Latest news with #murderMystery
Khaleej Times
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Nicole Kidman to star in TV adaptation of 'Girls and Their Horses'
Hollywood star Nicole Kidman will star in and executive produce a new series adapted from Girls and Their Horses by Eliza Jane Brazier. Brazier's novel, set in the idyllic community of Rancho Santa Fe, California, follows the newly wealthy Parker family as their daughters enter the fiercely competitive world of horseback riding, reported People. The murder mystery is currently in development and will be co-produced by Legendary Television and Amazon MGM Studios for Prime Video. Jenna Lamia will serve as showrunner and executive producer, as per the outlet. The actress has starred in several successful book-to-television adaptations in recent years, including Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, reported People. The casting details are still under wraps. Meanwhile, Kidman will be seen in the sequel to the 1998's Practical Magic. The film also stars Sandra Bullock. The movie, directed by Susanne Bier, is set to be released on September 18, 2026, and will feature Bullock and Kidman reprising their roles as witch sisters Sally and Gillian Owens. The film is based on Alice Hoffman's novel and will explore themes of sisterhood, female empowerment, and domestic abuse with a touch of supernatural fun. Susanne Bier is directing the film, which Bullock, Kidman, and Denise Di Novi are producing. The script is co-written by Akiva Goldman and Georgia Pritchett.
The Review Geek
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Review Geek
Nine Puzzles – K-drama Episode 11 Recap, Review & Ending Explained
Episode 11 Episode 11 of Nine Puzzles begins with a flashback of teen Lee Seung-joo visiting Dream Land. 10 years later, Yang visits her and gives her Nam-suk's photo and handkerchief. He wasn't able to find Dr Lee earlier as she had changed her name. She has questions and Yang tells her everything. At present, Dr Lee introduces herself as the puzzle killer and takes I-na to the next crime scene. Han-saem worries as he is unable to contact I-na. The cops comb the CCTVs and find the women heading to The One City. When they arrive, Dr Lee throws Assemblyman Kim from the rooftop. His corpse misses Han-saem by an inch. Han-saem is upset that I-na put herself in danger by leaving with Lee. Why does the Puzzle Killer aka Dr Lee make a spectacle of the murders? I-na is upset that Dr Lee was toying with her. However, Lee explains that she genuinely wanted to help I-na uncover the puzzle. Lee stopped killing because no one was interested in her story. She resumed after learning I-na was obsessed with uncovering the truth. There is a flashback after Yoon-su's death. Captain Yang gives Dr Lee back Nam-suk's handkerchief that she dropped at the crime scene. He wants her to stop but she believes it is too late for her. He realises that she wants the world to know the injustice done to her family and suggests the press conference. However, she refuses as she also wants vengeance. At present, I-na tries to convince Dr Lee that murder is not the way to go. The therapist disagrees as she reveals that none of the victim-culprits apologised. They had forgotten Nam-suk's death which angered her. We also learn that Dong-hoon got 3 apartments to bury the case. He sold them to buy his house. Why does Dr Lee kill herself? After Lee kills Assemblyman Kim, she gives I-na the final puzzle piece and escapes. The piece is blacked out and is the centre of the whole puzzle. Dr Lee is spotted at the funeral home, hinting she regrets Yang's death. Han-saem rushes there while I-na visits the theme park to stop the final murder. I-na hits the jackpot as she finds Dr Lee in the merry-go-round. Lee has doused the ride in oil. Turns out she is the final piece and is going to kill herself. I-na thinks she is a coward but that isn't the case. Lee reveals that she had forgotten the restaurant's location and would often visit the merry-go-round in hopes of finding her mother. She feels guilty that her mother died while waiting for her at the restaurant. She has no more reason left to live. Han-saem shows up as well and the duo tries to stop Lee. Lee simply comments that she hates people struggling to live a life not worth living. She doesn't understand why they kill one person to make space for another person to live. She burns to death while I-na and Han-saem look in shock. How does it end for I-na and Han-saem? At the precinct, I-na refuses to give a statement, citing memory loss. Han-saem too doesn't push her. She hides in her house and he brings her coffee every day. He also attends Yang's funeral and apologises for not saving Dr Lee. A week later, she tries to resign but Superior Yoon convinces her to take a hiatus. I-na runs into Han-saem who