The high society of Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials is full of glamorous faces — and one of them is a killer.
In the new adaptation of Christie’s 1929 novel The Seven Dials Mystery, Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent (Mia McKenna-Bruce) is drawn into a growing conspiracy, and no one is safe. It all started with a simple practical joke, but now people are turning up dead. Bundle may be an unlikely sleuth, but she must unravel the mystery before it’s too late.
For writer Chris Chibnall (Doctor Who, Broadchurch), the opportunity to adapt an underrated Christie novel was irresistible. But the real appeal of Seven Dials is its heroine. “The main thing was this incredible lead character of Bundle at the center of it,” he told Netflix. “I just thought, ‘Why haven’t we seen this character onscreen recently?’ The idea of bringing Bundle to life, with all the resources that modern filmmaking will give us, just felt really exciting.”
Any detective story needs its cast of suspects, and Bundle has plenty on her plate, from wealthy friends to the police themselves. “What a cast!” Chibnall said. “We wanted exceptional actors in every part, and we’ve been really lucky to get them.”
Read on to meet those exceptional actors, and stream Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials on Netflix now.
Lady Eileen is the Chimneys’ hostess, a plucky and intelligent young woman who chafes at the constraints of high society. When a friend turns up dead, she dives into the criminal underworld.
Bundle’s effervescent personality was a joy to play for star McKenna-Bruce. “There’s a line in the first episode, that’s actually in the book as well, where Bill says ‘Isn’t she just it?’ ” McKenna-Bruce told Netflix. “There's no real way to describe her. She just is this piece of magic that bounces about, that everyone loves and everyone listens to, even though the odds are stacked against her.”
McKenna-Bruce won the BAFTA Rising Star Award for her performance in How to Have Sex. She’s also appeared in films including The Fourth Kind, The Fence, and Kindling, and television series including EastEnders, Tracy Beaker Returns, The Dumping Ground, and Vampire Academy. She’ll next be seen as Maureen Starkey in Sam Mendes’s Beatles films.
Lady Caterham is Bundle’s homebody mother. She loves her daughter but isn’t quite as big a fan of socializing as Bundle is.
Carter played Lady Caterham as both Bundle’s mentor and her charge. “She’s psychologically very fragile and spends a lot of her time gardening,” Carter told Netflix. “She’s forced into the situation of responsibility and has to act as man of the house. Bundle is all she has, and while Bundle is her daughter, she can also act like a parent.”
Carter has been nominated for two Academy Awards, once for Best Actress in The Wings of the Dove and once for Best Supporting Actress in The King’s Speech. She also won two Screen Actors Guild Awards as part of the ensemble of The Crown. She’s also appeared in films including Fight Club, A Room with a View, the Harry Potter series, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Enola Holmes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Big Fish, and Les Misérables.
Superintendent Battle is one of a long line of Christie sleuths, including Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot; he even met Poirot in 1936’s Cards on the Table. In Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials, he’s trying to solve the case on his own terms, even if Bundle keeps getting in the way.
Freeman found the costuming crucial to his performance. “Amy Roberts, our costume designer, she’s a master collaborator,” he told Netflix. “When you’re in a bespoke three-piece suit, it just informs everything — how you move and sit. It just gives you so much insight into who Battle is as a character, the formality of it all. Like, this is a man who had a military background. It’s smart but so understated, you almost don’t notice all the little details that have gone into it.”
Freeman is no stranger to whodunits after playing John Watson to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock on the series of the same name. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for that performance and was nominated for his performance in Season 1 of Fargo. Other roles include Peter Jackson’s blockbuster The Hobbit trilogy, the original UK The Office, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Black Panther, The World’s End, Secret Invasion, and Love, Actually.
Jimmy is a local bachelor who joins Bundle in her investigation. He’s a cad, but a charming one.
Bluemel relished the opportunity to dress in Jimmy’s clothes. “Jimmy is a bit of a peacock and a fop, so his costumes were so fun to wear,” he told Netflix. “Lots of beautiful tailoring and patterns really helped me get into the character of a debonair young bachelor.”
Bluemel starred as MI6 agent Hugo on Killing Eve. Other roles include those in Persuasion, My Lady Jane, How to Build a Girl, A Discovery of Witches, Sex Education, Brave New World, and more.
Ronnie is a party guest the night of the Chimneys murder and an employee at the Foreign Office. He’s a close friend of Gerry Wade.
He’s also a bad dancer, as seen in the opening party scene. “I was told Ronnie’s not much of a dancer, so I didn’t learn the choreography like everyone else,” Rizwan told Netflix. “I very much had to freestyle, taking care to omit modern dance moves such as the worm. I will save the worm for another role.”
Rizwan played the god of festivity Dionysus on KAOS, so he’s familiar with parties. Other roles include those in 1917, Mogul Mowgli, The Accident, Informer, Station Eleven, Juice, and Industry.
Wade is another contemporary of Bundle’s, an employee at the Foreign Office. He’s also a guest at Chimneys on the night of the murder.
Mylchreest played King George III on Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Other roles include those in My Oxford Year, Hostage, The Sandman, and Daddy Issues.
Loraine is Gerry’s sister. She soon gets sucked into Bundle and Jimmy’s investigation, whether she likes it or not.
Smith starred in the BBC’s Clique as Phoebe. Other roles include those in Into the Badlands, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, The Stranger, The Commuter, and Foundation.
Bill is a Foreign Office employee and Bundle’s friend. He finds himself pulled into her investigation because he was also present the night of the tragic Chimneys party.
O’Donnell made his film debut in Fight or Flight opposite Josh Hartnett.
George Lomax is the pompous boss of the Foreign Office, a blowhard without compare.
Macqueen played the prime minister’s “blue skies advisor,” Julius Nicholson, on The Thick of It. Other roles include those in Peaky Blinders, Black Mirror, The Inbetweeners, Downton Abbey: A New Era, In the Loop, Slow West, and All Is True.
Lord Caterham is Bundle’s deceased father, who died on the continent under suspicious circumstances.
Glen played devoted knight Jorah Mormont on Game of Thrones. Other roles include those in Silo, Resident Evil, Jack Taylor, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Titans, Downton Abbey, and The Rig.
Other cast members include:
