Why Didn't They Ask Evans REVIEW... (Who Knew Dr. House [Hugh Laurie] Could do Agatha Christie Like a BOSS?!?)

Delightfully bringing to mind all of those effervescent, cinematic comedies of the ‘30s and ‘40s—the ones where witty, rapid-fire banter bounced between the leads like a game of profesh table tennis, and love eventually reigned supreme (but only after a whole lot of satisfying ups/downs and assorted feats of derring do)—BritBox’s new Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? ticks all of the boxes for a modern-day, old-school romp… and maaaaaaan, am I HERE for it!

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Penned (and directed) by Hugh Laurie [Dr. House, anyone?], this screenplay—based on an Agatha Christie story of the same name—is a bonafide classic, interpreted brilliantly.

Instead of completely modernizing it, though, and trying to make some grand statement about… well, whatever… he stays true to the heart of it, complete with intelligent main characters who want nothing so much as to solve a good mystery.

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While out caddying for his old doctor-cum-fellow-war-vet-cum-mentor, the recently-back-from-said-war (and vicar’s son) Bobby Jones stumbles upon a man who has… well, found himself suddenly off a rather substantial cliff. (How this off-the-cliffing occurred—by choice or not—Bobby has nary a clue.) One significant thing takes place, though, after young Bobby has made it down the treacherous cliffside to the bottom, where the stranger lies broken: the man gasps out a seemingly-nonsensical question, “Why didn’t they ask Evans?”, then promptly expires.

And Bobby has questions. [Not of the dead man… but of others, most definitely.] Questions… which the inquest does not fully answer. (A mystery woman seen briefly by Bobby on a photo in the dead man’s pocket… does not match the woman claiming to be the same, at the formal hearing. And Bobby definitely didn’t get the feeling that this man jumped on purpose… especially not considering the rather odd--and absolutely peculiar--question uttered. Plus, where is the unknown gent whom Bobby eventually left to watch over the dead man before the police arrived, when Bobby had to scoot off to church?)

Meanwhile, Bobby’s childhood friend, the now-also-grown-up--and quite attractively so--(Lady) Frances (Frankie, if you please) Derwent, is back in the area, and… very interested in Bobby’s near-death (minus-just-one-small-degree-of-separation) experience [among other things…].

So, if you know anything about classic films—especially those blessed with vivacious and brilliant women as the leads—then you can probably figure out what’s gonna happen next. Yes, Frankie (okay, fine, with a teensy bit of help from Bobby and his best pal, Knocker) devise a plan to uncover whatever’s behind… well, at least the absent watcher’s part in everything. 

The plan she/they devise—and how everything transpires from that point? Well, you simply MUST watch, to experience all of that. [Suffice it to say, there is the most-delicious abundance of witty repartee, and overthinking, and inevitable-yet-still-somehow-surprising twists of events, which… NO, seriously, you need to do this on your own. It’s simply too much fun to have any tiny portion of it spoiled for you!]

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The writing for Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (circa 2022) is truly superb. (Like, I’m transported to a Cary Grant/Rosalind Russell/Katherine Hepburn/Jimmy Stewart/etc., black-and-white gem, in all its delightful glory.) Nothing is forced, here; the nearly-three-hour run time (split into a trio of almost-hour-long chunks for the modern streaming viewers’ convenience) is the perfect length to get a real feel for everyone, and for the environments. [I can only think that Laurie has a genuine love for this genre, because he does it fantastic justice.] 

The set design, location shots, and costuming are all outstanding. As a viewer, you get a real feel for small-town English life in the early-to-mid 1930s (for both the more-common folk and for the gentrified).  

And, in true Christie form, there’s that persistent “how-on-earth-will-this-all-wrap-up?!?” feeling, as our intrepid leads, Bobby and Frankie, work their way down an ever-shortening list of possible motives and miscreants. [Never fear, for it most definitely does wrap up, in clever form, and with plenty of “after thats”, as well..!]

As bubbly as a flute of champagne, as sweet as a box of Sugar Babies, and as savory as a... [sorry, a proper '30s meat dish is eluding me, right now] juicy slab of beef(?)... this one has it all.

So much so, in fact, that the hugely-grinning emoji? That was, quite literally, me, after watching the final credits on Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had so quite so much sheer fun watching anything new. 

[tldr: This is classic-madcap fun. Watch. Enjoy. Thank me later.]

~GlamKitty

(If you're struggling to access Britbox, it's available for easy subscription via Amazon Prime)