The murder mystery is the foundation but it's not the essence of this film

THEY HAVE A COMBINED AGE OF 306 AND SOLVE MURDERS. MARION MCMULLEN LOOKS AT THE STARS OF THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB

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WHAT do you get if you take a knight, a dame, an Olivier award-winner and James Bond?

The answer is the stars of new whodunnit The Thursday Murder Club.

Sir Ben Kingsley, Dame Helen Mirren, Celia Imrie and Pierce Brosnan head the cast in the new Netflix drama based on the first in a series of books by Pointless TV favourite Richard Osman.

It follows a crime-busting group of retirees at retirement development Coopers Chase who find themselves following the clues to solve a murder close to home.

Oscar winner Dame Helen plays group leader Elizabeth Best, and says: "I was one of the many millions who read the book and loved it. I couldn’t put it down and was utterly charmed by it. And reading it, you do think 'This could be a movie.

"I could tell immediately the character I would be most suitable for. And my friends who read the book also said, 'If they ever make a movie you have to play Elizabeth."

In fact, Richard says the Oscar winner, 80, has been a popular choice with fans to play Elizabeth ever since the book was published in 2020 and people have even called her name out to him in the street.

Pierce plays West Ham supporter Ron. Once a militant and high-profile trade union activist, dubbed “Red Ron” by the press, even in retirement he still cannot resist a fight for what he feels is right.

The former 007 actor, 72, has worked with director Chris Columbus, who helmed the first two Harry Potter movies, before on Mrs Doubtfire and Percy Jackson and says: “He seems to come around every 10 years or so with wonderful jobs for me. So, he sent me the script and I loved it, and then I read the book.”