Like a locked-room mystery, do you? How about a 132-locked-rooms mystery, with more than 150 murder suspects? Settle in for some uber-Christie with comic knobs on, courtesy of Shondaland’s latest production: The Residence, a bonkers whodunnit written by Paul William Davies (who worked with Shonda Rhimes on her most famous creation, Scandal) and starring the magnificently inimitable Uzo Aduba, who appears to be having almost as much fun as her audience. The Residence is a very happy experience all round – moreish, bingeable, a complete tonic.
Aduba, known for her portrayal of Crazy Eyes in Orange Is the New Black, is more than capable of inducing emotional devastation in the viewer, but she is also funny to her marrow, as we see here. She plays Cordelia Cupp, a brilliant detective (and keen birdwatcher and, er, sardine-eater) called in to investigate the death of the White House’s chief usher, AB Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito). His body is found in the private quarters of the presidential building while a state dinner designed to repair fracturing relations with Australia unfolds below. (The Australian prime minister is played by Nip/Tuck’s Julian McMahon, who is the son of the country’s 20th PM, Sir William McMahon. How about that, fact fans?)
