Agatha Christie of course produced two of the most famous series detectives, Poirot and Marple, but she probably could’ve produced many more if she desired to. An intriguing path-not-quite-taken is Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent from “The Secret of Chimneys” (1925) and “The Seven Dials Mystery” (1929).
Bundle predates Nancy Drew by five years but, as a teen in “Chimneys,” doesn’t arrive as a fully formed detective. She’s more of an intrigued observer. Then she becomes the central amateur sleuth in “Seven Dials.” This is likely why “Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials” (three episodes, Netflix) skips over “Chimneys” and cuts to Bundle’s star-making turn.
In a precise opposite of the low-budget 1981 TV movie, this series is production-designed to the hilt, lushly lensed by Luke Bryant and tied together by director Chris Sweeney. It might be a beautiful parade of meaningless scenes except the performances pop like the scenery of the Chimneys castle and a train moving across the UK, maximizing Christie’s characterizations.
“Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials” (2026)
Three episodes, Netflix
Director: Chris Sweeney
Writer: Chris Chibnall, based on the novel by Agatha Christie
Stars: Mia McKenna-Bruce, Edward Bluemel, Martin Freeman
Foremost, “Seven Dials” is a showcase for Bundle actress Mia McKenna-Bruce. She has a Florence Pugh quality as she emerges into leading roles about a decade after her fellow Brit (although she’s only a year younger).
Lady Eileen is petite but her headstrong nature belies that. Though never quirky – especially in relation to a show that leans into the Rian Johnson quirky mystery style – she is surprising in an era when women have just gained equal voting rights. This is appealingly balanced by modesty as she assists Superintendent Battle (Martin Freeman, nicely toning down his trademark neurosis to play the “just the facts, ma’am” state sleuth).
A century of international intrigue begins
Bundle is a bundle of energy and her mom, Lady Caterham (Helena Bonham Carter, who might’ve raided the eccentric Trelawny’s wardrobe on her way off the “Harry Potter” soundstages), is a bundle of nerves. Lady Caterham gender-swaps with the book’s Lord Caterham but the dynamic between single parent and lone child remains.
Alex Macqueen is a tasty sideshow as the simultaneously articulate and flustered statesman Lomax. Bundle is surrounded by up-and-coming statesmen or movers-and-shakers of her own age – with Edward Bluemel (as handsome Jimmy) and Hughie O’Donnell (as food-loving Bill) particularly matching her in presence — but they still have some youthful wildness to burn off. The plot ticks forward with their prank to wake up friend Gerry with a roomful of alarm clocks; when he’s found dead, mystery and sadness seep into the playfulness.
We’ve had a century of spy-gaming in fiction and reality since the time of “Seven Dials,” so going back there seems quaint in 2026, when governments use blackmail and subterfuge to control other governments. Though Bundle’s friend Socks likes the word “subtle,” international intrigue has become blunt. “Seven Dials” is never thematically hefty, but it does make one long for a past when evildoers had some self-restraint.
Writer/showrunner Chris Chibnall, though he’s largely faithful to Christie, goes beyond the author’s British pride to provide an anti-nationalist perspective in a surprise ending. Also striking, Bundle gets an invite similar to the assembling of the Avengers at the end of “Iron Man.”
So fans of the book must clock on the depressing fact that “Seven Dials” was the last Bundle story Christie wrote. And though the Christie estate allows rejiggering of plots (including this one), it has never OK’d a brand-new screen story with her characters. Going back and doing “Chimneys” might be disappointing because Bundle is a lesser character there. The best we can do, I suppose, is follow McKenna-Bruce’s career. Not a bad consolation prize.
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