Aspiring crime writers now have the opportunity to be taught by Agatha Christie herself, at least in a virtual sense. A new online writing course on the subscription platform BBC Maestro features lessons “delivered” by Christie, who died in 1976, using a combination of artificial intelligence, licensed images, and restored voice recordings.
The AI-powered course was developed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, in collaboration with the Agatha Christie estate. The project aims to present writing advice directly drawn from Christie’s own interviews, letters, and other archival material. The end result is a reconstructed version of the author offering guidance on how to craft mystery stories, including structure, suspense, and plot twists.
The course was curated by a group of Christie scholars: Dr Mark Aldridge, Michelle Kazmer, Gray Robert Brown, and Jamie Bernthal-Hooker. According to Aldridge, “We meticulously pieced together Agatha Christie’s own words from her letters, interviews and writings. Witnessing her insights come to life has been a profoundly moving experience.”
To bring the author to life on screen, actor Vivien Keene worked closely with visual effects specialists. She studied rare footage of Christie in order to capture her mannerisms and expressions. Keene described the experience as unique, noting that it was unlike any other role she had undertaken in her 44-year acting career.
The audio in the videos was created using restored voice recordings and AI-enhanced technology. Although the end product appears to feature Christie’s voice and likeness, her great-grandson James Prichard, CEO of Agatha Christie Limited, clarified that the course content was compiled and written by experts, not generated by artificial intelligence.
“This was not written by AI,” Prichard said. “It is a leading academic unearthing everything that she said about writing. And I believe that what we are delivering here in terms of her message is better presented and will reach more people as a result of being presented, if I can use inverted commas, ‘by her’.”
He acknowledged ethical concerns surrounding the use of AI in creative industries but said he believed the project had used the technology in an ethical and helpful way. “I’d be lying if I said there weren’t worries,” he told The Telegraph, “but the AI model of Agatha doesn’t work without the performance of Vivien Keene.”
Agatha Christie, often referred to as the queen of crime, wrote 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections. Her work has sold more than two billion copies worldwide. She also penned The Mousetrap, the world’s longest-running play, and her stories have inspired numerous film and television adaptations.
The AI-generated video series will be available exclusively on BBC Maestro, which offers a range of expert-led video courses in various disciplines.
Scott Bessent
