Murder Is Easy is a two-part BBC crime thriller directed by Meenu Gaur and adapted by Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre from Agatha Christie’s 1939 novel of the same name. It premiered on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 27 and 28 December 2023, produced by Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited as a co-commission with BritBox International.
The story follows Luke Fitzwilliam (David Jonsson), a Nigerian attaché travelling to Whitehall in 1954, who meets the elderly Miss Lavinia Pinkerton (Penelope Wilton) on a train to London. She tells him she believes a series of “accidental” deaths in the village of Wychwood-under-Ashe are in fact murders — and that she knows who will die next. When Miss Pinkerton is killed in a hit-and-run soon after, Fitzwilliam travels to the village himself to investigate, joining a run of recent BBC/Agatha Christie Limited adaptations that have brought Christie’s lesser-adapted novels to television with reworked, more diverse casting.
Quick Facts
| Title | Murder Is Easy |
| Format | 2-part television drama |
| Network | BBC One / BBC iPlayer (UK); BritBox International |
| Release date | 27–28 December 2023 |
| Based on | Murder Is Easy (1939) by Agatha Christie |
| Director | Meenu Gaur |
| Writer | Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre |
| Composer | Segun Akinola |
| Genre | Mystery, thriller, drama |
| Soundtrack album | Murder Is Easy (Original Television Soundtrack) — 39 tracks, released 29 December 2023 (Dubois Records) |
Who Composed the Murder Is Easy Soundtrack?
Segun Akinola composed the score. He is a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit (2017) best known for taking over as composer and music director of Doctor Who from “The Woman Who Fell to Earth” (2018) through “The Power of the Doctor” (2022), succeeding longtime series composer Murray Gold. Akinola trained at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the National Film and Television School, and earlier credits include the BBC Two documentary series Black and British: A Forgotten History and Shola Amoo’s feature A Moving Image (2016).
The full score was released digitally as Murder Is Easy (Original Television Soundtrack) on 29 December 2023, two days after the series premiered, through Dubois Records under license from Agatha Christie Limited.
Every Song (by Scene)
All 39 cues are composed by Segun Akinola. Here is the complete track listing from the official soundtrack album, in album order:
| # | Track |
|---|---|
| 1 | Murder Is Easy Opening Titles |
| 2 | The Forest |
| 3 | The Journey to England |
| 4 | I Have to Report Murder |
| 5 | Arriving at Waterloo |
| 6 | Never Say Die |
| 7 | Make Them Proud |
| 8 | The Train to Wychwood |
| 9 | I Didn’t See Him Fall |
| 10 | A Secret Mission |
| 11 | Heading to Ashe Manor |
| 12 | Popular Beliefs in Violent Death |
| 13 | Can Fitzwilliam Save Amy? |
| 14 | The Mill |
| 15 | There’s Something I’d Like to Show You |
| 16 | The Connection |
| 17 | I Could Do a Doctor Thomas |
| 18 | We Were There |
| 19 | Why Do You Care? |
| 20 | He Who Casts the First Stone |
| 21 | Scientific Interests |
| 22 | Nothing Suspicious |
| 23 | Lost in the Forest |
| 24 | The Ill-Advised Party |
| 25 | Locking Eyes |
| 26 | Unforgivable |
| 27 | The Surgery Confession |
| 28 | A Man Or a Person? |
| 29 | Call the Police |
| 30 | A Friendly Warning |
| 31 | I Know What to Do |
| 32 | A Religious Matter |
| 33 | The Canary |
| 34 | The Clean Up |
| 35 | All My Life I Was Nothing |
| 36 | A Respectable Person Disrespected |
| 37 | Dangerously Romantic Tosh |
| 38 | The Journey Home |
| 39 | Murder Is Easy End Credits |
Where to Stream
The full Murder Is Easy (Original Television Soundtrack) is available on Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music. The series itself aired on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK and is available via BritBox International elsewhere; for more UK crime drama and mystery adaptations, see our TV soundtrack hub.
Cast
- David Jonsson as Luke Obiako Fitzwilliam
- Morfydd Clark as Bridget Conway
- Penelope Wilton as Miss Lavinia Pinkerton
- Douglas Henshall as Major Horton
- Mathew Baynton as Dr Thomas
- Tom Riley as Lord Whitfield
Frequently Asked Questions
Who composed the Murder Is Easy soundtrack?
Segun Akinola, the composer who scored Doctor Who from 2018 to 2022, wrote the full score for the 2023 BBC adaptation of Murder Is Easy.
When did Murder Is Easy air?
The two-part series premiered on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 27 and 28 December 2023.
Is Murder Is Easy based on a real Agatha Christie novel?
Yes. It is adapted from Agatha Christie’s 1939 novel of the same name, with the screenplay by Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre reworking the lead character, Luke Fitzwilliam, as a Nigerian attaché.
Where can I listen to the Murder Is Easy soundtrack?
The 39-track official soundtrack album is streaming on Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music, released 29 December 2023.
Who plays Luke Fitzwilliam in Murder Is Easy?
David Jonsson plays Luke Fitzwilliam, opposite Penelope Wilton as Miss Lavinia Pinkerton and Morfydd Clark as Bridget Conway.
Related reading: Explore more BBC and mystery drama scores on our TV soundtrack hub, or browse titles streaming via Prime Video and other platforms on our streaming guide.