Anthony Horowitz Talks New BBC Drama Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue

What was the inspiration for the show?

It often occurred to me that an airplane is a very interesting environment for a murder mystery. When you’re sitting on a plane you could well find yourself next to a complete stranger for five, ten or fifteen hours. He or she may seem charming: a doctor, an entrepreneur, a teacher…or a murderer.

And now let’s imagine that the plane crashes into the jungle and you manage to survive. Suddenly your relationship with the other passengers becomes even more critical. You’re in a completely hostile environment. You don’t have very much food or water. Everything is against you. And then, suddenly you realise that one of those complete strangers is a psychopathic killer. What do you do next? That was the start of the idea.

How did you settle on Mexico for the location?

My first thought was that I didn’t want this to be a commercial airliner with two or three hundred people on it, because in order to make that drama I’d either have to have an enormous number of extras on the plane with nothing to do or I would have a great many dead bodies, which would be unappealing, to me anyway. So it seemed therefore that it would have to be a smaller 10, 12 or 15-seater plane and I began to ask myself where was it coming from with a limited range?

Central America seemed like a good idea. It was close enough to The States, the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) and even the CIA. I loved the idea of a very remote army base with images of desert and sea. I thought about a small plane travelling between Guatemala City and Houston and asked myself where it might crash. Well, half a million square miles of rainforest and jungle full of snakes, spiders and other dangers seemed like a good answer.

When did you settle on the title?

The title came quite late. I knew this was going to be an extreme show with a very unusual, high concept twist coming at the end. It’s something I don’t think anyone will have ever seen before in a TV drama. There were also plenty of shocks along the way. So I realised that I needed a big, bold title and Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue more or less fell into my head.

Why did you decide to bring this particular group of characters together?

This is a low-fare airline operating between Guatemala and Houston so I began by asking myself what sort of people would be on it. Also, I wondered what secrets they might be hiding. Everyone had to have a story but I wanted to avoid anything that was too obvious.

I think Lisa and Travis were the first to arrive. Everyone is talking about MAGA right now, often in a negative way so I decided to create two MAGA supporters who were actually sympathetic. I wanted one English character on board, so I created Sonja, the photographer working in charity, helping people trying to cross the border. Divisive politics and immigration are topics that are really relevant internationally right now.

I needed a doctor for the sake of the story but Kevin Anderson (played by Eric McCormack) has been struck off for working without insurance. The Guatemalans do in fact make very good surgical equipment, so I turned him into a salesman who is called upon to use his half-forgotten medical skills. I’ve always liked watching Lucha libre, so it was fun creating Carlos, on his way to a big fight.

Everyone has a story to tell. Everyone has a secret to hide. That’s how it works.

What are the key themes threaded through the six episodes?

It is about how we survive, how we trust each other, how we work together and how we can escape death, but at the end of the day Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue is entertainment. I like to think of it as basically a ghost train in an amusement park. You jump on it. It takes you into the darkness. Doors swing open and things jump out. You reach the light when you come to the solution, and this show does have a terrific smile in the very last few seconds. I hope people will enjoy both the solution and what happens next.

Why do you think whodunnits and murder mysteries continue to be so popular?

I don’t necessarily think of the show as a whodunnit or a murder mystery. I hope that by blending genres like horror and murder – with a thriller element too – this isn’t just a mystery that needs to be solved.

I’ve always believed that murder stories are popular because they’re about the search for truth. We live in a world in which it is very hard to be sure of anything any more. We have 24-hour news, fake news, post-truth. How do you know what’s real anymore? But murder mysteries and whodunnits lead to absolute truth. It’s revealed at the end of the final episode. He or she did it…this was the reason why. The community is healed, the story is over, and everybody feels a little bit better for it. I think that’s something we need in this day and age.

What are the key themes threaded through the six episodes?

It is about how we survive, how we trust each other, how we work together and how we can escape death, but at the end of the day Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue is entertainment. I like to think of it as basically a ghost train in an amusement park. You jump on it. It takes you into the darkness. Doors swing open and things jump out. You reach the light when you come to the solution, and this show does have a terrific smile in the very last few seconds. I hope people will enjoy both the solution and what happens next.

 Why do you think whodunnits and murder mysteries continue to be so popular?

I don’t necessarily think of the show as a whodunnit or a murder mystery. I hope that by blending genres like horror and murder – with a thriller element too – this isn’t just a mystery that needs to be solved.

I’ve always believed that murder stories are popular because they’re about the search for truth. We live in a world in which it is very hard to be sure of anything any more. We have 24-hour news, fake news, post-truth. How do you know what’s real anymore? But murder mysteries and whodunnits lead to absolute truth. It’s revealed at the end of the final episode. He or she did it…this was the reason why. The community is healed, the story is over, and everybody feels a little bit better for it. I think that’s something we need in this day and age.