Josh Dylan and Antonia Thomas on That 'Tommy & Tuppence' Finale

Antonia Thomas says Tuppence finally understands her feelings for Tommy in Episode 6 of "Tommy & Tuppence" — and then walks in on him kissing someone else. "Finally, it clicks and she realizes — but is she just a bit too late?" Thomas told Variety over Zoom about the BritBox Original's finale, now streaming.

The series reworks Agatha Christie's detective pair for the present day. Instead of the married couple Christie wrote, Tommy (Josh Dylan) and Tuppence (Thomas) are exes who dated at university, meet again at a wedding a decade later, and start solving crimes around London with Tommy's Aunt Ada (Imelda Staunton). There's a complication: Tuppence is married to a director in Los Angeles.

The finale episode resolves a cold case about child murders in the countryside, kills off Aunt Ada, and ends with Tuppence's sister offering the duo their biggest job yet — helping the U.K. government on a major case.

Why Christie's duo transfers to 2025 television

Dylan said the appeal was mixing Christie's cozy crime world with grounded, naturalistic drama. "Agatha Christie is untouchable in so ways — incomparable rather, because she's the Queen of Crime," he said. "But when I read the scripts I felt like, here's an opportunity to do something that I don't think I've seen before."

Thomas pointed out that Christie wrote the pair as amateurs, which fits the modern true-crime-podcast habit of amateur sleuthing. She also noted Tuppence was "a pretty outspoken, front-footed woman" for her era — "very modern in the way that she behaved. So that felt like a very easy transfer."

How the two leads built the 'will they-won't they' chemistry

Thomas said the pair met up repeatedly to find "a colloquial shorthand" in the scripts. The exposition-heavy crime-solving scenes daunted her at first. Dylan reframed them: those were the moments the characters "are having the most fun and also when they as characters are connecting the most." Using the case work as a route into the relationship, Thomas said, "totally unlocked it." Writer Phoebe Eclair-Powell let them loosen and improvise some of those bits to keep the dialogue modern.

On backstory, Dylan admitted they're "still piecing bits together" — the pair met at university, shared an intense connection, and split for reasons that remain contentious. Thomas added the original problem from ten years ago "is still basically the problem. It's just, are they more mature?" Dylan countered that "the spark that drew them together in the first place is also still there, in exactly the same way."

Professionally, Thomas sees them as opposites who steady each other: Tuppence is impulsive, instinctual and "ballsy," while Tommy is "thoughtful and precise and forensic." The push and pull keeps them centered.

Working with Imelda Staunton earned superlatives from both. "What a legend. She's cool as hell and very twinkly and magical," Dylan said. Thomas praised the "almost impish, brilliant side" Staunton brought to Ada.

Inside the intense finale

The sixth episode sends the duo after Jane Lancaster (Alice Krige), a child murderer who sets the house on fire. Dylan spent roughly two days filming in a tiny bedroom with Krige for her "absolutely glorious monologue," and described the shoot as "so intense." In one take, carried out as dead weight, "she was over my face and then a tear fell in my mouth," he recalled of Thomas.

Thomas called it the most intense job she's done: the pair appear in nearly every scene, and by Episodes 5 and 6 the material — child murder, kidnapping, Ada's death, and the couple at their lowest — "just ramped up."

What does the ending change for Season 2?

Thomas doesn't believe Tommy heard Tuppence's confession while unconscious, which is what makes the ending sting. Dylan framed their whole dynamic as near-misses: "Much of their relationship is characterized by sliding doors moments and missing each other just by a hair's breath, which is in part infuriating but also kind of tantalizing," he said. "It's like, when are they going to get it out?!"

Both want more. "Would love a second season," Thomas said, half-jokingly requesting somewhere exotic — the Caribbean, or Spain. Dylan was equally keen: "These characters have so much scope and potential and range to go on so many more adventures." He noted the show can stay grounded and funny while stretching into darker territory, and that Season 1 "ends at a very exciting junction." With the government-case hook still dangling, a second season has its premise waiting on BritBox's green light.