The deal between BBC One and Agatha Christie Productions Ltd follows the critical success of 2015’s Christmas drama And Then There Were None, adapted by Sarah Phelps and starring Poldark’s Aidan Turner.

Screenwriter Sarah Phelps will be continue her work with Christie by writing the first of the seven adaptations, Ordeal by Innocence - one of Agatha Christie’s personal favourite works.

The show will be made by Mammoth Screen, the production company behind And Then There Were None and Poldark. 

Other titles announced so far include Death Comes at the End, a murder mystery set in Ancient Egypt, and The ABC Murders, about a race against time to catch a serial killer who is operating across 1930s Britain.

In addition to the seven new titles, filming is currently underway on The Witness for the Prosecution, a new two-part Christie adaptation starring Toby Jones, Andrea Riseborough and Kim Cattrall. The Witness for The Prosecution is based on one of Christie's most celebrated short stories. 

The Radio Times reports that an annual Agatha Christie adaptation is set to become a Christmas tradition.

The BBC's Charlotte Moore promised that the deal will "reinvent Christie's novels for a modern audience", to be "enjoyed by fans new and old."