Murder Is Easy location guide: Where was the BBC drama filmed?

The new Agatha Christie adaptation is set in the fictional village of Wychwood under Ashe.

By Morgan Cormack

Published: Wednesday, 27 December 2023 at 09:00 AM

It’s time to get reacquainted with Agatha Christie as we get ready for yet another murder mystery, this time led by David Jonsson as Luke Fitzwilliam in Murder Is Easy.

The two-part BBC series takes one of Christie’s lesser-known novels and follows Fitzwilliam as he travels to London on a train and meets Miss Pinkerton (Penelope Wilton), who is on her way to Scotland Yard to report some strange deaths in her village, Wychwood under Ashe.

Well, when she winds up dead, Fitzwilliam is concerned with getting to the bottom of the case himself and sets off for the sleepy English village. But is Wychwood under Ashe a figment of Christie’s imagination? And just where was the new series filmed?

Read on for everything you need to know about the locations used in the filming of Murder Is Easy.

Where was BBC’s Murder Is Easy filmed?

Douglas Henshall as Major Horton and David Jonsson as Luke Fitzwilliam in Murder Is Easy walking down the street wearing suits.
Douglas Henshall as Major Horton and David Jonsson as Luke Fitzwilliam in Murder Is Easy.
BBC

Set primarily in the village of Wychwood under Ashe, the small picturesque slice of suburbia isn’t actually real.

Like many other Christie settings in her novel, it is home to many characters hiding their own fair share of secrets and is the perfect place for some sleuthing. But no, Wychwood under Ashe doesn’t exist.

Instead, filming for Murder Is Easy took place in Scotland, with many beautiful spots being used for the two episodes.

Speaking to the BBC ahead of the release of the series, actor Mark Bonnar who stars as Reverend Humbleby in the series, revealed more about the key filming locations used.

He revealed: “One key location was Sorn Castle, which is a 19th century castle. It is an amazing place, and as all actors do, which is why you should never leave us alone – I loved wandering into rooms we were not supposed to wander into when we’re on location.

“So please, if you ever think it’s a good idea to let a film crew into your house, know that the actors will be snooping around in your drawers. It’s an incredible building – beautiful, with the architecture and the history that’s there.”

Bonnar continued: “We filmed a lot in Tyninghame, a lovely village in East Lothian which stars in Murder Is Easy as Wychwood under Ashe. You get to visit all these places and go into houses that you would never dream of getting the chance of going into when you’re not in this business. It’s great.

“And being [set] in the 1950s meant that the production team rolled out the most amazing cars. You get to poke around and sit in them, and just envelop yourself in a whole other period which is incredible to do.”

So, if you were hoping to take a trip to the fictional town, you can instead think about venturing to Tyninghame, which is the location used for Wychwood under Ashe.

One of the primary locations used in the series is Lord Whitfield’s (Tom Riley) manor home, where we see him throwing lavish parties with Bridget (Morfydd Clark). On Fitzwilliam’s arrival to the village, he receives a mystery invitation to the house and that’s the first time we see the impressive building, which is actually Sorn Castle.

The castle is located by the River Ayr just outside the village of Sorn in East Ayrshire, Scotland. Often used as a wedding venue, the privately-owned estate is one that is steeped in history, with the earliest part of the castle built between 1380 and 1409.

According to Screen Scotland, other parts of the series have also been filmed throughout central Scotland and the southwest including Stirlingshire, East Lothian, East Ayrshire and Glasgow.