# Poirot: British Series Starring David Suchet **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2006, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517 "2006-03-30T06:58:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/1 "2006-03-30T06:58:08Z")
I recently found this TV series, as well as several full length films, on the obscure BIO channel. Based on Agatha Christie’s character and starring David Suchet. I had never seen it before and I have been racking them up on my DVR every Sunday, sometimes three and four shows back-to-back. I think I like the fact that the series and films are all period pieces, with lots of art deco and references to world events during that time period. Granted, some of the mysteries are pretty simple to figure out, but the production values are 90% of the fun. Any British Dopers know if David Suchet is still making new Poirot episodes and films? ---
**Author:** ![Sparrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Sparrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparrow)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/2 "2006-03-30T07:18:00Z")
Yes, they are still making them. Infact there was a new one aired just last weekend. ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/3 "2006-03-30T07:18:48Z")
Good show. I think they originally started airing on the main A&E channel. [IMDB](http://imdb.com/name/nm0837064/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnx0dD0xfGZiPXV8a3c9MXxwbj0xfHE9ZGF2aWQgc3VjaGV0fGZ0PTF8bXg9MjB8bG09NTAwfGNvPTF8aHRtbD0xfG5tPTE_;fc=1;ft=21)lists an episode dated 2006, so I assume they’re still going to crank more out. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tom\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_P)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/4 "2006-03-30T07:19:51Z")
[Season 12, episode 3](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478227/) is airing for the first time 2 April on ITV1 in the UK, so they are obviously still making them 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/5 "2006-03-30T07:55:06Z")
[QUOTE=Tom P.] [Season 12, episode 3](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478227/) is airing for the first time 2 April on ITV1 in the UK, so they are obviously still making them 🙂 [/QUOTE] Season TWELVE!? Wow, looks like I will be getting my Poirot fix for quite some time to come! I also like/hate the actor who plays Hastings. He is a great actor, but he has turned Hastings into a twit that you sometimes just want to slap upside the head. Don’t remember Hastings character like that in the books, but it has been a long time since I have read them, so maybe my memory is foggy. But David Suchet is just perfect in the role - and I enjoy his quirks and fleshing out of the character. After watching him, I cannot imagine anyone else playing the role. ---
**Author:** ![hammos1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hammos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammos1)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/6 "2006-03-30T09:32:42Z")
[QUOTE=DMark] Season TWELVE!? Wow, looks like I will be getting my Poirot fix for quite some time to come! [/QUOTE] Remember, though, that a UK ‘season’ is nothing like as long as a US season. I think ‘Poirot’ seasons are only 4 episodes each. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/7 "2006-03-30T09:52:28Z")
I was about to give an :eek: face to the 12 seasons, but then I remember watching them some time ago, around about the time when I still went on caravaning holidays with the family and that was over ten years ago 😛 The [Wiki entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_Christie%27s_Poirot) has this to say; > [@](#): > > Poirot began airing as a television show in 1989. The last of the 46, hour-long episodes produced in five series appeared in 1993. From 1995 to 1997, several longer Poirot specials appeared on TV. Four more Poirot TV movies appeared in 2000 and 2001, with a further four appearing in 2003/4. > > Four adaptations were made in 2005: “The Mystery of the Blue Train”, “After the Funeral”,“Cards on the Table”, and “Taken at the Flood”. > > Suchet has indicated his desire to film all the remaining stories in the canon. By most, Suchet’s portrayal is considered to be the best and very accurate to the character in the books. Suchet said that he prepared for the part by reading all the Poirot novels and copying out every piece of description about the character. I’ve not read the books at all, but I can no more see anyone as Poirot than I can see anyone other than [Jeremy Brett](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Brett) playing Sherlock Holmes 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/8 "2006-03-30T13:30:43Z")
