Thursday Murder Club viewers are fuming after the new Netflix adaptation made an ‘unforgivable’ change to Richard Osman‘s beloved book series.
The film is directed by Chris Columbus and was released by the streamer on August 26 after weeks of anticipation.
However, book lovers who rushed to Netflix to watch the movie were left disappointed by the ending after it appeared a fan-favourite character – who appears in the rest of the Thursday Murder Club books – was written out.
Writing on Reddit, several people demanded ‘justice for Bogdan’ – the Polish handyman brought to life on-screen by actor Henry Lloyd-Hughes – after his storyline was ‘bizarrely’ changed.
The Thursday Murder Club follows four senior sleuths Elizabeth (Dame Helen Mirren), Ron (Pierce Brosnan), Joyce (Celia Imrie), and Ibrahim (Sir Ben Kingsley) who band together to try and solve cold murder cases while spending their days at a charming retirement community.
When the body of Tony Curran (played by Geoff Bell)- co-owner of the retirement home Coopers Chase – is discovered, the pensioners find themselves hot on the trail of a murderer much closer to home.
Like in Osman’s bestselling novel, the killer is eventually revealed as his Polish employee Bogdan but everything that follows in the movie is a drastic departure fro the book.
According to the author’s version, Bogdan’s motive for killing his land developer boss is to avenge the death of his friend Kaz many years prior to the events unfolding at Coopers Chase in present day.
Thursday Murder Club viewers are fuming after the new Netflix adaptation made an ‘unforgivable’ change to Richard Osman ‘s beloved book series
Writing on Reddit , several people demanded ‘justice for Bogdan’ – the Polish handyman brought to life on-screen by actor Henry Lloyd-Hughes – after his storyline was ‘bizarrely’ changed
It is revealed to readers that Tony hired a hitman, Turkish Johnny/Gianni, to murder taxi driver Kaz because he had seen the builder shoot someone at a pub during a botched drug deal.
Enraged by Kaz’s death, Bogdan killed Tony’s associate straightaway and covered it up.
Years later, Bogdan also took Tony out by tampering with the security system at his residence before sneaking in and then bludgeoning him to death.
Bogdan’s reason for killing Tony is entirely different in the movie in which the stoic handyman takes Tony’s life in an act of self-defence.
It is revealed to viewers that Tony and one of his friends, Bobby Tanner (Richard E Grant), were smuggling immigrants into the UK by luring them with better prospects then withholding their passports and essentially enslaving them.
Bodgan is one of Tony’s smuggled workers who ends up killing him after the Coopers Chase co-owner refused to return his passport so he could visit his mother back home in Kraków, Poland.
Like the book, it’s retired spy Elizabeth’s husband Stephen (Jonathan Pryce) who figures out the identity of Tony’s killer, but the movie adds the additional detail of Elizabeth becoming fearful that Bogdan will poison her husband.
The movie also strays from its source material when Bogdan confesses his crime to the pensioner even though Stephen has no solid evidence against him.
David Tennant as Coopers Chase co-owner Ian Ventham and Henry LLoyd-Huges as Bogdan in a still from the film
He is arrested after Stephen surreptitiously records his confession and hands it over to the investigating police officers as it appeared the makers effectively closed the door on his return to the film franchise.
This deviation left Netflix viewers with a ‘sour taste’ because Bogdan has a very different arc in Osman’s Thursday Murder Club books, Reddit usesr pointed out.
In Osman’s subsequent murder mystery books, Bogdan becomes close with the crime-solving retirees of the titular Thursday Murder Club as well as Stephen, and eventually starts dating police officer PC Donna De Freitas (Naomi Ackie) .
By sealing his fate as a convicted killer, the movie appears to shut down the possibility that Bogdan’s character will be a part of any future sequels.
Reacting to the movie’s ending, Reddit users flooded the social media platform with angry messages demanding ‘justice for Bogdan’.
‘They have shot themselves in the foot for any future films without Bogdan,’ one person wrote.
Another said: ‘Agree. Watched with my parents, mum read it as well and we didn’t like this change at all. It completely changed an integral part of the story and the future storeis.’
A similar comment read: ‘My reaction was exactly the same. I could have dealt with all the plot/story changes if they didn’t do what they did to Bogdan.’
One Reddit user said the change ‘doesn’t make any sense’ while another person felt it ‘literally added nothing’ and that the movie ‘took away so much from Bogdan’s character’.
‘I found him very likable in the books, and reading about his character development was such a crucial piece to the story/series,’ they continued.
Another felt the makers ‘didn’t understand the essence of Thursday Murder Club, Bogdan, Elizabeth, and Stephen’ as they added: ‘You can’t read the books and arrest Bogdan.
‘It just screams they don’t get it.’
A third said the movie’s ending was ‘such a bummer’ while yet another declared ‘you can’t do my boy Bogdan dirty like that’.
Some swore off watching any sequels over the movie’s ‘unforgivable’ plot, noting ‘one disappointment is enough for me’.
One scathing review compared the movie to an ‘episode of Law and Order’ while another noted the film’s script ‘butchered’ Bogdan’s confession to Stephen by using it as a ‘gotcha’ moment.
‘This is literally the worst adaptation I have ever seen,’ one comment read. ‘Bogdan was/is Elizabeth’s RIDE OR DIE and vice versa. I will never watch another one of these unless the writers are replaced. 0/10. No redeeming anything.’
Others felt that the movie sacrificed Bogdan so Ron’s son, boxer-turned-reality TV star Jason Ritchie (played by Tom Ellis) would have a bigger role in any sequels.
‘It seems like they’re setting it up that way,’ one person wrote. ‘Which is asinine. I get that the guy who plays Jason is a great actor and all but Bogdan was such an important character in the book – especially when it came to his friendship with Stephen.’
‘It’s pretty obvious that they’re cutting Bogdan for Ron’s son and I hate it. I love Tom Ellis, but Bogdan is my favorite character in the book,’ another disgruntled viewer noted.
Others felt the film’s director Chris Columbus and its script writers would find a way to ‘redeem Bogdan’.
One person suggested that ‘there was enough foreshadowing to suggest’ Bogdan will be released from prison, adding: ‘He kept repeating it was an accident, so maybe some evidence will arise showing it was an accident or self-defence.’
They conceded that while this wouldn’t be ‘enough in the real world’, it could secure Bodgan’s release in ‘film world’ – especially considering the ‘modern slavery’ storyline.
‘Bogdan is literally a victim of modern slavery,’ one person highlighted. ‘His passport was stolen and he was forced to work. Realistically I think he would get off lightly.’
Another felt the changes were the result of trying to fit Osman’s 600-page book into a two-hour movie without changing who killed Tony.
‘They also teed up that it was a self defense case, and showed how Bogdan was already the victim of a crime, so it’s not insane to say he’d be back if they make sequels
However, another viewer pointed out, Bodgan’s status an an illegal immigrant would logically suggest he would ‘probably be deported even if he was just magically released based on vibes’.
Many felt that the decision to stray so far from the book’s handling of Bogdan’s character would also mean it’s impossible to carry out other storylines such as his romance with Donna.
‘How will a cop marry someone who confessed to murder/manslaughter?’
‘I hated what they did with Bogdan! And the fact that Donna was the one to arrest him!!! If they make any sequels, how are they planning to resolve that issue considering Bogdan and Donna are together in subsequent books?’ another wondered.
Yet another enraged viewer said: ‘Even if they found a way to get around the murder charge so that he could be in future movies…he just wouldn’t be the same any longer.
‘It was just so sad,’ they continued. ‘He is such a great character.’
