‘Tommy & Tuppence’: Did Saffron Burrows’ Gilda Give Her Husband the Kiss of Death?

Blunt’s Brilliant Detectives is officially on the case, and Tommy (Josh Dylan) and Tuppence (Antonia Thomas) are getting closer as they settle into working — and now living — together. Tuppence is staying with Tommy, putting them in very close quarters, and the chemistry is getting harder to ignore. Even Albert (Charlie Condou) sees what is happening, making the two part of one of his pop quizzes. Warning: Spoilers ahead for Agatha Christie‘s Tommy & Tuppence Episode 3.

Their latest case begins when Archie St. Vincent (Alex Jennings) and actress Gilda Glen (Saffron Burrows) hire them after a valuable South Sea pearl necklace disappears from Gilda’s dressing room during rehearsals for The Duchess of Malfi. The production is supposed to be Gilda’s big return to the stage after two years away due to being “canceled,” with Archie helping resurrect her career.

Security at the theater is tight, and the staff is all busting their asses to make the production work, making a simple theft seem unlikely. There is, however, plenty of drama behind the scenes. Theater critic Omar Bevington (Orlando Seale) is spotted having a heated argument with Archie over an NDA and certain subjects that have apparently been declared “off limits.”

Then a bad dress rehearsal gets much worse. When the cast skips ahead to the Duchess’ murder, Archie suddenly suffers a severe allergic reaction after an onstage kiss with his wife. The EpiPen doesn’t work, and he dies at the theater.

So much for the missing necklace. Tommy and Tuppence now have a murder to solve.

They start with Marvin (Geoffrey McGivern), taking him out for drinks to get information about the theater and its staff. They also search Gilda’s dressing room, where they discover something oily on the floor. Could it be peanut oil used to trigger Archie’s allergy? And how did it get there? Someone may have entered through Gilda’s window, while another theory has them wondering whether her lipstick was somehow used to kill Archie. That makes Gilda either a possible murderer…or if used creatively, even the murder weapon.

Their list of suspects keeps growing. There’s Ssega (Rudolphe Mdlongwa), a stressed-out actor desperate for his big break; wardrobe mistress Miranda (Denise Black), who resents Gilda; stage manager Mary (Lucie Shorthouse); an angry Omar; and Gilda herself. Everyone had access to the dressing room.

Meanwhile, Tommy and Tuppence’s own situation is getting almost as complicated. DS Draper (Callie Cooke) is still in Tommy’s orbit, while Tuppence’s ex-husband Julius (Nicholas Richardson) is coming back into play just as Tommy and Tuppence are getting closer. The potential love triangle — or triangles — aren’t exactly helping two people who already seem incapable of saying what they want, particularly in matters of the heart.

Back on the case, Gilda is appalled when Tommy and Tuppence present their lipstick theory. She insists everyone was extremely careful about Archie’s allergy and explains why she had so much riding on this production. She hadn’t worked in two years after “those embarrassing” emails were leaked, and even her agent abandoned her. Archie didn’t. He stood by Gilda and was helping make this her big comeback.

While searching Archie’s “sacred space,” his office, Tuppence discovers a marked-up script. Omar also turns up, infuriating Gilda enough that she throws him out. He had been preparing a poisonous piece, but he insists Gilda is talented, and suggests she has simply been turning a blind eye to what is really happening around her.

The script provides another clue: All the cut lines belong to Ssega. Tommy and Tuppence find him bartending and learn just how badly he needed the show. But when they run into Mary, she gives Ssega an alibi. She also gives them something potentially more useful: She saw Miranda at the theater after everyone else had left.

Running out of answers, Tommy and Tuppence go to Aunt Ada (Imelda Staunton), who immediately thinks they are approaching the case all wrong. “I think you are looking at this from the wrong angle,” she tells them. Gather the players, but put the spotlight on the victim. What were Archie’s secrets? What had he done that was worth killing for?

Ada helps them track down Omar from the information on the back of his book. But something else is clearly wrong at Ada’s home, too. Her friend Jane isn’t herself, and there seems to be something amiss with the staff.

Tommy and Tuppence don’t have time to investigate that mystery yet. They head to Omar’s place and find him bludgeoned inside, and someone fleeing the scene.

Naturally, Tuppence gives chase.

As Tommy checks a message that appears to involve getting a certificate, Tuppence catches up with the fleeing suspect. But before she can stop them, she is thrown down a flight of stairs.

Tommy races after her and finds Tuppence unconscious at the bottom.

Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence, Tuesdays, BritBox