Hugh Laurie’s Agatha Christie adaptation Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? arrives on BritBox this week and it features a cast stacked with A-listers.
Led by The Revenant’s Will Poulter, soon to be a Marvel star, and co-starring Bohemian Rhapsody’s Lucy Boynton, Game of Thrones’ Conleth Hill, Paul Whitehouse and the director Laurie himself, it’s a smorgasbord of acting talent.
Even Jim Broadbent and Dame Emma Thompson stopped by the set to appear in cameo roles.
Will Poulter spoke exclusively to RadioTimes.com about the new series, and he had nothing but praise for his co-star Boynton, who he called “such an incredible actor, and the best collaborator and team player you could hope to wish for”.
“Lucy, like Hugh, is an example of someone who is brilliant at the drama and just deft when it comes to the comedy – she regularly had me cracking up,” Poulter continued.
“She’s also just super intelligent – whenever I was in a conversation with Hugh and Lucy I really did feel like the runt of the litter because they’re both just so smart. I loved working with her and I really hope I get the chance to do it again.”
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Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? is adapted from Agatha Christie’s 1934 novel of the same name, and tells the story of Bobby Jones (Poulter), a vicar’s son who begins investigating the death of a man who asks the mysterious titular question with his dying breath.
Boynton plays Frankie, an old friend of Bobby’s who helps him in his quest to uncover the truth.
When asked who brought the most laughs to set, Poulter was spoilt for choice, saying: “I mean, the contributions of Emma Thompson and Jim Broadbent, which, by the way, is a sentence I can’t believe I’m even saying, that I got to be in a scene with them, but their scene was absolutely hilarious.
“I’m kind of glad that I got to dip in, pull a face and then leave, because Lucy had to be there for the entire thing and not laugh. Emma Thompson was hilarious as her mum, and the amazing thing is I think we all met that day, and you entirely believe that is Lucy’s mum and that is Lucy’s dad, it’s so brilliant.”
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However, Poulter settled on a comedy legend for who made him laugh the most.
He said: “I think, and I hate to pick favourites – Paul Whitehouse as the pub landlord is just such an amazing character, and Paul’s unbelievably funny.
“I used to relish the scenes with Paul as much as I dreaded them because I was so excited to be in a scene with Paul Whitehouse. I grew up as such a sketch comedy fan and a fan of virtually everything that he did.
“But I also dreaded it because I knew that I was going to put the crew behind schedule with me laughing and corpsing and not managing to hold my own in the ring with a heavyweight like Paul, but it was so much fun every day he was on set.”
The three-part series, written and directed by Hugh Laurie, will all drop on BritBox this week.
Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? arrives on BritBox on Thursday 14th April 2022. Check out our Drama hub for more news, interviews and features or find something to watch with our TV Guide.
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