Articles about Sarah Phelps
Crafting The Sixth Commandment
Ahead of the Bafta Television Craft Awards, nominated writer Sarah Phelps unpacks the success of true crime drama The Sixth Commandment and explains why audiences are craving shared experiences and how she writes her way out of trouble.
Sixth sense
Telling the tale of a serial killer who manipulated and gaslit his victims, true crime series The Sixth Commandment has been hailed as one of the dramas of the year. Writer Sarah Phelps and producers Brian Woods and Derek Wax reveal how this story came to the screen.
Duchess of Scandal
Writer Sarah Phelps and executive producer Delyth Scudamore discuss how they sought to readdress history and the maligned profile of the Duchess of Argyll in BBC and Prime Video drama A Very British Scandal.
In the saddle
Director Leonora Lonsdale takes DQ behind the scenes of The Pale Horse, the fifth Agatha Christie adaptation from the BBC and writer Sarah Phelps.
Dark tales
Known for her frequent Agatha Christie adaptations, writer Sarah Phelps reveals how she transformed Tana French’s Irish crime novels into BBC drama Dublin Murders.
Easy as ABC
The ABC Murders is the latest Agatha Christie novel to be reinvented for the BBC by writer Sarah Phelps and producer Mammoth Screen. The creative team behind the project gathered at Content London 2018 to discuss the adaptation process and casting John Malkovich as Poirot.
Bunting and blood
Long-hidden secrets are revealed in Ordeal by Innocence, a murder mystery that shatters the perfect image of a 1950s family. DQ hears from stars Bill Nighy and Morven Christie and writer Sarah Phelps about the latest Agatha Christie adaptation coming to the BBC.
Reading between the lines
A trio of the world’s hottest television writers – Bill Gallagher, Victoria Madden and Sarah Phelps – discuss their latest projects and reveal how they find their voice for the small screen.
And Then There Was Sarah Phelps
Screenwriter Sarah Phelps tells DQ how she is reinventing Agatha Christie for a new audience, first with And Then There Were None and now with two-part drama The Witness for the Prosecution.
Cattrall bears Witness
The BBC’s Agatha Christie revival continues with two-part crime thriller The Witness for the Prosecution. DQ speaks to star Kim Cattrall about playing a murder victim and why she wants to give women a voice in television.
Phelps bears Witness
Writer Sarah Phelps reunites with Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Productions to adapt another classic Christie novel. Michael Pickard finds out more about The Witness for the Prosecution.
A busy August in Edinburgh
The Edinburgh International TV Festival has become a major platform for news about new British drama, while Turkey’s The End is getting another remake.
Brits dominate Rose D’Or scripted
The nominations for this year’s Rose D’Or scripted categories are all UK shows. Andy Fry looks at some of the runners and riders.
Second to None: DQ on the darkest Agatha Christie adaptation yet
And Then There Were None is Agatha Christie’s seminal murder mystery – but just how was this story of 10 strangers stranded on an isolated island brought to the screen?
Great Expectations: On set with the BBC’s Dickensian
Tony Jordan has brought together some of literature’s best-known characters in a celebration of Charles Dickens. DQ went on the set while Dickensian was still filming to find out why those behind the show were sure of its success.
Writers go global
The message from the C21 Drama Summit is that writers have never had it so good. They are letting their imaginations run riot – with stunning results. But the TV industry also needs to make sure it is nurturing a new generation of writers.
Agatha Christie Ltd CEO Hilary Strong talks to DQ
Agatha Christie Ltd CEO Hilary Strong explains why adaptations of the celebrated author’s stories, which remain popular across the world, will keep on coming.
From stage to screen
One of the UK’s biggest TV dramas of the year so far, Doctor Foster, was penned by a playwright, Mike Bartlett. This week we look at the increasingly seamless relationship between writing for the stage and writing for the small screen.
And then there was Sarah…
Sarah Phelps, who has just adapted Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None for BBC1, is equally at home writing an episode of soap EastEnders or reworking literary classics like Great Expectations. She tells DQ how she goes about her business.
ITV digs into Ancient Egypt
The UK’s ITV unveils a drama by Guy Burt about the search for Tutankhamun’s tomb, a popular Agatha Christie novel gets the adaptation treatment from BBC1 and Lifetime, HBO’s star-studded reboot of cult sci-fi movie Westworld moves ahead and Gérard Depardieu is cast in Dan Franck’s Marseille.