BBC's Magpie Murders' sequel confirms new cast members
The BBC's Magpie Murders sequel Moonflower Murders has confirmed its cast, with some new faces joining the original stars.
Reprising their roles from Magpie Murders are The Crown stars Lesley Manville as book editor-turned-sleuth Susan Ryeland and Timothy McMullan as famous literary detective Atticus Pünd.
The protagonists are joined by new cast members Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Nolly) as Parris/Berlin, Rosalie Craig (Anatomy of A Scandal, The Queen's Gambit) as Lisa/Melissa, Pippa Bennett-Warner (A Bit of Light, Gangs of London) as Madeline and Adrian Rawlins (Slow Horses, Living) as Lawrence/Lance.
The cast is rounded out by other stars returning from Magpie Murders, namely Alexandros Logothetis (The Island, Exelixi) as Andreas, Daniel Mays (Des, The Long Shadow) as Locke/Chubb, Claire Rushbrook (Sherwood, Wilderness) as Kate, Conleth Hill (The Power of Parker, Game of Thrones) as Alan Conway, Matthew Beard (Vienna Blood, Dracula) as James, and Sanjeev Kohli (River City, Dog Squad) as Sajid Khan.
Related: The Crown's Lesley Manville teases Magpie Murders character
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An adaptation of the best-selling novel by Anthony Horowitz, who also wrote the script, the upcoming crime series is directed by Bad Sisters' Rebecca Gatward.
Picking up where Magpie Murders left off, the new series will see Susan living in Crete with her longtime boyfriend, Andreas.
"Her idyll is disturbed by the shadow of a murder committed at a British country hotel eight years ago," the synopsis reads.
"Alan Conway visited the hotel and wrote a novel based on what happened there. Cecily Treherne, the young woman who helps run the hotel, read the book and believed the wrong man had been arrested. Now she has disappeared.
"Can Susan uncover the secret hidden in the book and find Cecily before it is too late?"
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Related: BBC's new Agatha Christie series Murder is Easy gets first-look trailer
Speaking about reprising the role of Susan for this new adventure, Manville praised the ingenious adaptation penned by Horowitz.
"I had an incredible time returning to the role of the smart and feisty Susan Ryeland. Anthony Horowitz has written another ingenious adaptation and I'm thrilled to be a part of it," the Oscar-nominated star said in a statement.
For his part, Horowitz promises "a whole new box of tricks" for this chapter.
"I've been watching the filming of Moonflower Murders with joy," he said.
"We're back with the same cast, including Lesley Manville, Tim McMullan and Danny Mays – but this time we've got a whole new box of tricks to present as literary editor Susan Ryeland untangles another book within a book and another series of unfathomable murders.
"I can't wait to show it to our audience."
Sue Deeks, Head of Programme Acquisition for the BBC, echoed Horowitz's feelings, saying: "Moonflower Murders is a gloriously entertaining, inventive and original 'mystery within a mystery within a disappearance' – it is simply irresistible,"
Moonflower Murders will air on BBC One and stream on BBC iPlayer. In the US, the series will be available on PBS.org, the PBS App and the PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Video Channel.
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