Amazon makes a new Ordeal out some vintage Agatha Christie

By Maggie Donahue | August 10, 2018 | 5:00am

TV Lists What's On Tonight

Amazon makes a new Ordeal out some vintage Agatha Christie

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, August 10 and Saturday, August 11. All times are Eastern.

Top pick

Ordeal By Innocence (Friday, Amazon): An unsolved murder makes a new case for one of Agatha Christie’s personal favorites on Friday, adding to the growing list of new and upcoming Christie TV adaptations. When wealthy philanthropist Rachel Argyll (Anna Chancellor) is found with her head bashed in, her firebrand of an adoptive son, Jack (Anthony Boyle), is the prime suspect. More than a year later, after Jack has died in prison while awaiting trial, a stranger arrives with poorly timed evidence proving that Jack couldn’t have killed his mother, forcing the Argyll family to face the unsettling realization that the killer is still among them. For a story about digging up new answers, it’s only fitting that writer Sarah Phelps (And Then There Were None) keeps the mystery alive with key changes to Christie’s classic whodunnit, so that even the most avid Christie fans can relish in a twist ending. And with an ensemble cast featuring the likes of Bill Nighy, Catherine Keener, Matthew Goode, and Alice Eve (to name just a few), there are certainly a number of directions the plot can take. We’ll be waiting in suspense for William Hughes’ account of the series.

Regular coverage

The Great British Baking Show (PBS, check local listings)
DuckTales (Saturday, Disney, 9:30 a.m.)

Wild card

Demetri Martin: The Overthinker (Netflix, 3:01 a.m.): Given Demetri Martin’s clever, observational approach to comedy—composed of one-liners often delivered with musical accompaniment and visual aids—The Overthinker is an appropriate title. But he’s made moves toward an increased vulnerability in his work, as evidenced by his directorial debut, Dean, which earned Best Narrative Feature honors at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. Dennis Perkins weighs in on whether or not The Overthinker aims for the brain, the heart, or both.