Harry Potter Star’s Hotly Anticipated Crime Drama Based on Bestselling Books Finally Confirms Release Date
Next month, a new series storms onto screens—slick, sharp and built for a binge.
Matthew Lewis is swapping Hogwarts robes for a cassock. Channel 5 has set a date for its new cozy-but-body-count-y murder mystery, and yes, the dachshunds are involved.
When and where to watch
'Murder Before Evensong' premieres Tuesday 7 October at 9pm on Channel 5. It is a six-part crime drama adapted from Reverend Richard Coles' bestselling novel.
The setup
Set in 1980s England, the story sticks us in the fictional village of Champton with Canon Daniel Clement (Lewis), the local Rector who lives with his widowed mother Audrey (Amanda Redman) and their two scene-stealing dachshunds. Life is fairly quiet until Daniel tries to modernize the church. The parish splits, tempers flare, and then a dead body turns up in the church. Suddenly the vicar is juggling church politics and a murder investigation. If you caught the recently released trailer, you know Lewis is fully in clerical mode.
'As the police move in and the bodies start piling up, Daniel is the only one who can try and keep his fractured community together... and catch a killer.'
Cast
- Matthew Lewis as Canon Daniel Clement
- Amanda Redman as Audrey, Daniel's widowed mum
- Amit Shah as DS Neil Vanloo
- Adam James
- Meghan Treadway
- Marion Bailey
- Amanda Hadingue
- Tamzin Outhwaite
- Francis Magee
- Nina Toussaint-White
- Newcomer Alexander Delamain
Behind the scenes
Nick Hicks-Beach (DCI Banks, Midsomer Murders) is handling the adaptation, which is exactly the sort of pedigree you want for village-green crime and eyebrow-raising parish secrets. David Moore, fresh off Fool Me Once, is directing.
Bottom line: Neville Longbottom grew up to solve murders in a country village where even the church aisle is a crime scene. I am not mad at that.