I’ve just been through all the available DVDs on Netflix, so it’s great to know there are more coming! I’m also glad to see they’re finally doing some of the stories with Agatha Christie’s stand-in character, Ariadne Oliver. David Suchet is a wonderful Poirot, especially when you contrast him with earlier attempts at the role: the shouting and arm-waving Albert Finney; the much too tall Peter Ustinov; and the painful-to-watch Tony Randall. It always throws me to see Hugh Fraser (Hastings) in another role, where he’s playing someone who isn’t dimwitted. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/9 "2006-03-30T14:14:26Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Mapp] It always throws me to see Hugh Fraser (Hastings) in another role, where he’s playing someone who isn’t dimwitted. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Amen to that! 🙂 Something like his role as the scheming secretary in _Patriot Games_, for instance. And David Suchet _is_ Poirot for me now too, so that seeing/hearing him as the NYC detective in _A Perfect Murder_ was jarring. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/10 "2006-03-30T14:42:53Z")
[QUOTE=sunfish] And David Suchet _is_ Poirot for me now too, so that seeing/hearing him as the NYC detective in _A Perfect Murder_ was jarring. [/QUOTE] If you want to see a very anti-Poirot role for Suchet, check out _The Way We Live Now_: [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0300879/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0300879/) (Also features Matthew Macfadyen, who played Mr. Darcy in the recent _Pride and Prejudice_, Shirley Henderson , aka Moaning Myrtle from the Harry Potter movies, and Miranda Otto with a bad Texas accent). ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/11 "2006-03-30T15:52:25Z")
I’d just like to say that I love this series. It feels so authentic and true to its source material. And the music in the intro is great. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/12 "2006-03-30T16:43:55Z")
I discovered it over a decade ago when several series worth were imported to the States through PBS’s Mystery! program, and I watch them from time to time when my TiVo picks them up. I sometimes wonder how Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! can still continue now that A&E, BBC America and DVD all compete in the British-TV-import biz. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/13 "2006-03-30T16:47:52Z")
I remember when the series was brand-new (It was originally broadcast, in the States, on Mystery!). There was a lot of hoopla about how much padding and makeup it took to make David Suchet look fat. Anyway: you can buy an awful lot of the DVDs at an awfully good price at [acornonline.com](http://acornonline.com) . There are some recurring items in the episodes, too. Look out for the zebra-stripe drapes. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/14 "2006-03-30T21:32:44Z")
I’ve very much enjoyed David Suchet’s portrayal of Poirot in the couple of episodes that I’ve seen. I’ve been irritated though by the liberties that the scriptwriters have taken with the plots and minor characters. In one that I saw Poirot and Hastings were actually in a restaurant with Miss Lemon having dinner! The concept of Poirot and Miss Lemon interracting in any way outside their “office” relationship is quite bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/15 "2006-03-31T01:04:20Z")
Speaking of Ustinov, whom I always loved but was abominable as Poirot, there is his version of 13 at Dinner that featured David Suchet as - Inspector Japp. And very good he was in that role too. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/16 "2006-03-31T02:14:10Z")
Suchet was also pretty good as the carrier captain in the (I thought) under-rated _Wing Commander_. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/17 "2006-03-31T05:22:18Z")
Suchet also played the lead terrorist in \*Executive Decision \* and the KGB contact in _The Falcon and the Snowman_. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poirot-british-series-starring-david-suchet/350517/18 "2006-03-31T13:52:55Z")
[QUOTE=DMark] Season TWELVE!? Wow, looks like I will be getting my Poirot fix for quite some time to come! I also like/hate the actor who plays Hastings. He is a great actor, but he has turned Hastings into a twit that you sometimes just want to slap upside the head. Don’t remember Hastings character like that in the books, but it has been a long time since I have read them, so maybe my memory is foggy. But David Suchet is just perfect in the role - and I enjoy his quirks and fleshing out of the character. After watching him, I cannot imagine anyone else playing the role. [/QUOTE] Odddly enough, Agatha Christie herself frequently objected to mysteries that featured a clueless sidekick whose only role is to make the detetective look even more brilliant by comparison, She called that cliched character The Idiot Friend. To a small extent, Hastings met that description, as did Dr. Watson (the original Idiot Friend?)… but both Hastings and Watson are supposed to be intelligent, resourceful men, men of action, men who’ve seen combat, men who have some practical knowledge of the world that their eccentric detective friends lack. That’s why I liked David Burke so much as Dr. Watson in the BBC “Sherlock Holmes” series with Jeremy Brett, and why I found Edward Hardwicke unbearable. Hardwicke was too much a latter-day Nigel Bruce! Hastings is bound to loook like a dunce next to Poirot, but he’s not supposed to be there for comic relief, as Hugh Fraser seems to be. The funny thing is, in the BBC productions of “Poirot,” Inspector Japp (Philip Jackson) comes across as smarter and more competent than he does in many of Christie’s stories.