Fans coming out of the incredibly eventful and devastating events of The White Lotus should make sure to turn their eyes towards BBC's Towards Zero.
Towards Zero is a show based on the classic Agatha Christie book of the same name that follows a rich and flawed family group who gather at an annual visit, where someone close to them is murdered—starting a classic who-dun-nit mystery.
The Direct's Russ Milheim spoke to stars Ella Lily Hyland (Audrey Strange) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Nevile Strange) about how the show will appeal to White Lotus fans and their characters' chaotic romance.
Why White Lotus Fans Should Watch Towards Zero
"It's Looking at the Killer Instinct of People..."
- The Direct: "Now, I don't know if you guys agree with this or not, but while watching this, I was thinking to myself, just how popular White Lotus is for audiences around the world, and this kind of has some similar qualities. And it kind of feels like, Oh, this could be the next thing for fans of that show to just dive right into. How do you both feel about that comparison, and what do you think it is about this show that fans of White Lotus might be able to find and grab onto?"
Ella Lily Hyland: It's incredible. I just, I think that show is so, oh, it's incredible. I guess, like, similarly, ['Towards Zero'] looking at the killer instinct of people, whether they're killing people or not.
And that's a really kind of, I guess it's something that we're looking at in a lot of work, and maybe we're looking at in ourselves, like as a society at the minute, but like, I think it just is really interesting, and it's kind of dark and confronting, because you're like, I couldn't do that, I wouldn't ever do that.
But, what way do we kind of kill aspects of ourselves, or, you know, injure each other and I think, yeah, I can see why that would be a good place to go after watching 'White Lotus.'
Oliver Jackson-Cohen: But also, just like, you know how far human beings are pushed, and I think, as well, looking at, these are incredibly privileged people, who live in a world in that is not necessarily part of reality.
And I think that that's something that 'White Lotus' [does] absolutely so brilliantly. And I think that there is something again, really pernicious about watching that play out, and watching privilege, and privilege at its highest form, and how destructive that is.
Towards Zero Explains How This Murder Mystery Is Different
There's a "Hedonistic Quality to the Era..."
- The Direct: "This is a murder mystery... Agatha Christie's bread and butter, what makes this tale and its approach unique compared to kind of other similar stories?"
Ella Lily Hyland: Well, I think it's probably... everyone has such a drive. It's post-war, so there's an anxiety in the time. And I think that people there's this kind of pursuit of pleasure, and like, hedonistic quality to the era, which is really enticing.
And it also kind of means that people are pursuing pleasures of the body to like, I guess, a deathly extent, and which makes it dangerous and not just kind of about, I guess the motives are very much got to do with, like, interpersonal relationships and what people do when they feel betrayed or when they feel wronged or or when they want things and to what end.
I mean, especially with the backdrop of this really elite group of people who have loads of money and, how much can they want, and from each other and from the world, and, yeah, and I think there's something quite like, because it's all about desire, it's kind of all about sex, in a way, as well, which I think is interesting, because it makes us question our morals as audience and stuff.
Oliver Jackson-Cohen: But also, I think the sort of the initial kind of premise of the show, of meeting this couple who are going to this very public divorce, this sort of standard divorce at the time. And then, because of his infidelity, and then him deciding that it would be a good idea to spend this honeymoon with his ex-wife in their aunt's estate is a great kind of setup for something like this.
And what that also does is bring these people with histories and agendas [that provides] a really interesting dynamic. And I think that what Christie, you know, she, as you sort of said, it's sort of tried and tested stuff. You know, these murder mysteries work, and we're telling them nearly 100 years later for a reason, but there is also a formula that is sort of followed.
But what is kind of incredible about something like 'Towards Zero' is that she's brought in these characters who, and I think what Rachel does an incredible job of sort of adapting in the script. These characters that are incredibly complex, and the dynamics at play resonate to an audience now with it, so it's a kind of great setup. It's a delicious setup.
Ella Lily Hyland and Oliver Jackson-Cohen on Audrey and Nevile's Chaotic Romance
"It's Just So Fundamental to Who They Are..."
- The Direct: "Both of your characters are madly in love despite the opening moments of the show declaring your divorce in a messy trial. What is it about their romance that perseveres no matter the chaos it instills around them?"
Oliver Jackson-Cohen: Stupidity. Madness.
Ella Lily Hyland: They're just so attached to each other. I think they have this, for like, better or for worse. Now I'm just thinking about what it was, but, yeah, I think they have this like, bond that's almost karmic, from since they're children, and it's just so difficult for them to...
I don't think they're aware that they're so attached, you know. I think we are playing them aware of that, and as an audience, it's clear, but I think they're not aware it's just so fundamental to who they are, is this attachment to each other, and they just can't kind of separate.
And it's the identification with each other too, that if they don't have each other, then who are they, and that's a terrifying thought, I think, for both of them, so they kind of have to keep the game up.
Oliver Jackson-Cohen: And this sense of that nether one can live and actually live or exist without the other, it feels like this lifeline that they cannot, I think it's said at one point, but when we were sort of working through in prep, we spoke a lot with Sam [Yates], our director, about Elizabeth Taylor And Richard Burton and their sort of very tumultuous relationships, and this idea of Co-dependency and toxicity and leaving each other and hating each other and pushing each other and forcing each other into these horrible places to feel alive.
The full interview can be viewed here:
Towards Zero starts streaming in North America on April 16, 2025 on BritBox.
