7 things from Thursday Murder Club book that were changed for Netflix film including tragic death

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS

The Thursday Murder Club is now on Netflix and the cosy crime drama is based on Richard Osman's best-seller novel from 2020.

The film follows four central characters - Elizabeth Best (played by Helen Mirren), Joyce Meadowcroft (Celia Imrie), Ron Ritchie (Pierce Brosnan) and Ibrahim Arif (Ben Kingsley) as they attempt to solve a new murder.

The almost 400-page novel is packed with tragic backstories and extra characters, some of which had to be left out of the film due to time constraints. Director Chris Columbus recently revealed viewers will be able to watch a bonus short film, showing some "beautiful" footage that had to be left out.

Here is all you need to know about the main differences between the novel and the film.

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Tony Curran's death

Tony Curran (Geoff Bell) is the first murder victim in the film and he is one of the investors in Coopers Chase, along with Ian Ventham (David Tennant).

In the film, Tony returns home to find the place turned upside down, with documents strewn all over the floor.

He sees someone coming down the stairs and asks them what they are doing in his house, before he is bludgeoned to death.

His death plays out differently in the book, as he was found dead in his kitchen and did not communicate with the murderer before he was killed.

While the cause of death was the same, the murder happened so quickly that he did not have time to see the killer or speak to him.

Bernard's tragic story

In the film, Joyce is seen spending some of her time with an unnamed man, who is disgruntled when Elizabeth, Ron and Ibrahim start questioning her about a cold case.

While he may seem insignificant in the film, the book sees Joyce form a close bond with a resident called Bernard.

Following the death of her husband, Joyce was looking for companionship and she and Bernard would often check in on one another.

However, Bernard was hiding a dark secret about the death of his own wife Asima, as he had buried her ashes in the graveyard near Coopers Chase, not wanting them to go to his daughter.

Bernard left a note for Joyce confessing he swapped his wife's ashes with sand and bone meal for his daughter, and buried the true ashes under a bench in the graveyard.

He then took his own life when he found the bench was to be concreted over, as part of Ian Ventham's plan.

Jason Ritchie's arrest

In the film, Ron's son and former boxer Jason Ritchie (Tom Ellis) becomes one of the main murder suspects and he is arrested and taken into custody.

Ron, Ibrahim and Joyce then visit the police station to help bail him out, and Jason confesses he has an alibi as he was having an affair with Ian Ventham's wife.

None of this happens in the book as Jason is let off the hook after investigators Donna De Freitas (Naomi Ackie) and Chris Hudson (Daniel Mays) visit him at the ice rink during a Dancing on Ice rehearsal.

Elizabeth's stalker

In the film, Elizabeth is walking through the graveyard late at night when she is stalked by a mysterious man in a baseball cap.

He warns her "don't wake the dead" and is later seen breaking into her apartment and leaving a bunch of flowers with a note, giving a final warning.

In the book, Elizabeth doesn't have a stalker at all, meaning this role was added purely to bring some drama to the screen.

Absent characters

A lot of characters are missing from the film, including Gordon and Karen Playfair.

In the book, Gordon Playfair owns some land next to Coopers Chase which Ian Ventham is keen to buy.

However, Gordon does not like Ian and refuses to sell the land. Ian then tried to convince Gordon's daughter Karen to persuade him to sell the land.

The gang believe Karen may have killed Ian Ventham, believing she wanted her father to sell up and Ian was the roadblock because Gordon refused to sell to Ian.

However, it is Karen who actually identifies Ian's real killer.

Bogdan's confession

One of the biggest changes in the film is Bogdan's confession to killing Tony Curran.

In the film, Elizabeth's husband Stephen (Jonathan Pryce) guesses Bogdan murdered him, and Bogdan admits he is right.

He claims it was because Tony had taken his passport and refused to give it back, thus preventing him from visiting his sick mother in Poland.

He said Tony's death was an accident and he had never intended to kill him. Stephen captured his confession on tape and he was arrested by Donna and Chris.

In the book, Bogdan does confess to Stephen about killing Tony, but for a very different reason - and he even gets away with it.

He explained how Tony had asked someone to kill one of Bogdan's best friends, and so to get revenge, he killed Tony.

Father Mackie's harrowing secret

Father Mackie's role in the film is rather insignificant as he is only seen protesting against the demolition of the land around Coopers Chase.

In the book, he becomes one of the murder suspects but ends up revealing a harrowing backstory to Elizabeth when she questions him.

He confessed he was not a real priest, but had fallen in love with one of the nuns at the convent, Sister Maggie.

They tried to keep their relationship a secret, but Maggie ended up getting pregnant and hung herself after her secret was exposed.

She was buried in the cemetery, which is why Father Mackie was adamant about not letting her remains be disturbed.

The Thursday Murder Club is on Netflix