Current PhD Student

James Mortimer

Thesis Title:

Adapting Agatha: Gender, Sexuality and Nation in the Television Adaptations of Agatha Christie, 1976-2022

Supervisors:

Dr Melissa Oliver-Powell and Dr Bryan Radley

Description:

My research examines television adaptations of Agatha Christie novels from the author's death in 1976 to the present day. Through my engagement with queer and gender studies, adaptation theory and television scholarship, I explore how the adaptations of these works respond to the original novels and their social context, as well as the time in which they are adapted. I also investigate how these adaptations are mediated by the television channels and production companies that commission and produce them, and how their history and perceived audiences influence the televised piece. The adaptations are also influenced by Agatha Christie's estate, and I intend to research how the estate works with adaptors and production companies both in the UK and internationally, through first-hand and archival research.

I am a writer, currently working on several spec scripts for television, and my interest in this medium is a key reason for undertaking my doctoral project. I also release spoken word poetry, and am the writer of mystery podcast Stonefall. I hold a BA in English Literature and MA in Creative Writing: Scriptwriting from the University of East Anglia. In 2019, I was awarded the University of East Anglia's prestigious Snoo Wilson Prize for Scriptwriting for the best MA dissertation: two scripts for an original television crime drama. My favourite Agatha Christie novel in Endless Night (1967)