Magpie murders is back with the latest issue, Moonflower murders. Like the first series, it follows editor Susan Ryeland (Lesley Manville) as she investigates a real murder that is reflected in a mystery from a client’s novel. Pippa Bennett-Warner plays Madeline, a character in the story within the story.

“I tried not to think about the play within the play, because what happened to her just happened to her,” Bennett-Warner says of playing a fictional character, even within the world of the show. While the real mystery takes place in the present day, Bennett-Warner’s character exists in the 1950s.

Anthony Horowitz, the author of Magpie murders Book series: “We have a 1950s detective who is in a relationship with a 21st century editor… you don’t see anything like that on TV.”

Bennett-Warner says of the historical setting: “We looked at the monitor after a few takes and it looked like a painting.” Horowitz adds: “But… it’s not just about costumes and weeks of makeup, although that’s a big part of it. It’s also about the performances. It’s about knowing how to be a woman of the ’50s.”

Eleventh Hour Films and MASTERPIECE.

He praises the performances of Manville and Bennett-Warner, saying, “When you talk about strong women on this show, we have two of the strongest women in the business who are very different and do an absolutely wonderful job.”

Horowitz points out that while the show is fun, it also has a serious element. After all, it’s about a murder. “A young woman has disappeared and… she knows too much and it seems like she herself has been murdered,” he says. “She has parents and a, you know, grieving husband and a child.”

Watch the interview with Horowitz and Bennett-Warner above to learn more about the series.

Moonflower murders, Sundays 9/8c, PBS