Thursday Murder Club trailer offers first look at David Tennant’s character

The first full-length trailer for The Thursday Murder Club film has offered a first-look at the characters portrayed by David Tennant and Sir Jonathan Pryce.

The adaptation, based on the book series by game show host and author Richard Osman, follows a crime-busting group of retirees, played by: Oscar-winning actress Dame Helen Mirren; former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan; Calendar Girls actress Celia Imrie; and Gandhi star, Sir Ben Kingsley.

Director Chris Columbus confirmed in an interview with entertainment news website Collider in April that Doctor Who star Tennant, 54, would play Ian, the owner of Coopers Chase retirement village, where the four retirees live, with Olivier-winning actor Sir Jonathan, 78, starring as Stephen, the husband of Dame Helen’s character, Elizabeth.

The trailer, which follows the release of a teaser in May, features a clip of Tennant with slicked back hair and a Dolce and Gabbana T-shirt looking angry.

In another clip his character says: “I’m not worried about the cantankerous old farts.”

Meanwhile, Sir Jonathan is shown wearing a brown cardigan, blue shirt and glasses in his role as Elizabeth’s husband, who suffers from dementia in the book.

Among the other cast members are: Saltburn star Richard E Grant; Miranda’s Tom Ellis; Mickey 17 actress Naomi Ackie; Line Of Duty star Daniel Mays; and Indian Summers actor, Henry Lloyd-Hughes.

The trailer also shows Elizabeth, Ibrahim (Sir Ben) and Ron (Brosnan), introducing themselves as the Thursday Murder Club to Imrie’s character, Joyce, an ex-nurse who becomes the latest member of the group.

Ackie, who plays a police constable, is seen investigating as is May’s character who says: “Police work is off-limits to anyone who isn’t the police.”

Elsewhere, Elizabeth receives a bouquet of flowers telling her to “back off” and she is later seen bumping into a mysterious figure in the dead of night who tells her to not “wake the dead.”

Harry Potter director Columbus said: “This is the finest cast I’ve worked with since Potter.

“They’re just so incredibly well-prepared, and it’s because they do everything. They do theatre, they do television, they do film, and they’ve developed those sorts of muscles.”

Osman has written four Thursday Murder Club books with a fifth, The Impossible Fortune, set for publication in September.

The TV star, 54, who became a household name on Pointless, left the hit TV quiz show in 2022 to concentrate on writing, having co-hosted alongside Alexander Armstrong since its debut in 2009.

The Thursday Murder Club will land on Netflix on August 28.