In 2000, “Agatha Christie’s Poirot” Season 7 (ITV, A&E) hit the air after a four-year hiatus with a slight change in attitude. It tiptoes toward its psychologically darker phase (which began in Season 9) and abandons the idea of only adapting previously unadapted works.
It tackles two of Christie’s best tales of a scrooge-like patriarch of a manor being murdered, and of villains giving a good go at faking out Poirot. “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” was made into the play “Alibi” (which then became a lost movie from the early sound era). And “Lord Edgeware Dies” was made into one of the 1980s Peter Ustinov films, “Thirteen at Dinner.”
Season 8 (2001, ITV, A&E) then gets sunnier – only literally – in “Evil Under the Sun,” which had been made into a lively fan-favorite among the Ustinov films. Then “Poirot” goes back to previously untouched works but sticks with a sandy, bright setting for “Murder in Mesopotamia” (and Poirot – sporting a horse-tail mosquito-swatter — remains miserable in the sand, but not so much that he can’t solve the puzzle).
This batch of eps taps into Christie’s accidental continuity, and streamlines it, and flirts with its own thing (by trying out Miss Lemon as a field helper when Hastings and Poirot are indisposed). At the start of Christie’s series, Poirot retires, but then the author realized she (and especially readers) wanted much more of the detective in action, so he practiced his craft for another 55 years.
TV’s Poirot likewise tries retirement in “Ackroyd,” now positioned mid-timeline instead of near the start. He moves to a country house for the sake of fitting with the novel’s story. But upon seeing Japp, he’s re-energized. Then in TV’s “Edgeware,” he moves back into his Whitehaven Mansions flat/office (which he had never given up) and is back in business, with Hastings and Miss Lemon joining Japp for that episode.
Here are my rankings of the four episodes of Seasons 7-8. (SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR THE BOOKS AND EPISODES.)
1. “Lord Edgeware Dies” (episode 7.2, written by Anthony Horowitz)
Although four years did not pass in the chronology, they did in the real world, so this episode featuring all four regulars (Hastings is back from a failed Argentine venture) has a reunion vibe, and they raise drinks in a toast. It also has a vibe of being really darn good, as “Edgeware” is a candidate for best episode of the series to this point. Certainly, it’s one you could show to a newcomer to illustrate “Poirot” and Christie at their best.
This is one of Christie’s elite novels, so Horowitz honors her by adapting it faithfully. Instead of using the same actress to play Lady Edgeware and Carlotta – the trick of the Ustinov version – the episode casts different-looking actresses. Helen Grace is a traditional blonde beauty as Lady Edgeware and dark-haired Fiona Allen is versatile looking as Carlotta, the impressionist. It’s a sensible decision: The point of the story is that she can mimic anyone, not merely someone she coincidentally looks identical to.
Then director Brian Farnham and cinematographer Chris O’Dell do something basic but smart: In scenes where the viewer is not supposed to know fakery is being committed, they don’t give us a crisp look at Lady Edgeware (until Poirot’s grand reveal of all that has transpired, in flashbacks). It flows well with the episode’s overall dark cinematography, which combines with Christopher Gunning’s especially intense score for an evocative spookiness.
In the grand finale, Horowitz plays up something Christie teased: Poirot has been helping Lady Edgeware – who glories in seeing how she can manipulate men with her wiles — because he’s a nice guy, and upon finding he’s been manipulated, he speaks up for himself.
Novel: “Lord Edgware Dies” (1933)
2. “Evil Under the Sun” (8.1, Horowitz)
This adaptation is visually sunny – as with the novel and playfully fun Ustinov adaptation – but it’s the darkest in tone of the three. Poirot’s health problems (due to obesity) are such that he doesn’t want to be on this vacation, but Miss Lemon insists (and Hastings accompanies him).
David Suchet gives one of his least cheerful performances, up till the point that Poirot figures out why he’s getting a vibe of evil from the island – shot at the real Burgh Island that Christie envisioned for the yarn. I like the tractor with a raised platform that takes hotel guests along the slightly underwater peninsula to the island.
