Pop culture fixtures like Agatha Christie, or even Doctor Who, have such long lives due to the fans that cherish them. So when two fandoms such as these collide, it’s bound to make a bit of a splash. That’s exactly what happened during the 10th Doctor era of the series, as David Tennant’s version of the character got to meet Agatha herself.
Fifteen years after “The Unicorn and the Wasp” first aired, Christie’s great-grandson James Pritchard has shared his feelings on what the episode means to him. Speaking with the CEO of the Agatha Christie Estate for the upcoming movie A Haunting in Venice, the subject of adapting the Christie canon was a primary focus in our conversation.
This only made the opportunity to discuss a Doctor Who episode adapting a moment from the acclaimed author’s life even more exciting to partake in. When asked how he felt about the Gareth Roberts penned story, James Pritchard shared the following prideful answer with CinemaBlend:
I think the first thing I took from it was that it’s a sort of testimony to her power in culture in the UK. I mean there aren’t many novelists you’d put in Doctor Who. Doctor Who has its own huge place in British culture, and I think it was a privilege to have her included in that. And I think that’s what you take from it. When anyone thinks about ‘murder mystery,’ they think about Agatha Christie. She’s synonymous with the genre. And I think that is a testimony to her profile, her success.
Played by Fenella Woolgar, Agatha Christie gets wrapped up in a murder mystery that eventually leads to her real life disappearance in 1926. Sort of acting as “the true story” behind this still unexplained mystery, The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) partake in a classic whodunnit alongside one of the genre’s most legendary practitioners. In other words, this is a tale that’s pretty much in line with classic Doctor Who; even if this episode was released only 15 years ago.
It also helps that Gareth Roberts is a pretty big Christie fan, who nabbed the assignment to craft a story connected to her legacy after his work on Season 3’s “The Shakespeare Code.” As reported by the BBC, all it took was a suggestion from series producer Phil Collinson, and “The Unicorn and the Wasp” was off and running.
In true Doctor Who fashion, this visit to the past had some wider implications for the universe, as it was revealed that Agatha Christie was “the best selling novelist of all time,” even in the year 5,000,000,000. Just as James Pritchard noted in his response to “The Unicorn and the Wasp,” the success of his great-grandmother’s work has persisted over the ages, and built quite a lot of cultural cache in the process. Which in the eyes of this sci-fi legend, means that it will leave the boundaries of our planet and inspire species of all kinds.
Much like David Tennant and Catherine Tate themselves, this selection from the Doctor Who library is still pretty amazing after 15 years. For this similarly resilient sci-fi legend to presume the Christie legacy will cross the stars in the far flung future truly is a fond doff of the cap. Especially when it's about to celebrate its 60th anniversary this fall, with a reunion of The Doctor and Donna in the cards once again.
Of course, another sign of the endurance of Agatha Christie’s legacy is the success of Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot films. The latest entry, A Haunting in Venice, hits theaters this weekend; and the critical reaction to Poirot’s return has signaled that yet another winner is about to enter that canon. But soon enough, you the reader will be able to deduce whether or not that's the truth.
However, if you want to dig a little deeper into this franchise, you can watch the previous film Death on the Nile, through access to a Hulu subscription. Also, if you’d like to revisit “The Unicorn and the Wasp,” that can be found alongside the rest of the modern Doctor Who run, by using your Max subscription.