tries to tempt her with a new case. She is amused but has dinner with him and his mom. She learns that they got The One City apartment in a lottery. She also does a TV interview on the puzzle case and is back to her playful self. She reveals that she became a criminal analyst to profile herself. She suspected herself of being Dong-hoon's murderer and wanted to uncover the truth. The interviewer asks if she has moved on and she is lost in thought. A while later, Han-saem has a new case. After being drained of blood, Jeon Mi-so is dolled up and put on display. I-na returns as a profiler and analyses the killer. At the end of Nine Puzzles Episode 11, she shows Han-saem another puzzle and he is in disbelief. The Episode Review Nine Puzzles Episode 11 ends the perfectly fine murder mystery on a perfectly fine note. And as usual, the writers get greedy and mess it up by focusing on how quirky and cool and different I-na is. I-na once again plays the memory loss card but this time, it doesn't make sense as the one thing Dr Lee wanted was the world to know the injustice suffered by her and her mother. So, why does I-na stay mum when asked for her witness statement? And after mourning and accepting the situation for a week, she is back to her quirky and goofy self in the interview. Her character development is all over the place, making one wonder what the writer's goal was by creating someone like I-na. It is quite strange that the same show does a great job with Han-saem and Dr Lee. Han-saem finally grows up, allowing himself to think emotionally instead of solely relying on logic to close a case. And fortunately, the majority of the finale focuses on Dr Lee and the puzzle case, which let's be honest, are the highlights of the show. Viewers will not only be able to sympathise with Lee, but also understand her. She is disillusioned by the world and doesn't think it is one worth living in. The final heartache is the fact that she blames herself for her mother's demise, as Nam-suk refused to leave the restaurant. The plot twist is so melancholic that one won't mind glossing over the plothole of why Nam-suk didn't go back to the park or why she left without Lee in the first place. Maybe Lee was already gone? The emotional payoff isn't marred, wrapping up the case in a realistic but bittersweet manner. Previous Episode Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Gavin & Stacey fans stunned as two beloved stars 'reunite' in new BBC murder mystery - gasping 'how am I supposed to take this seriously?!'
Gavin & Stacey fans were left stunned as two beloved stars 'reunited' in a new BBC murder mystery. The six-part series, titled Death Valley, premiered last month and sees DS Janine Mallowan (Gwyneth Keyworth) join up with TV detective John Chapel (Timothy Spall). It airs every Sunday, and the most recent instalment caught the attention of some viewers. During the episode, DS Janine received a call from her mother, Yvonne, who revealed a member of her walking group had been found dead on a trail. Yvonne was played by Gavin & Stacey star Melanie Walters and her appearance in the new murder series came as a pleasant surprise to fans. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Melanie portrayed Gwen West in Gavin & Stacey, a widowed mother with two children. But she wasn't the only star from the popular sitcom to feature in Death Valley. DS Janine's manager, DCI Barry Clarke, is played by Steffan Rhodri who starred as bus driver Dave Coaches in the BBC comedy. Fans recognised the pair and took to social media to share their surprise. One posted on X: 'Not sure I can take #DeathValley seriously what with Dave coaches as a copper & now Gwen… All we need next is Ness appearing.' Another added: 'Dave coaches and Gwen?! When is Nessa going to make an appearance?! #deathvalley.' While according to the Express, someone else penned: 'OMG Gwen and Dave Coaches!' One fan spotted Steffan in the first episode and posted: 'Lol Dave coaches #deathvalley.' Others praised the new series and gushed: 'Absolutely loving #DeathValley on BBC One. So much fun and comedy, Timothy Spall and Gwyneth Keyworth are just brilliant! Series 2 please!' Fans recognised the pair and took to social media to share their surprise, while others praised the new series However, the first instalment was hit with some backlash from viewers who last week switched off the broadcaster's new crime drama 'after five minutes' and complained 'this is absolute rubbish'. One posted on X: '#deathvalley #BBC is so dreadful on every level. The woman detective is beyond irritating and embarrassing.' 'The problems with comedy police programs like this is how they suddenly come up with such a long winded explanation of the murder without actually showing us during the program how they would come to it. #deathvalley,' another penned.
