Based on Agatha Christie’s 1934 novel, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? is a story of deceit, betrayal and murder that lures our young amateur detectives from the rugged coastline of north Wales to the shadowy Home Counties. Bobby Jones and his childhood friend Frankie Derwent, reunited after a decade apart, vow to answer a dying man’s final question: Why didn’t they ask Evans? The young couple sleuth their way across England, risking life and limb along the way, until they come face to face with a killer. And, no less important, an answer to the cryptic question.
What We Thought:
Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? is an Agatha Christie adaptation I had never seen before. Written and directed by Hugh Laurie, it stars two underrated actors, Will Poulter and Lucy Boynton. The 4 episode mini-series aired in 2022 and I liked this DVD release.
I’ve seen plenty of Christie adaptations before, but this one escaped me. It’s a classic Whodunit mystery with a great backdrop, two great young actors and even better costuming and set design. Poulter plays a Navy man turned golf caddy who hears someone scream while caddying on the course. He thinks someone fell off a cliff and runs down to see if the man is alive or dead. The man is barely breathing, but before he dies he asks Why didn’t they ask Evans? which is a question that will come to haunt Poulter’s Bobby Jones.
The gorgeous Boynton plays a lady, a daughter of a local lord who hasn’t seen Bobby Jones in years. She’s immediately fascinated by the dead man and soon the pair realize it might have been a murder. A man is stalking Bobby and others are involved. As they start putting pieces together there is an insane asylum involved, a scam artist and much more. It’s a classic Christie storyline set in a great time period.
What I love about these adaptations is when they stay in the era they were written. You could easily update them, but that era looks great on film. Boynton has a fantastic wardrobe with dresses, slacks and more. Poulter wears a few hats that I would wear today. Everything about Laurie’s adaptation worked for me.
If you are fan of Agatha Christie you’ll dig Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? It’s four episodes around 45 minutes each and it jumps in pretty quickly. Boynton and Poulter are great together and I’ve been a fan of hers since Sing Street. I interviewed Poulter for The Revenant and I’ve enjoyed his work since We’re The Millers. If you like Christie era stories, check it out.
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