Celtic Christie: Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?

A dying man’s final, puzzling question - “Why didn’t they ask Evans?” – provides the title for Agatha Christie’s 1934 novel. What singles this book out is that the investigation is not undertaken by Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, but by Bobby Jones and Lady Frances Derwent – childhood friends whose suspicions compel them to try their hand at some amateur sleuthing.

All the twists and turns of plot that Christie does so well are here, along with a charming and humorous evocation of the between-the-wars generation of Bright Young Things that has echoes of PG Wodehouse and Evelyn Waugh.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters - now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for R4.

Nicola Upson is a crime novelist known for her series of novels that feature a fictional version of the writer Josephine Tey as the heroine and detective. Nicola is also member of The Detection Club.

Hugh Laurie archive clip taken from Front Row, BBC Radio 4 – 3 April 2023

Agatha Christie archive clip taken from Agatha Christie: Speaking Her Own Words, Ep 4 Keeping Notes – BBC Radio 4 Extra – 30 December 2015

Reading from Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie (copyright 1934, Agatha Christie Limited – a Chorion company)

Reader: Emily Pithon
Music: Torquil MacLeod
Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4