By Harry Mottram: Five years ago, a schoolgirl was murdered by her boyfriend. Case closed. Or is it? The dark and devious crime thriller based on Holly Jackson’s hit novel A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder was filmed in Axbridge last year and will be screened on BBC3 i-player from Monday, 1st July, 2024.
For several weeks in 2023 Axbridge was transformed as film crews took over the streets, some homes and locations and part of the Meadow Street carpark as Moonage Pictures made the town the setting for Holly Jackson’s novel. Flowers bedecked the Square, a facade to a Cheese shop appeared and everywhere there were people carrying large black and silver boxes filled with camera, lights and sound equipment. Several properties were used for their exteriors and their interiors including the Old Drug Store in the High Street.
A brief synopsis of the novel – adapted for a TV series: “Five years ago schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend Sal Singh. Case closed. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it. But smart and single-minded Pip Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure and she’s determined to prove it. If Sal Singh isn’t a murderer and the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?”
Emma Myers stars as Pip who won’t let go of the case of missing Andie Bell, while the cast includes Anna Maxwell Martin (Motherland, A Spy Among Friends), Gary Beadle (Rye Lane, Small Axe), Mathew Baynton (Ghosts, Wonka) and newcomer Zain Iqbal.
The production company that have made the series are Moonage Pictures who adapted Nancy Mitford’s comic novel The Pursuit of Love into a television series with in this case Poppy Cogan as the lead writer. BBC Studios, who have a minority investment stake in Moonage Pictures, are handling international distribution of the series. A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder is a co-production with ZDFneo for Germany.
The series was directed by Dolly Wells from a script that abridges the novel by Poppy Cogan, alongside Zia Ahmed, Ajoke Ibironke and Ruby Thomas. The series will also be screened later this year by Netflix.
The series is based on a trilogy of novels by British author Holly Jackson. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is the first book in the YA mystery series, which became a New York Times bestseller and has sold millions of copies worldwide. That book’s 2019 debut was followed by Good Girl, Bad Blood in 2020 and As Good As Dead in 2021. (There’s also a prequel novella you can read about Pip, Kill Joy,that was also published in 2021.)
The novel was read by the Axbridge Book Club members – I wrote a review here: https://www.harrymottram.co.uk/2023/08/13/axbridge-book-review-holly-jacksons-a-good-girls-guide-to-murder-and-soon-to-be-a-bbc3-series-is-an-unfeasible-but-highly-enjoyable-and-neatly-plotted-whodunnit-about-schoolgirl-p/
Cast
- Emma Myers as Pippa (Pip) Fitz-Amobi
- Zain Iqbal as Ravi Singh
- India Lillie Davies as Andie Bell
- Rahul Pattni as Sal Singh
- Asha Banks as Cara Ward
- Yali Topol Margalith as Lauren Gibson
- Jude Morgan-Collie as Connor Reynolds
- Raiko Gohara as Zach Chen
- Georgia Arron as Emma Hutton
- Jessica Webber as Nat Da Silva
- Henry Ashton as Max Hastings
- Carla Woodcock as Becca Bell
- Yasmin Al-Khudhairi as Naomi Ward
- Mathew Baynton as Elliot Ward
- Kitty Anderson as Young Pip
- Anna Maxwell Martin as Leanne Amobi
- Orla Hill as Ruby Foxcroft
- Gary Beadle as Victor Amobi
- Mitu Panicucci as Stella Chapman
- Annabel Mullion as Rosie Hastings
- Adam Astill as Toby Hastings
- Matthew Khan as Dylan
- Matt Chambers as Jason Bell
- Ephraim O.P. Sampson as Jake Lawrence
- Jackson Bews as Daniel da Silva
For a preview of the show visit https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2024/a-good-girls-guide-to-murder-first-look-bbc-three
Axbridge News is edited by Harry Mottram for his own interest and those of residents.
Harry is a freelance journalist. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc
Email:harryfmottram@gmail.com
Website:www.harrymottram.co.uk
You must be logged in to post a comment.