Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar is a 2019 British alternative history television drama film about crime writer Agatha Christie becoming embroiled in a real-life murder case during a trip to an archaeological dig in Iraq following her divorce. The film premiered on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom on 15 December 2019. Filming took place in Malta and was directed by Sam Yates. Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar premiered in the United States on PBS on 18 May 2021.
Contents
Plot
In 1928, two years after her divorce and her 11-day disappearance, Agatha Christie travels to Baghdad, Iraq seeking culture and peace. Instead she is caught in a web of murder, intrigue and love. Agatha is unwillingly drawn into the investigation of the murder of an attractive young archaeologist and must unravel a series of mysterious murders.
Cast
Lyndsey Marshal as Agatha Christie
Jonah Hauer-King as Max Mallowan
Stanley Townsend as Sir Constance Bernard
Jack Deam as Leonard Woolley
Katherine Kingsley as Katharine Woolley
Waj Ali as Ezekiel
Rory Fleck Byrne as Marmaduke
Bronagh Waugh as Lucy Bernard
Crystal Clarke as Pearl Theroux
Liran Nathan as Faisal
Walles Hamonde as Ahkam
Waleed Elgadi as Doctor El-Memar
Daniel Gosling as Hugo
Production
The film was created by husband and wife team Tom and Emily Dalton who also created Agatha and the Truth of Murder which was Channel 5's most watched festive programme of 2018. This was shot in Malta, back-to-back with Agatha and the Midnight Murders.
Reception
Described as "quite a treat" by Michael Hogan in The Daily Telegraph, The Times wrote that "what it lacked in unexpected twists and depth it made up for in nostalgic comfort-blanketry and good, clean murder".