BBC One announced The Pale Horse cast in August 2019 and it’ instantly looked like it was going to be another impressive Agatha Christie adaptation. Here’s everything you need to know about it including what it’s about, what the air date was and theme tune. It may not be the most well known of Christie’s novels, but it is one of the most interesting with a mysteriously materialised death list and three witches at the heart of the story.
It was first published in 1961 and it has gone on to be adapted for stage and screen a number of times over the years with the ITV production starting things off airing in 1996. ITV then went on to adapt the novel for Agatha Christie’s Marple in 2010 with significant changes to the plot to write in Miss Marple, so it’s going to be good to see the crime story getting the BBC One treatment with Mammoth Screen producing the adaptation.
Air date
The official air date was Sunday the 9th February 2020 at 9pm. It took a while for confirmation to come out from the BBC following the initial cast announcement and filming in Bristol for the production. There are only two parts to the BBC One adaptation of The Pale Horse, and the second episode will close things off on Sunday the 16th February 2020, again at 9pm.
Both 1-hour episodes will be available on BBC iPlayer for 3 months after their initial air date, so even if you miss them on the nigh, there should be plenty of time to catch up again.
The Pale Horse cast
A big-name cast has been brought together for the 2019 adaptation, following in the footsteps of The ABC Murders, which featured John Malkovich and Rupert Grint. This time around Mammoth Screen has cast Rufus Sewell (Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter) in the lead role of Mark Easterbrook with Kaya Scodelario (Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) as his girlfriend Hermia.
They’re joined by Bertie Carvel (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell) as Zachariah Osborne, Sean Pertwee (Gotham) as Detective Inspector Lejeune, Henry Lloyd-Hughes (Killing Eve) as David Ardingly, Poppy Gilbert (Call The Midwife) as Thomasina Tuckerton, Madeleine Bowyer (Black Mirror) as Jessie Davis and Ellen Robertson (Snowflake) as Poppy.
The cast list is completed by Sarah Woodward (Loving Miss Hatto), Georgina Campbell (His Dark Materials) and Claire Skinner (Outnumbered), plus Rita Tushingham (Vera), Sheila Atim (Bloodmoon) and Kathy Kiera Clarke (Tartuffe) as Bella, Thryza Grey and Sybil Stamford, the three witches of the piece.
Theme tune
You can take a listen to The Pale Horse theme tune over on BBC iPlayer at the beginning of episode 1 at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000fk28. You can also check out the trailer at the bottom of the page to listen to more of the dramatic music from the TV adaptation.
Anne Nikitin is the composer for the music and theme tune with support from music editor, Ben Corrigan, and orchestration and additional music from Tom Kelly.
What’s The Pale Horse story about
The Pale Horse tells the story of Mark Eastbrook who discovers a bleak connection between the people on a list found on a dead woman’s shoe. As he investigates, he is drawn to the village of Much Deeping, and the titular house where three witches are rumoured to live. While their dark arts are cast as potential explanations for deaths surrounding the investigation, Mark is convinced there must be something more down-to-earth and deadly behind it all.
The book and the BBC One adaptation are similar in terms of the story, but there are a few notable divergences. The first of these is that in the novel the list is discovered in Father Gorman’s she, giving the story a religion meets pagan theme, but in the TV production the list is in a dead woman’s shoe. The second is that certain characters appear not to feature in the TV drama with the famous mystery writer Ariadne Oliver being the most significant omission.
You can follow BBC One on its official Twitter page at twitter.com/BBCOne and find out more about the production in the build up to the air date.
About the production
Mammoth Screen are leading on the production, continuing its efforts to bring a new take on Agatha Christie’s work to the BBC. It’s been a busy time for Mammoth, which is also working on the huge WWII drama, World On Fire this year. You can see more at https://www.mammothscreen.com.
The two part Drama is being directed by Leonora Lonsdale (Beast) and produced by Ado Yoshizaki Cassuto (City Of Tiny Lights).
Trailer
You can get a sense of the dark mystery and drama at the heart of The Pale Horse in the trailer above. It also showcases some of the exceptional talent that has been brought together for the cast.
