This fall's arrival of Magpie Murders, a British murder mystery within a murder mystery that spans two time periods, is the culmination of a long journey for its cast and creators.
Lesley Manville leads the Masterpiece six-parter, debuting October 16 on PBS. The series is based on a 2016 bestseller of the same name by Anthony Horowitz, who adapted it for the screen.
"I know Anthony and [executive producer] Jill Green, and we'd been discussing this as a project for some years," says Manville, whose many acting honors include an Oscar nomination for Phantom Thread. "Over that time, part of you has to keep your fingers crossed and trust." But the result, she declares, "exceeded my expectations."
The thriller flips between modern-day reality and 1950s Britain as described in a novel — also called Magpie Murders — by Alan Conway (Conleth Hill). Before his suspicious death, Conway was a client of the publisher where Manville's editor-turned-sleuth Susan Ryeland works.
"The novel is written in two halves, with the period and contemporary stories entirely separate. I was thinking, 'How is Anthony going to cross these over?' Even though he'd written the book, that must have been a real headache."
Besides the concept and the script, Manville believes everything from editing to wardrobe and production design play significant roles in the success of Magpie Murders, which she describes as "quirky and vibrant, with an edge."
"All the departments do their job brilliantly," she says. "In one scene, my red sportscar is going in one direction, a 1950s Morris Minor is going in the other direction, and suddenly you're in the other world." The actress credits director Peter Cattaneo for understanding the rhythm of the story. "He understood it cinematographically," she adds.
Even Manville's choice of footwear — high heels inspired by real-life British journalist Emily Maitlis (following a fleeting encounter in the BBC lobby) — helped the actress find her character.
"Emily was wearing a high heel because it made her feel fabulous. She instantly sprang into my mind with Susan. Because of my history with the filmmaker Mike Leigh, I can't walk around without my antennae soaking up everything in my daily life," says Manville, who's starred in several of Leigh's films and later this year will appear as Princess Margaret in season five of Netflix's The Crown.
"Annie Hardinge, our costume designer, was brilliant," she adds. "She brought all these amazing clothes, these colors, and this slightly exotic look at times. It would be easy to do a boring, run-of-the-mill whodunit, but Magpie Murders is none of those things."
This article originally appeared in emmy magazine issue #10, 2022, under the title, "Page Turner."
