The episode ' The Labours of Hercules' uses the surname 'Lemesurier' from the original story, but otherwise has nothing in common with the story. Series overview Įpisodes Series 1 (1989) Īll episodes from series 1–5 are 50 minutes long, except where marked as 'feature-length'.Ī number of Hercule Poirot stories were not directly adapted, although most were re-worked by Christie into later stories and filmed in these iterations. With some exceptions, the series as a whole is set in roughly chronological order between 19, just prior to the Second World War.

While Christie's novels are set contemporaneously with the time of writing (between the 1920s and 1970s), 1936 was chosen as the year in which to place the majority of Poirot episodes references to events such as the Jarrow March were included to strengthen this chronology. The longer episodes are based on Christie's 33 Poirot novels and one short story collection ( The Labours of Hercules). The shorter episodes are based on Christie's short stories featuring Poirot, many published in the 1920s, and are considerably embellished from their original form. In total 70 episodes were produced over 13 series.Įpisodes run for either approximately 50 minutes or 90–100 minutes, the latter of which is the format of all episodes from series 6 onwards. It's difficult to see how this dramatization can be improved upon.The following is a list of episodes for the British crime drama Agatha Christie's Poirot, featuring David Suchet as Poirot, which first aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. He is not Poirot's mental equal by any means, but admirable in his sympathy, kindness and general embodiment of Englishness, and we can understand Poirot's affection for Hastings. The supporting actors were also very fine, especially Hugh Fraser as Captain Hastings - whereas in the stories Hastings, who is usually the narrator, remains a rather sketchy character, here he becomes a genuine person. The writers were responsible for fleshing out the bare bones provided by Christie's stories, but they did it in such a way that the filmed versions flow naturally and seamlessly. Some of the credit for this also goes to the fine writing in the series.

Suchet's skill as an actor was such that he was able to turn a rather flat, implausible character (and even fans of Agatha Christie admit that her characters are pretty two-dimensional) into a complex, eccentric but essentially believable person. Every detail of the character was perfect, from the stilted, pedantic delivery to the exquisitely fastidious grooming. Suchet's performance as the fussy little Belgian detective was a joy. Mystery fans were fortunate in the late 1980s to have no less than 3 definitive television performances to enjoy: Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes, Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, and David Suchet as Hercule Poirot.

Poirot series