The Guardian
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Death Valley review – Timothy Spall's quality new detective drama is a cosy, witty joy
By some curious dint of mathematics, one of life's greatest pleasures is coming across something that is just a little bit better than it needs to be. It's such rarity, such a treat – and to pessimists, such a shock to the system – that it becomes disproportionately, though still genuinely, delightful. Such a phenomenon is Death Valley, a new Sunday night comedy drama in which an amateur sleuth helps the police solve crimes in a bucolic village – usually English, this time Welsh – with an astronomically high murder rate and a suspect under every gooseberry bush and felt hat. So far, so Gently cum Midsomer cum Marple cum Agatha Raisin cum pull-up-a-chair-and-a-teacake-and-enjoy. And it does hit that cosy spot. Timothy Spall, who I suspect was looking for a way to recharge his actorly batteries after putting every bit of power he had into his performance as Peter Farquhar in 2023's harrowing The Sixth Commandment, stars as the amateur sleuth, John Chapel. Chapel is a retired actor (if there ever is such a thing, darling!) who made his name in a long-running police procedural series as its eponymous detective, Caesar. The first episode opens, as the first episodes of new cosy crime series should, with a case so clear it couldn't possibly be anything else: dead property developer slumped over his desk, a gun in his hand, obviously having killed himself. But is it obvious? Why would a man planning such a thing have a lunch in his diary for the next day and a holiday booked for Dubai? DS Janie Mallowan (Gwyneth Keyworth), treading the fine line between perky and infuriating with nary a wobble (Chapel calls her 'scintillatingly irritating', which is both a perfect description and a mark of the writing quality), reckons she should at least ask the neighbours if they saw anything suspicious on the day he died. As a devotee of Caesar, she is awestruck when the first door she bangs on is answered by none other than Chapel himself. And Chapel knows it was murder. How? 'Because actors observe.' The victim was an orderly man – a gunshot was too messy. And because 'action is character' – and the victim was a considerate man, who designed bespoke birthday cards for his cleaner's son and would never have left her to find his body when she was due in the next day. Janie visits the deceased's high-maintenance wife – 'I shouldn't cry. Just had my lids done' – to find out if he had any enemies. 'Any beef with anyone? Doesn't have to be big beef. Small beef. Mince?' Not even a meatball's worth, is the reply. And we're off. A few red herrings scent the air but Chapel and Janie remain undeterred for long in their hunt for clues. ('I'm the inspiration,' says Chapel to Janie as he brings his actorly powers to bear on the evidence. 'You're the perspiration.') Why would a man who fired an electrician for wonky socket work in a show home not also fire a decorator for missing a patch of wall? Why would a woman with a love of traditional tea towels want to buy a new-build? A cancelled bacon delivery here, an empty foxglove bed there, a chance remark from a child of uncertain parentage over the way and soon the threads are drawn together to find the means, motive, opportunity – and the murderer (by the end of the hour). Their next adventure involves a member of Janie's mum's walking group dying in an apparent fall (guess what!) and is worth watching for many reasons, not least Mum's description of the dead woman: 'Too thin by half. And stubborn eyes.' Within each case scenario are the longer arcs involving Chapel's grief for his late wife and Janie's struggles over the loss of her best friend, which season the jollity with something a little more piquant. So, it's Midsomer Murders –with jokes. It's Rosemary and Thyme – but good. Or a pastoral Old Dogs New Tricks, if you prefer. Take your pick. It's also witty and fun and bounces along with enough verve to get you past any footling objections you have to either form or content before they can make their way from brain to mouth. Not everything has to be The Wire. Sometimes you can just relax and enjoy a different thing done very well indeed. Death Valley was on BBC One
BBC News
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Death Valley: Timothy Spall pairs crime with comedy in BBC drama