We see more of the path not totally taken, wherein the TV show makes Miss Lemon into an assistant sleuth rather than only a secretary. It’s a step too far here, compared to her assistance in “Edgeware.” Throw in Horowitz changing the morose teen girl into a lad (so he can be a prime suspect, since the victim is strangled with large hands), and a viewer could worry the writers are straying too far from Christie.
On the other hand, Christie’s drug-smuggling subplot stays in (for better or worse) – distinguishing it from the Ustinov version – and the book’s precise-timing plot (and trickery) is well-communicated both when we’re seeing it play out and when Poirot recounts the details.
The episode trades out the 1982 film’s big-name cast with plain ole good actors – namely Louise Delamere as celebrity Arlena Stuart-Marshall, Tamzin Malleson as jealous Christine Redfern, and Michael Higgs as Patrick Redfern, at the center of the triangle. And we get a nice counterpoint to the message of “Edgeware,” as this time it’s about the ways celebrities can be manipulated.
Novel: “Evil Under the Sun” (1941)
3. “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” (7.1, Clive Exton)
This is perhaps the most challenging of the Poirot novels to adapt, but the team is up to it. The novel is famous for its twist where the narrator, Dr. Sheppard (Oliver Ford Davies), turns out to be the killer (conveniently telling us about the murder in a sly fashion, but not sly enough to fool Poirot, who reads the doctor’s journal).
Christie’s trick relies on the written word, but could it be done visually? It would be difficult but not impossible, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it attempted. (Does “Alibi” do something like this? I’ll have to read the play someday.)
Exton and director Andrew Grieve do the next best thing. Realizing the novel’s locked-room mystery is good even without the twist, they simply focus on that, and arguably rescue it from the shadows of Christie’s trick.
Giving a nod to the book’s structure, Poirot reads the killer’s journal as narration over the episode’s course. And Sheppard’s sister finds and reads the journal. For viewers of the episode who haven’t read the book, Sheppard hangs about in an inordinate number of scenes, thus providing a clue.
While it’s undeniable that the book is better, TV’s “Ackroyd” is strong considering that Exton starts behind the 8-ball by abandoning what the novel is most famous for.
Novel: “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” (1926)
4. “Murder in Mesopotamia” (8.2, Exton)
This is one of Christie’s weaker books, roundly criticized for the extreme unlikelihood that the victim would fail to recognize her attacker from their past acquaintance. The episode somewhat addresses that, but not enough to fix it. That said, I do enjoy it thanks to the setting – Tunisia standing in for Iraq – that captures the novel’s dig site and quarters, which in turn were based on a site where Christie assisted her archaeologist husband, Max Mallowan (as she chronicled in “Come, Tell Me How You Live”).
I am a sucker for any story where a bright young woman assists Poirot. Although Exton underuses Amy Leatheran in this capacity, she at least serves a purpose as a nurse, and actress Georgina Sowerby’s Scottish accent is delightful.
It might’ve been a writers’-room mandate at this point, because Exton follows Horowitz’s lead in adding series-specific continuity. Poirot is in Baghdad to visit Countess Rossakoff, his love interest from Season 3’s “The Double Clue.” However, the busy countess never shows up.
Not only is this an unsatisfying outcome for Poirot (isn’t it cruel enough that he’s surrounded by sand?), but it’s an unnecessary B-plot, perhaps coming because the writers (or their bosses?) felt a TV series must have an ongoing love story. With the asexual Poirot, it’s not necessary – and I think most readers and viewers are comfortable with that, but I guess the show wasn’t.
As much as Seasons 7-8 mark the return of “Poirot,” they also mark the end of an era, as this turned out to be the last batch with the ensemble of four until the final season a decade later (ironically, they reunite in “The Big Four”). Mimicking the books, Poirot will have many adventures with temporary allies or author friend Ariadne Oliver. It’s hard to argue with the decision to follow Christie’s lead, but I will miss Hastings, Japp and Miss Lemon. With these four episodes, the Ensemble Era of “Poirot” ends in strong fashion.
Novel: “Murder in Mesopotamia” (1936)
IMDb Top 250 trivia
- “Poirot” stands at No. 151 in the IMDb TV rankings, with an 8.6 rating.
- “Evil Under the Sun” continues to be a fan-favorite in all its forms, topping this quartet of episodes with an 8.0 rating. “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” brings up the rear with a 7.3.