# Ordeal by Innocence (2018)

> A stranger's claim that the family's executed-in-spirit black sheep was innocent forces the Argylls to face that their matriarch's killer may still live among them.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/64706

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 3
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama, mystery
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: Bill Nighy, Anthony Boyle, Anna Chancellor, Morven Christie, Crystal Clarke, Christian Cooke, Alice Eve, Matthew Goode
- TMDB rating: 7.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6118426/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: melancholic, tense, measured, atmospheric

## What critics say

Audiences rated this Agatha Christie adaptation positively, praising its polished mystery and ensemble cast.

## Synopsis

Ordeal by Innocence (2018) is a British three-episode miniseries created for BBC One, a prestige adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel. Bill Nighy plays patriarch Leo Argyll, whose family is rocked when a stranger arrives at their doorstep claiming that Jack Argyll (Anthony Boyle), the black sheep convicted of murdering the family matriarch, was innocent. Anna Chancellor, Morven Christie and Matthew Goode round out a sprawling household of relatives, spouses and suspicious in-laws, each with reasons to hide something. The engine of the story is a slow, methodical unravelling: a reopened cold case, a handful of interviews in a crumbling country estate, and gradual revelations that turn every relationship into a question. Its tone is measured, melancholic and quietly tense, the drama built on grief, resentment and class-bound pride rather than gore. Shape and scale are compact, a single closed mystery told across three hour-long episodes. Fans of And Then There Were None, Broadchurch and Gosford Park will find resonance in its country house atmosphere and whodunit mechanics.

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