Aidan 'Poldark' Turner to star in "And Then There Were None"

Photo by Jason Bell for Vanity Fair

As a newly hatched Aidan Turner fan—blame it on Poldark—I'm especially excited to know that he'll be starring in And Then There Were None, the latest in a long line of adaptations of Agatha Christie's murder mystery Then Little Indians.

Turner, who I'm also waiting to see in The Secret Scripture takes on Philip Lombard, the part played by sexy seventies leading man, Oliver Reed. The upcoming 3 part television series also stars Sam Neil, Charles Dance, Anna Maxwell Martin, Miranda Richardson, Toby Stephens and Douglas Booth.

The classic story, adapted by Sarah Phelps (The Casual Vacancy,Great Expectations) is set in 1939 England as the country is on the verge of World War II.  Ten strangers, all invited by a mysteriously absent host, gather in an isolated location on England's Devon coast, where they learn each of them is accused of having a terrible wrongdoing in their background. One by one —until there were none— the guests begin to die off, killed off, leading those remaining in fear and suspicion of a murderer among them. It's one of those stories that everyone knows even if you haven't read it. There've been so many screen versions of the story it's impossible for you not to have seen it sometime, somewhere.

Turner's Philip Lombard character is one of the most mysterious guests;  a former military man and soldier of fortune who is both brave and dangerous, mostly because he's not at all afraid to face his own demons. In Christie's novel Lombard's main flaw is his own antiquated attitude towards women. He can't ascribe murderous behavior to the weaker sex and is in favor of eliminating women from the lists of suspects. Oh silly boy!

Aidan Turner takes on the role Oliver Reed played in the 1974 screen adaptation

The BBC and Lifetime (Lifetime?) are partnering on the three part series which is set to air in the UK sometime in 2015 to coincide with Agatha Christie's 125th birthday. Those of us in the states will have to wait a wee bit longer. Filming now in Devon and Cornwall, it should be worth the wait.

The story has been adapted for the screen several times including  the 1974 version in which Oliver Reed starred as Lombard and Elke Sommer played Vera Clyde, definitely not above suspicion. Let's see if we can find a funky, outdated, vintage trailer.