stories would have come from – they’re not all set there literally, but it’s in her mindscape.”
Towards Zero premieres on BBC One on Sunday 2 March at 9pm.
This is a three part mini-series, with the remaining two episodes airing on successive Sundays at the same time.
All three will also be available to stream on the BBC iPlayer from 6am on Sunday 2 March.
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