Murder Before Evensong Cast Revealed: Meet Every Star in the Five-Part Mystery

Recognise that face? Meet the stars of 5’s new series—and the roles you already know them from.

Channel 5 has gone full cozy-crime-with-bite with Murder Before Evensong, a 1980s-set village whodunnit headlined by Matthew Lewis. Yes, Neville Longbottom now wears the collar and chases killers. RadioTimes.com has already handed it four stars, and I get why: it’s warm, dryly funny, and then bodies start stacking up where you’d least expect them.

What’s the setup?

We’re in the fictional village of Champton, where Canon Daniel Clement runs the show at Champton St Mary. He lives at the rectory with his widowed mother, Audrey, plus two scene-stealing dachshunds named Cosmo and Hilda. Daniel floats a plan to modernise the church, which splits the parish right down the middle. Then a parishioner turns up dead at the back of the church. More deaths follow. The police descend. And somehow, it falls to Daniel to hold the place together while he quietly tries to help catch a killer.

Who made it (and the inside-baseball bit)

The series adapts Reverend Richard Coles’s first Canon Clement novel, but Coles didn’t write the scripts. That job went to Nick Hicks-Beach, a TV mystery veteran whose fingerprints are on Lewis, DCI Banks, and Midsomer Murders. Coles is very much on board and sounds genuinely delighted with how others have reimagined his story.

'To watch the adaptation is immensely flattering, very gratifying and very exciting... To see creative people, at the top of their game, come together and craft something you didn’t foresee from your work is fascinating.'

Set in the mid-80s, the investigation plays out without modern forensics or databases, which the show leans into: detective work here is legwork, community intel, and the uncomfortable truth that everyone in a small town knows everyone else’s business.

The cast and who they’re playing

• Matthew Lewis as Canon Daniel Clement — The affable, approachable rector of Champton St Mary who finds a body in his own church and winds up moonlighting as a community wrangler and amateur sleuth. Elsewhere: Harry Potter, Avoidance, All Creatures Great and Small, Ripper Street, Happy Valley.
• Amanda Redman as Audrey Clement — Daniel’s formidable mother. Think wartime steel: tough, stoic, not big on displays of affection, and very much Daniel’s match. Their bond is real, even if it’s a bit prickly. Elsewhere: New Tricks, At Home with the Braithwaites, The Good Karma Hospital, Sexy Beast, Dangerfield.
• Amit Shah as DS Neil Vanloo — A Mancunian detective who’s thorough, open-minded, and inventive. With 1980s resources, he uses whatever he can get his hands on — including Daniel’s deep village connections. Elsewhere: Happy Valley, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, The Other One.
• Adam James as Bernard, Lord de Floures — The patron of Daniel’s church, based at Champton House. Very much a man of his era, struggling with changing times and quietly fretting about family legacy. At one point he hosts fellow posh families to, let’s say, nudge son Alex toward matrimony. Elsewhere: Doctor Foster, The Couple Next Door, Hotel Portofino, Treason, The Day of the Jackal, The Suspect, Vigil, I May Destroy You, Belgravia.
• Tamzin Outhwaite as Stella Harper — Owner of a high-end fashion boutique. Elsewhere: EastEnders, The Wives, Murder Is Easy, The Tower, Ridley Road, New Tricks, The Fixer, Hotel Babylon.
• Nina Toussaint-White as Jane Thwaite — The church organist, married to a local press photographer. Elsewhere: EastEnders, Emmerdale, The Sister, Witness Number 3, Showtrial, Shetland, The Feed.
• Marion Bailey as Kath Sharman — On the parish council, living with her sister. Young Kath is played by Poppy Allen Quarmby. Elsewhere: The Crown.
• Meghan Treadway as Honor de Floures — Bernard’s daughter, largely aligned with her father on how to run Champton House. Elsewhere: Flack, The Outlaws.
• Alexander Delamain as Alex de Floures — Bernard’s son and reluctant heir, the family outlier who becomes the focus of those matchmaking maneuvers. Elsewhere: This is his breakout role.
• Amanda Hadingue (Kaos) as Dora Sharman — Kath’s terminally ill sister. Young Dora is played by Maya Loveday.
• Francis Magee (Kin) as Edgy — Groundsman at Champton House.
• Ben Batt (Scott & Bailey) as Ned Thwaite — Jane’s husband.
• Sam Baker Jones (DI Ray) as Nathan — Edgy’s grandson.
• Emma Beattie as Margaret Porteous
• David Newman as Harry Cobbe
• Thea Beyleveld as Katrina Cobbe
• Adam Smethurst as Anthony Bowness — The parishioner researching Champton’s wartime history who becomes the first body Daniel discovers.
• Paul Beech as Ernie Cobbe
• Ken Bones as Bishop Creggan
• Sophie Bloor as DC Corinne Wells
• Maggie McCarthy as Mrs Braines
• Gary Bates as Howard, art dealer
• Jonathan Cobb as Reporter
• Tom Crowley as Reporter, Daily Express
• Justine Cain as Travel Agent
• Steven Rostance as TV Reporter
• Lee Garrett as Desk Sergeant
• Morgan Philpott as Barman
• Ben Abell as Police Officer
• Noe Sebert as Herve

When and where to watch

Murder Before Evensong premieres on Channel 5 at 9pm on Tuesday 7 October.