{"id":2658,"date":"2021-08-03T18:42:13","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T16:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1306675"},"modified":"2021-08-03T18:42:13","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T16:42:13","slug":"emma-thompson-and-jim-broadbent-to-guest-star-in-hugh-lauries-why-didnt-they-ask-evans","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/emma-thompson-and-jim-broadbent-to-guest-star-in-hugh-lauries-why-didnt-they-ask-evans\/","title":{"rendered":"Emma Thompson and Jim Broadbent to guest star in Hugh Laurie\u2019s Why Didn\u2019t They Ask Evans?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rssexcerpt\"> The Agatha Christie adaptation has attracted a cast of top acting talent. <\/p><p class=\"rssauthor\">By Eleanor Bley Griffiths\n                \t\t<\/p><p class=\"rssbyline\">Published: Tuesday, 03 August 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p><hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n<p>Hugh Laurie has gathered a collection of big-name actors around him for his new Agatha Christie adaptation Why Didn\u2019t They Ask Evans? \u2013 and the latest to join the cast are Emma Thompson and Jim Broadbent.<\/p>\n<p>The duo will be making \u201cspecial appearances\u201d as British aristocrats Lord and Lady Marcham, BritBox has announced. The characters appear to be inventions who do not appear in the original crime novel.<\/p>\n<p>Production is already in full swing in New York, with Thompson and Broadbent joining co-stars on set including Will Poulter, Lucy Boynton, Daniel Ings, and Maeve Dermody.<\/p>\n<p>Poulter stars as Bobby Jones, \u201can honest and amiable young man who becomes entangled in the mysterious question of the title\u201d, while Boynton will play Thompson and Broadbent\u2019s on-screen daughter Frankie, \u201ca clever and unflappable young woman with a flair for adventure\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"&quot;image-handler__container\" style=\"padding-bottom:\"> <img class=\"&quot;wp-image-1306742\" align=\"\" data-src=\"&quot;https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/08\/image002-742b957.jpg?quality=90&amp;resize=620%2C413&quot;\" width=\"&quot;620&quot;\" height=\"&quot;413&quot;\" alt=\"&quot;Why\" title=\"&quot;Why\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The three-parter is based on the 1934 Agatha Christie novel, which follows the local Vicar\u2019s son and his socialite friend on their mission to solve a murder after discovering a dying man who gasps a question with his dying breath: \u201cWhy didn\u2019t they ask Evans?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his pocket they find a photograph of a beautiful young woman.<\/p>\n<p>Laurie himself will play Dr James Nicholson, \u201cthe Clinical Director of the sanatorium near the Bassington-ffrench estate, Merroway Court\u201d. As well as starring in the drama, he\u2019s also the director and writer.<\/p>\n<p>The actor\u2019s previous directing credits include a couple of episodes of House, the 2003 mini-series Fortysomething, and the 1995 drama Look at the State We\u2019re In! \u2013 and he did, of course, co-writer A Bit of Fry &amp; Laurie (amongst other things).<\/p> <p>Dermody plays Moira, the troubled wife of a psychiatrist, while Conleth Hill (of Game of Thrones fame) is Bobby\u2019s genial mentor Dr Alwyn Thomas. Ings (who played the husband in I Hate Suzie) is Roger Bassington-ffrench, and he\u2019s joined by\u00a0Jonathan Jules (Ralph \u201cKnocker\u201d Beadon), Miles Jupp (Henry Bassington-ffrench) and Amy Nuttall (Sylvia Bassington-ffrench).<\/p>\n<p>The cast also includes Alistair Petrie (Rev Richard Jones), Paul Whitehouse (the landlord of a country inn), Morwenna Banks (Mrs. Cayman), and Joshua James (Dr George Arbuthnot).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Take a look at our <a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/tv\/tv-listings\/&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\">TV Guide<\/a> to find out what\u2019s on television this week, or check out the rest of our <a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/tv\/drama&quot;\">Drama<\/a> coverage.<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> The Agatha Christie adaptation has attracted a cast of top acting talent. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":2659,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/emma-thompson-and-jim-broadbent-to-guest-star-in-hugh-lauries-why-didnt-they-ask-evans.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/emma-thompson-and-jim-broadbent-to-guest-star-in-hugh-lauries-why-didnt-they-ask-evans-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/emma-thompson-and-jim-broadbent-to-guest-star-in-hugh-lauries-why-didnt-they-ask-evans-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/emma-thompson-and-jim-broadbent-to-guest-star-in-hugh-lauries-why-didnt-they-ask-evans.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/emma-thompson-and-jim-broadbent-to-guest-star-in-hugh-lauries-why-didnt-they-ask-evans.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/emma-thompson-and-jim-broadbent-to-guest-star-in-hugh-lauries-why-didnt-they-ask-evans.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/emma-thompson-and-jim-broadbent-to-guest-star-in-hugh-lauries-why-didnt-they-ask-evans.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Agatha Christie adaptation has attracted a cast of top acting talent.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/2658"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}