The Lineup: The Characters in Marble Hall Murders
Two worlds (contemporary and fictional), two sleuths (one amateur, one professional), and a whole lot of suspects: Marble Hall Murders features a delightfully cunning—and initially challenging—array of characters to track. Check out our handy actor/character guide for the full rundown on who’s who in both in Susan’s world and Atticus Pünd’s, and get the scoop on the talented actors playing them. [Warning: Contains spoilers for Magpie Murders.]
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Returning: Susan Ryeland & Atticus Pünd
Played By: Lesley Manville as Susan Ryeland and Tim McMullan as Atticus Pünd
Where You've Seen Lesley Manville Before: On MASTERPIECE in World on Fire, Phantom Thread, The Crown as Princess Margaret
Where You've Seen Tim McMullan Before: On MASTERPIECE in Foyle’s War and King Charles III; The Queen, The Crown, Shakespeare in Love
Case Files: Susan Ryeland is back in London and back in the editing game, this time working an Atticus Pünd “continuation novel,” Pünd’s Last Case, which places the famed detective in Corfu, where he’s hoping to reconnect with his familial roots during the final months of his life. Will the intriguing (and inevitable!) suspicious deaths that both encounter propel them to answers, or to their ultimate downfalls?
New: Eliot Crace
Played By: Jamie Blackley
Where You’ve Seen Him Before: Outrageous, The Last Kingdom, and on MASTERPIECE in Endeavour’s very first episode, “Girl.”
Case Files: Eliot Crace, the troubled grandson of Miriam Crace, is an aspiring writer with a somewhat debauched past, although Susan, worried about working with him on the continuation novel, is assured that he’s settled down. Will Pünd's Last Case shed light on buried family secrets, or will Eliot’s writing of it lead to more unanswered questions?
New: Miriam Crace / Lady Margaret Chalfont
Played By: Patricia Hodge
Where You've Seen Her Before: On MASTERPIECE in All Creatures Great and Small, Roadkill, A Very English Scandal
Case File: A matriarch in both roles, we much prefer the kind and spirited Lady Margaret Chalfont of the Pünd narrative! She approaches the detective hoping for his help after overhearing something extremely disturbing, but dies before she can explain further. Her contemporary character, Miriam Crace, is the writer of a much beloved children’s book series…and, as her own family would attest, a cruel, bullying monster.
New: Edward Crace / Elmer Waysmith
Played By: Mark Bonnar
Where You've Seen Him Before: On MASTERPIECE in Guilt, World on Fire, Unforgotten, Line of Duty
Case File: Bonnar also steps into not one, but two roles in Marble Hall Murders. In the contemporary timeline, he’s Miriam Crace’s mild-mannered son and the somewhat estranged father to Eliot, the aspiring writer of the Pünd continuation novel. In the novel, his rather nasty character Elmer Waysmith is an antiques dealer, a father, and Lady Chalfont's husband. How might he benefit from her death?
New: Roland Crace / Robert Waysmith
Played By: Harry Lloyd
Where You've Seen Him Before: Game of Thrones, Season 6 of Slow Horses, in MASTERPIECE’s 2011 Great Expectations, in the TV series Legion and Counterpart.
Case File: As Roland Crace, Miriam’s grandson in the contemporary story, Lloyd plays a smooth PR manager for the family’s lucrative Miriam Crace intellectual property empire. In Pünd's world, he’s Lady Chalfont’s stepson, and works—somewhat resentfully—for his father’s antiquities business. How does he fit into each of those families?
New: Jonathan Crace / Jeffrey Chalfont
Played By: Rupert Penry-Jones
Where You've Seen Him Before: On MASTERPIECE in Silk and as Captain Wentworth in Persuasion, MI-5
Case File: Penry-Jones plays the heir apparent in both the contemporary story and in Pünd's Last Case. As Jonathan Crace, he’s a corporate shark in charge of the Miriam Crace estate, desperate to keep secret the tyrannical nature of his mother, Miriam, in pursuit of a $200 million deal with Netflix. As Jeffrey Chalfont, he’s the 7th Earl of Chalfont, heir to the family estate—a welcome position since he’s drowning in debt…
New: Frederick Turner / Achilles Vassilikos
Played By: Zubin Varla
Where You've Seen Him Before: Andor, Hostage, and on MASTERPIECE in Little Dorrit
Case Files: In the contemporary timeline, Varla plays Miriam’s adopted son, Frederick Turner, who lives in and manages Marble Hall. In Pund’s narrative, he’s the intense, somewhat chilly Albanian-born police lieutenant Achilles Vassilikos. Can Susan extract the truth from Frederick, and can Pünd find an ally instead of a foil?
New: Elaine Clover
Played By: Amelia Bullmore
Where You’ve Seen Her Before: The Buccaneers, Gentleman Jack, Happy Valley, Scott & Bailey, on MASTERPIECE in Sherlock “The Hounds of Baskerville”, Inspector Lewis “Wild Justice”, and Poirot “Hallowe’en Party.”
Case Files: Bullmore plays Elaine Clover, the effortlessly elegant wife of Charles Clover, Susan’s would-be murderer who is serving out his prison sentence. She reaches out to Susan about Eliot Crace, as her husband had had literary dealings with the young aspiring author and his abusive grandmother. How much does Charles—and by extension, Elaine—know about the Crace family’s secrets?
New: DI Ian Blakeney
Played By: Danny Sapani
Where You’ve Seen Him Before: Halo, The Diplomat, Killing Eve, Harlots
Case Files: Detective Inspector Ian Blakeney is a decent, intelligent, and calmly reliable detective. Nevertheless, he's inspecting Susan for murder!
Returning: Katie Williams
Played By: Claire Rushbrook
Where You've Seen Her Before: On MASTERPIECE in Home Fires, Rivals, A Very Royal Scandal
Case File: Susan’s sister, Katie, has left the countryside in the wake of her divorce, and is dating someone new. Will they support one another in their changed circumstances, and how will Katie’s new beau figure in?
