A partially faithful adaptation of the book, although it rearranges certain lines of dialogue, and changes certain conversations up to include bits of the prose that weren't verbalized by the roles . The opening titles shows characters running through a maze , subsequently the vicar's (Alistair Petrie) son Bobby Jones (Will Poulter) and Dr. Alwyn Thomas play a round of golf, Bobby slices his ball over the edge of a cliff. His ball is lost, but on the rocks below he finds the crumpled body of a dying man. With his final breath the man opens his eyes and gasps, 'Why didn't they ask Evans?'. Becoming convinced the man's death may have been a murder , Bobby and his socialite friend Lady Frances "Frankie" Derwent (Lucy Boynton) set about solving the mystery.
This TV movie happens to be a murder mystery in three episodes dealing with dying man's enigmatic last words send vicar's son, Bobby Jones, and his socialite friend, Lady Frankie Derwent, on a crime-solving adventure . It is very well-made, actually looking authentic without being too heavy on scenarios including gorgeous photography , as well gowns and sets that are both sumptuous and brilliant . There are some enjoyable elements to this story, Lucy Boynton and Will Poulter drive the film , they literally are pretty good for the material and script they're given . The dialogue is faithful to Agatha Christie and helps to make the mystery interesting throughout, and the story, while paced slowly but adequately, is both suspenseful and intricate , if seemingly implausible on first viewing . This is a fine decision, as it fits better with the TV format than the novel's version of the scene would . As a result this adaptation is quite good, but there are some problems dragging it down. "Why Didn't They Ask Evans ?" is three hours long, and it really doesn't need to be . There are numerous scenes that could have easily been trimmed . There are a lot of scenes where the camera is just aimlessly surveying its surroundings, or characters are taking forever in walking/sneaking around . The acting in ¨Why Didn't They Ask Evans?¨ is all good , the actors are all British giving sympathetic interpretations , such as : Will Poulter, Lucy Boynton , Daniel Ings, Alistair Petrie , Jonathan Jules , Nicholas Asbury , Richard Dixon and director Hugh Laurie himself , among others .
This nice adaptation with some mistakes was professionally written and directed by Hugh Laurie. This notable actor , producer and director is known for playing : House series (2004), Catch-22 (2019) , Tomorrowland (2015) , The Flight of the Phoenix (2004) , Stuart Little (1999) . And he has written produced or directed various films or television movies , such as : Chance ,The Night Manager , Live On The Queen Mary , The Laughing Prisoner , The Crystal Cube and various episodes of House.
There're other versions about this story : ¨Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (1980) with Francesca Annis , John Gielgud , Bernard Miles , Eric Porter , Leigh Lawson. And Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (2009), which was episode 4 of Season 4 of Marple directed by Nicholas Renton with Julia McKenzie , Samantha Bond , Richard Briers , Rik Mayall , Rafe Spall , Natalie Dormer , Warren Clarke , Mark Williams .
