Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar sees author Agatha Christie, bruised from her divorce, travel to the deserts of Iraq in the late 1920 s for an archaeological dig where she unravels a series of mysterious murders. Lyndsey Marshal stars as Agatha Christie looking for escape and inspiration for a new literary career, writing romantic fiction instead of the detective novels that have made her a celebrity; Jonah Hauer-King (World on Fire) is Max Mallowan, a handsome archaeologist determined to win Agatha's affection despite a 14-year age gap; Stanley Townsend (Informer, The Tunnel) is Sir Constance Bernard, a British diplomat in Iraq; Katherine Kingsley (Black Mirror Hated in the nation) is Katharine, the glamorous and charismatic wife of earnest archaeologist Leonard Woolley, played by Jack Deam (DCI Banks); Waj Ali (Carnival Row) is Ekeziel, Iraqi head of security at the dig; Rory Fleck Byrne (Harlots) is Marmaduke, the aristocrat funding Woolley s excavation and Bronagh Waugh (Unforgotten, The Fall) is Lucy, second wife of Sir Constance Bernard, and in charge of administration for the dig.