# The Pale Horse (2020)

> A young investigator tracing names found in a dead woman's shoe is drawn into a village of rumored witches who may be poisoning wealthy relatives.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/79270

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 2
- Episode runtime: 59 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: mystery, horror
- Created by: Sarah Phelps
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: Rufus Sewell, Kaya Scodelario, Georgina Campbell, Sean Pertwee, Bertie Carvel, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Sheila Atim, Rita Tushingham
- TMDB rating: 6.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10485750/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: eerie, foreboding, atmospheric, gothic, tense

## What critics say

Audiences rated this single-season adaptation negatively, with its witchcraft-tinged murder mystery seen as a middling take on Agatha Christie material.

## Synopsis

The Pale Horse (2020) is a British two-part miniseries created by Sarah Phelps for BBC One, adapted from the Agatha Christie novel. Rufus Sewell plays Mark Easterbrook, one of the people named on a list found in the shoe of a dead woman, and Kaya Scodelario plays Hermia Easterbrook, whose family is drawn into the unsettling mystery. Sean Pertwee appears as Inspector Stanley Lejeune, while Bertie Carvel plays Zachariah Osborne. The engine of the story is a search for the truth behind a list of names, as Mark begins asking questions that lead him toward a small village and a house known as the Pale Horse. Local whispers hold that a trio of women there can dispatch wealthy relatives through dark arts, and every answer seems to deepen the unease. Set in 1960s England, the series moves through village lanes, old houses and quiet interviews, building a slow, foreboding atmosphere. Its tone is eerie and atmospheric, with a rural gothic chill and a steady undercurrent of dread. Fans of And Then There Were None, The Witch and Broadchurch will find resonance in its mix of period mystery, folk menace and family secrets. Across its two episodes, it offers a compact, self-contained puzzle with a bittersweet close.

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