REVIEW: ‘Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence’ Is Just Plain Good

The enduring quality of Agatha Christie’s work is beyond question. Across film, television, and literature, Christie’s murder mysteries don’t just have a special place in the pantheon; she laid the foundation. And that’s also why adaptations that modernize her work tend to leave me saying, “meh.” But with BritBox original series Agatha Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence (created by Phoebe Eclair-Powell), there may be a 2026 take on a classic Partners in Crime story that honors the author’s rich history. 

Set in the modern day, Agatha Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence is based on the series of books that uniquely detailed the childhood friendship, adult love story, and murder-solving adventures of Tommy Beresford (Josh Dylan) and Tuppence Cowley (Antonia Thomas). The titular duo are two of the few characters the prolific writer followed throughout their lives. That also means any adaptation depends on exactly when you enter their lives. 

For BritBox’s Tommy and Tuppence, we meet the destined couple after some time apart. Having been college friends, they find themselves reunited at a wedding where a fellow guest is murdered. It’s been years since they’ve seen each other, but the chemistry is instantaneous, even if they’re awkward. 

BritBox Original Tommy and Tuppence brings Agatha Christie characters to life in a modern romance. 

The two were best friends until life pulled them in different directions, but as you’d expect, they never wanted to keep things platonic, even if they never said it out loud. Now, the actress and crime novelist team up to prove the police have the wrong person in custody, instead of turning away. And well, they’re good at solving crimes.

Thankfully, Tommy’s aunt Ada (Imelda Staunton) used to run a detective agency, with business cards and all for them to fall into. With Aunt Ada’s help, the two amateur investigators bring the old private detective agency back to life as they keep stumbling into murders. 

Across the six episodes, Tommy and Tuppence find themselves at the center of murders, always focused on exonerating someone wrongly accused or serving justice no matter what. The series follows a typical murder-of-the-week structure, with an undercurrent of their personal lives that keeps everything in place. 

The duo’s daily lives and relationships outside their mysteries color each episode. It lets the audience see Tommy and Tuppence grow in their new hobby together, while also navigating its complications. For Tommy, his Aunt Ada offers a wise elder to bounce ideas off of. 

The gin-drinking life of the party at the old folks’ home, Ada is Tommy’s confidant as much as she is his aunt. Heavily modeled after Christie’s Miss Marple, Ada helps the two solve the murders with just the right questions asked at the right time. More importantly, as the duo’s romance begins to feel inevitable, Aunt Ada encourages Tommy to go for what he wants. What starts as Tuppence becomes complicated when Ada calls out his happiness when a new man comes to town. 

And that new man is married to Tuppence. Tuppence’s dream is to be a successful actress. Having left for Los Angeles to pursue her career, she started an entirely new life. But with that new life comes an estranged husband waiting to take her back across the pond. 

A success in Hollywood, Tuppence’s husband is still in love with her. It’s Tuppence who has fallen out of love with him, and, more broadly, with her life in the States. The gap in Tuppence’s life is filled with crime-solving and her renewed friendship with many who used to be her everything.

But when her husband shows up, she has to make a difficult decision. Stay in the UK and continue her romance and detective agency with Tommy, or return home, where she’s just a woman in the shadow of her successful husband. 

The chemistry keeps Tommy and Tuppence grounded, while the murders keep you engaged.

Tommy and Tuppence excels because of the chemistry between its two leads, Antonia Thomas and Josh Dylan. Their relationship (romantic and otherwise) is as much the focus of the series as the murders. The way that the two of them make each other better is core to the series, but more importantly, how they learn to navigate their emotions subtly at first and then all at once makes them a duo to root for even when Tuppence’s decisions make that hard. 

For both of our leads, their romance is like breathing. As friends, they love each other, and as their time together blossoms, they see the light at the end of their very long love story. Throughout the series, you want to root for them to be together. You want them to follow their dreams and embrace the joy they’ve started to find together. Only love isn’t easy, especially when there is melodrama to be had on television. 

In the back half of the series, Tommy and Tuppence hit speed bumps in their relationship. Ultimately, the fear that Tuppence will leave again looms large over the last three episodes of the season. It’s a cloud that pushes the old friends to discuss their feelings, but it also lays the groundwork for Tuppence’s biggest mistakes. 

As a character, Tuppence isn’t one-note. While she’s assertive and in control even in the worst situations (like chasing down a murderer as they flee the scene), indecision takes center stage in her personal life. Stuck between the man she married and the man she loves and has never left her heart, Tuppence finds herself oscillating between what is safe and what brings her to life. 

With her husband, she has a life that she knows. She isn’t struggling to pay the bills, and her dream of being an actress is still alive. But if she doesn’t leave England and instead chooses to make a life in the agency and with Tommy, she’ll be happy, but she won’t know what’s on the horizon.

Unfortunately, Tuppence’s approach to making her decision ignores that the men in her life also deserve happiness. Where the lovesick husband is there waiting for her, Tommy isn’t as devoted. But it’s not because he doesn’t want to be. From the start, it’s clear just how much Tommy loves Tuppence. But having already experienced losing her once, asking him to wait while Tuppence promises her husband she’ll come back, and then recants, isn’t something that he deserves. 

The series’ back half is as much about a love triangle as it is about a murder mystery, but more importantly, it builds investment into the relationship we’ve seen in front of us. They may not have to work to love each other, but Tommy and Tuppence need to work to respect each other, and for her, that means choosing one or the other.

It’s not that she has to make the decision that is the problem; it’s how selfish the process becomes that makes Tuppence difficult to care about. The longer her indecision lasts, the more it feels like Tommy is rotting, waiting, hoping she’ll choose him.

Tommy and Tuppence keep proving just how good a murder-mystery can be. 

Instead of having a serious discussion to kick things off when her husband comes back to town, Tuppence throws herself into the next investigation instead. She loves solving mysteries, and she loves spending time with Tommy, just not enough to admit to herself just yet. 

Still, even when the character work gets frustrating, the mystery intensifies to balance it out. Tommy and Tuppence ends with a thrilling mystery that starts with a murder in Ada’s retirement home and ends with an inferno. It’s the most danger that the couple has found themselves in, and ultimately it’s the most emotional, sociopathic, and dangerous mystery they’ve been pulled into. 

As the stakes rise in the finale, Tommy and Tuppence aren’t just recovering from loss or the harrowing event; they’re also establishing the path forward. Tommy and Tuppence end by giving the audience a duo to root for and fall in love with. With Season 2 on the horizon, it’s easy to buy into these two as they navigate a rekindled flame, life interfering with what the heart wants, and, well, murder.

A quick-witted murder mystery with ample amounts of comedy, earnest romance, and heart, Tommy and Tuppence highlights the enduring appeal of Agatha Christie’s characters and legacy. More importantly, it shows how strong BritBox’s murder mysteries remain, no matter the time period or the names attached to them. 

Agatha Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence is now available exclusively on BritBox (available via Prime Video).