“Murder is Easy” is an interesting adaptation of Agatha Christie’s famous novel that brings it to a new generation of viewers through BBC’s exceptional storytelling. This interesting story, which you can watch on BBC iPlayer, is full of mystery, deception, and social criticism. As people travel through the cute village of Wychwood, they will be treated to a treat that will fill their need for a murder mystery in a very satisfying way.
Luke Fitzwilliam, the main character, is reimagined as a young Nigerian minister, played by David Jonsson. This is a big change to the story. Taking this turn from the original story gives the story new angles and makes us think about race, power, and identity. In a rural village setting, the changed characters figure out a complicated web of murder and lies. Each turn adds another layer of tension to the story.
What is an Ikenga in the BBC show Murder is Easy?
Notably different from Christie’s original work is that Fitzwilliam is now a Black character, a Nigerian minister in the UK to be exact. Fitzwilliam’s recurring nightmares about an Ikenga, a Nigerian artifact, add another level of depth to this version. The Ikenga represents the right hand, the personal God, and the power to choose one’s own fate, which is summed up by the phrase “strength of movement.”
The part of Fitzwilliam’s dream where he drops the Ikenga and it starts to burn is a metaphor for how lost he feels. After he figures out what happened, he sees the dream as a message telling him to go back to Nigeria instead of living with Bridget. The Ikenga symbol isn’t just in Fitzwilliam; it’s also in Whitfield’s house. It shows how people collect things that don’t belong to them, which is a theme that runs through the larger discussion of colonialism.
