Anthony Horowitz, the acclaimed writer behind Foyle’s War and Magpie Murders, is back with a brand-new thriller for the BBC, and he promises it will be packed with twists. His latest creation, Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue, lands this Saturday on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer.
The six-part drama opens with a small aircraft carrying ten passengers crashing in the Mexican jungle. Nine of them survive. But as the days go on, the survivors begin to die one by one, and it becomes clear that someone among them is a killer.
Horowitz explained the inspiration behind the show:
“It often occurred to me that an airplane is a very interesting environment for a murder mystery. You could be sitting next to a stranger for hours — they might seem like a doctor, a teacher, an entrepreneur… or a murderer. Now imagine surviving a crash together, trapped in a hostile jungle with no food or water, only to realise one of those strangers is a psychopathic killer. What do you do next? That was the start of the idea.”
The series is told in flashbacks as the survivors battle hunger, heat, and mistrust, while slowly unravelling the secrets each passenger carries. The tension builds until the killer’s identity, and the truth behind the deaths is finally revealed.
The cast includes Eric McCormack, David Ajala, Lydia Wilson, Jan Le, Adam Long, Siobhán McSweeney, Peter Gadiot, and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson.
Horowitz has said he worked carefully to craft layered, surprising characters:
“Everyone had to have a story, but I wanted to avoid anything obvious. For instance, with Lisa and Travis, I made them MAGA supporters, but sympathetic ones. And with Sonja, the English photographer helping migrants at the border, I could bring in another side of today’s political divisions. Everyone has a story to tell. Everyone has a secret to hide.”
Alongside Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue, the BBC has confirmed Marble Hall Murders, the third and final installment in Horowitz’s Magpie Murders series. Lesley Manville will reprise her role as Susan Ryeland, the book editor turned amateur sleuth.
With both projects, Horowitz is cementing his reputation as one of the UK’s most inventive crime storytellers, and fans of tense, twist-filled mysteries look to be in for a gripping autumn.
