These Agatha Christie Novels Have Never Been Made for Screen—Here’s Why

Agatha Christie might just be the most adapted author in the world. Hercule Poirot alone has been played by everyone from David Suchet to Kenneth Branagh’s magnificently mustached version. Miss Marple? She’s popped up in countless film and TV versions, too. Even if you haven’t seen them, you know the name.

But here’s the thing: not every Christie story got the Hollywood or BBC treatment. In fact, there are exactly four novels that have never been adapted, no movies, no TV shows, not even a cheeky radio play. Let’s dive into the mysterious case of Christie’s “forgotten four.”

Death Comes as the End (1944)

This is Christie’s only true historical novel, and it’s unlike anything else she wrote. Forget country houses and quaint English villages, oh no, this one is set in ancient Egypt, around 2000 BC.

The story follows Renisenb, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, as she returns to her family home after being widowed. Soon enough, mysterious deaths start piling up, and suspicions spread like wildfire. If that sounds like classic Christie, it is, but without Poirot’s neat moustache or Miss Marple’s nosy knitting needles.

So why has it got no adaptation? Two big reasons:

• Cost: An authentic Egyptian setting doesn’t come cheap. Sand, temples, costumes, elaborate sets… It’s not something that can be made into a quick BBC drama to knock out in six episodes.
• Casting: With its entirely Egyptian cast of characters, a faithful adaptation would demand authentic representation. Hollywood hasn’t exactly been stellar at doing this in the past.

Fun fact: there actually was talk of a BBC miniseries back in 2019. But like many of Renisenb’s unlucky family members, it never made it out alive.

Destination Unknown (1954)

By the 1950s, Christie was clearly itching to try something different… and why not? Alas, enter Destination Unknown, a Cold War–era spy thriller.

Here’s the setup: a bunch of top scientists are mysteriously vanishing, and our protagonist, Hilary Craven, is recruited to impersonate one of them. Soon she’s plunged into a world of secret compounds, shady motives, and science experiments gone wrong.

Sounds like James Bond with a Christie twist, right? The problem is, spy thrillers weren’t exactly her bread and butter. Critics at the time were generally kind, calling it a fast-paced adventure, but many admitted that some of the final reveals stretched believability.

That said, it could definitely be adapted brilliantly today. Imagine a stylish, feminist Cold War drama in the vein of The Americans. Hilary deserves her chance on screen, especially considering she’s one of Christie’s more unusual heroines.

Passenger to Frankfurt (1970)

Now we’re wading into trickier territory. Passenger to Frankfurt was written a little later in Christie’s career, and critics were not exactly kind.

The novel follows Sir Stafford Nye, a diplomat who gets caught up in a global conspiracy after a mysterious woman ropes him into an international spy plot. There are fascist overtones, secret organizations, and a whole lot of talk about the state of the modern world.

The issue? Many reviewers felt the story was messy, with too many threads left dangling. Christie’s gift for tight plotting seemed to falter here, and readers who came for her classic whodunnit structure were left scratching their heads.

Still, as a concept, there’s something there: paranoia, espionage, global politics. In the right hands, it could become a moody, Cold War paranoia thriller. It’s crying out for a bold filmmaker willing to cut through the clutter and reimagine it!

Postern of Fate (1973)

Ah, Christie’s swan song. Postern of Fate was the last novel she ever wrote, featuring Tommy and Tuppence Beresford in their final adventure. Sadly, it just didn’t land well.

The story has a promising hook: the Beresfords move into a new house and discover a message in a book hinting at a decades-old murder. From there, they start digging into history, trying to untangle the mystery.

Sounds great on paper, right? But the execution left a lot to be desired. Some people called it meandering, confusing, even downright incoherent at times. Others blamed Christie’s declining health and age, suggesting she simply wasn’t able to weave the kind of tightly constructed story she once could.

But here’s a radical thought: this might actually be the perfect candidate for adaptation. Why? Because the flaws give filmmakers a blank slate! A creative team could take the bones of the idea, a couple uncovering a murder through books and memories, and build something rich, eerie, even nostalgic, with just a hint of Christie.

Could Adaptations Be on the Way?

As we’ve said, all four of these novels could do well on screen. There’s space for real creativity in between the bones of Christie’s novels, and they’d still have the draw of being an Agatha Christie movie or show!

But will they come? Is the price of an Ancient Egyptian setting too high? Is the risk of incorrect representation too high? Or maybe it’s too daunting to take on a well-beloved, famous author’s slightly flawed works and fix them?

Who knows. We think that none of the above should be a deal breaker. We’re sure that one day, somewhere, one of these stories will be brought to life.