Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar

Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar is a television film, first broadcast on Channel 5 on 15 December 2019. The script was written by Tom Dalton and it was directed by Sam Yates.

The film's closing credits starts with an announcement:
 * ”This film has not been endorsed, licensed or authorised by the estate of Agatha Christie or by Agatha Christie Limited.”

Plot
In 1928 Agatha Christie is invited to join Leonard and Katharine Woolley at their archaeological dig in Iraq. Just after having arrived there she finds a young man who has been shot.

Cast

 * Jonah Hauer-King as Max Mallowan
 * Lyndsey Marshal as Agatha Christie
 * Bronagh Waugh as Lucy
 * Jack Deam as Leonard Woolley
 * Rory Fleck Byrne as Marmaduke / Lord Ponsonby
 * Crystal Clarke as Pearl
 * Stanley Townsend as Sir Constance
 * Katherine Kingsley as Katharine Woolley
 * Waj Ali as Ezekiel
 * Walles Hamonde as Ahkam
 * Liran Nathan as Faisal
 * Mark Lambert as Godfrey
 * Daniel Gosling as Hugo
 * Waleed Elgadi as Doctor Al-Memar
 * Col Farrell as Hutchins

References and allusions
(lengthy - click on expand to read)

References to actual history, geography, and current science
In 1928 Agatha did travel to Iraq and met the Woolleys. She was however not invited by Katharine, but had met a Commander Howe of the Royal Navy and his wife at a dinner party. The Howes spoke about their recent trip to the Gulf of Persia. Agatha decided to go to Baghdad instead of her planned trip to the West Indies.

She didn't meet Max until she returned to Iraq in 1930.