When the former star of a police crime show moves into town, the local real-life detective can hardly believe her begins the plot of the BBC's new comedy-crime drama Death Valley, filmed entirely in Wales, in which Timothy Spall and Gwyneth Keyworth pair up to portray an unlikely crime solving has become a popular destination for film and TV production in recent years, but often stands in for other places. The action in Death Valley, however, is firmly located in Wales - albeit in a fictional town - and embraces the country's culture and landscape."It's lovely to hear Welsh being spoken... It's kind of a celebration of Wales as well," said Spall. Spall portrays John Chapel, the favourite TV character of Det Sgt Janie Mallowen, played by Sgt Mallowen idolises Chapel after his TV show Caesar helped her through one of the darkest times in her life. But she begins to discover that Chapel the man is not quite the same as Chapel the show's writer, Paul Doolan, admitted to being a "bit of a murder-mystery obsessive"."I liked the idea of a TV actor who played a detective, and a fan of them, and the awkward relationship, but I couldn't really get beyond what else was funny about that."Then I thought 'what if they solve murders?', which is all really meta, and then started plotting it based around that." In the show, Spall's character first comes across Det Sgt Mallowen when his neighbour is murdered and she arrives to investigate."All relationships, you need that conflict, you need there to be stakes and you need a power dynamic," said Doolan."Having him being famous and her being a fan, you only need to know that and straight away you get what all those dynamics are."The physical differences, the generational differences, he's English, she's Welsh – there's just piling as many opposites in together and have them be spiky to each other." Apart from one 1980s role in a BBC Play for Today as a "rural police sergeant who had to do all the work", Spall, star of Mr Turner, Harry Potter and the iconic Barry in Auf Wiedersehen Pet, has never been in a "whodunnit", and admits to not having watched much in that vein."But when they're great, people love them," Spall said on set in Cardiff."What I love about this is we're doing all that. There are moments in it where you're aware of it being a whodunnit, but it subverts itself by the eccentricity of the duo and the circumstances they find themselves in."Paul's been meticulous in how everything's planned out. So really, if you don't like comedy, or you don't get it, you've got the [crime], and if you like comedy and don't get the crime, you've got that as well." Being an actor playing an actor gave Spall "some opportunities to illustrate that pretentious side of it and if I'm taking the mick out of anybody it's myself", he was full of praise for his co-star Keyworth, of Misfits and Hidden Fame, whom he first encountered when she starred in a West End production of To Kill a Mockingbird alongside Spall's son, Rafe."I thought, bloody hell, she's good. Then a couple of years later here we are in this odd-ball double act," he character, Det Sgt Mallowen, is "very practical", he said, adding: "She's procedural, she's a policewoman and has to go through all sorts of things."They are quite candid to the point of rudeness and offensive with each other but they always somehow are reliant on each other. They'll never admit that they have affection for each other." Behind the humour, there are darker sides to the show. Det Sgt Mallowen lost her best friend to suicide aged 18 and the drama portrays how she deals with that from Aberystwyth, thinks plenty of people can relate to using escapist TV to cope with tough times - as her character did with Caesar."It's like her hero has come home to roost, but then she has to deal with the reality of [Chapel] is not actually Caesar, and in fact can be a little bit annoying."They've both been really lonely for a long time and there's a level of kindred spirits that meet. "Then ensues a lot of comedy because they have very different approaches to life." 'Lots of pretty Wales' The supporting cast include Gavin and Stacey's Steffan Rhodri, Sian Gibson from Peter Kay's Car Share, Alexandria Riley of Silo and The Pembrokeshire Murders, as well as additional writing from comedian and actor Sian Harries."Every year we've got these brilliant Welsh actors turning up," said Spall. "It's lovely to hear Welsh being spoken. It's lovely to have the whole lilt, that wonderful sound. It's kind of a celebration of Wales as well."Both Spall and Keyworth were fulsome about the wonders of the Welsh countryside, with Spall noting the convenience and speed of transferring from the BBC studios and urban locations such as Insole Court in Cardiff to more rural ones, such as the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, for filming."We see lots of pretty Wales [in the show]," said Keyworth."There's an episode with a walking group we get to see some really, really picturesque locations that just make you go, Wales is so beautiful. There's a waterfall that's particularly stunning."The seaside town of Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan also gets a shout out. Keyworth adds with a laugh: "I love a pier, coming from Aberystwyth myself." Death Valley is broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer starting on Sunday 25 May at 20:15 BST.
