''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', or simply ''Poirot'' (), is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on
ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2020. The ITV show is based on many of
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...
's famous crime fiction series, which revolves around the fictional private investigator
Hercule Poirot.
David Suchet stars as the title character. Initially produced by
LWT, the series was later produced by
ITV Studios
ITV Studios Limited is a British multinational television media company owned by British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcasters, and is ba ...
. The series also aired on
VisionTV
VisionTV is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language Category A services, Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic.
VisionTV is ...
in Canada, and on
PBS and
A&E in the US.
The programme ran for 13 series and 70 episodes in total. Each episode was adapted from a novel or short story by Christie that featured Poirot. In each episode Poirot is both the main detective in charge of the investigation of a crime (usually murder) and the protagonist at the centre of most of the episode's action. At the programme's conclusion, which finished with "
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case", based on the 1975 novel of the same name, every major literary work by Christie that featured the title character had been adapted.
Cast
David Suchet was cast as the eponymous
Hercule Poirot. He was portrayed, especially in the earlier series, alongside
Hugh Fraser as the closest friend of Poirot,
Captain Arthur Hastings, as well as
Pauline Moran playing Poirot's clever secretary
Felicity Lemon and
Philip Jackson depicting Poirot's long-standing associate
Inspector James Japp.
Towards the later series, other characters such as Poirot's English butler, George, played by
David Yelland, and crime novelist
Ariadne Oliver, played by
Zoë Wanamaker
Zoë Wanamaker (born 13 May 1949) is an American-born British actress who has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Wanamaker was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2001 by Qu ...
, feature and become prominent. Several actors played multiple parts specific to certain episodes, including
Nicholas Farrell and
Beatie Edney.
Episodes
Production
Clive Exton in partnership with producer
Brian Eastman adapted the pilot. Together, they wrote and produced the first eight series. Exton and Eastman left ''Poirot'' after 2001, when they began work on ''
Rosemary & Thyme''. Michele Buck and
Damien Timmer, who both went on to form
Mammoth Screen, were behind the revamping of the series.
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.
With some exceptions, the series as a whole is set in roughly chronological order between 1935 and 1939, just prior to the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Numerous references in early episodes place the series primarily in 1935, progressing to 1936 by series four. Most references remain in 1936, moving slowly forward to 1937 by series eleven and 1938 by ''
Murder on the Orient Express
''Murder on the Orient Express'' is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934. In the U ...
''. ''
The Big Four'' is set explicitly in early 1939. The most notable exceptions to this chronology are ''
The Mysterious Affair at Styles'', which narrates Poirot's first case in 1917, and ''
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case'', which is set primarily in 1949. ''
The Chocolate Box'' shows Poirot in the early 1900s, though the framing narrative remains consistent with the series' usual timeframe.
The opening titles were designed by Pat Gavin, and feature
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
–
Cubist–style iconography, partly inspired by
Cassandre, including images of
Battersea Power Station, biplanes, boats, and a train with Poirot's name formed by the wheels.
The episodes aired from series 9 in 2003 featured a radical shift in tone from the previous series. The humour of the earlier series was downplayed, with each episode being presented as serious drama and saw the introduction of gritty elements not present in the Christie stories being adapted. Recurrent motifs in the additions included drug use, sex, abortion, homosexuality, and a tendency toward more visceral imagery. The visual style of later episodes was correspondingly different: particularly, an overall darker tone; austere modernist or
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
locations and decor that were widely used earlier in the series were largely dropped in favour of more elaborate settings (epitomised by the re-imagining of Poirot's home as a larger, more lavish apartment).
The series logo was redesigned (the full opening title sequence had not been used since series 6 in 1996), and the main theme motif, though used often, was usually featured subtly and in sombre arrangements; this has been described as a consequence of the novels adapted being darker and more psychologically driven.
However, a more upbeat string arrangement of the theme music is used for the end credits of "
Hallowe'en Party", "
The Clocks" and "
Dead Man's Folly". In flashback scenes, later episodes also made extensive use of
fisheye lens
A fisheye lens is an ultra wide angle lens, ultra wide-angle lens that produces strong Distortion (optics), visual distortion intended to create a wide panorama, panoramic or Sphere#Hemisphere, hemispherical image. Fisheye lenses achieve extremel ...
, distorted colours, and other visual effects.
Series 9–12 lack
Hugh Fraser,
Philip Jackson and
Pauline Moran, who had appeared in the previous series (excepting series 4, where Moran is absent). Series 10 (2006) introduced
Zoë Wanamaker
Zoë Wanamaker (born 13 May 1949) is an American-born British actress who has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Wanamaker was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2001 by Qu ...
as the eccentric crime novelist
Ariadne Oliver and
David Yelland as Poirot's dependable valet, George — a character that had been introduced in the early ''Poirot'' novels but was left out of the early adaptations to develop the character of Miss Lemon. The introduction of Wanamaker and Yelland's characters and the absence of the other characters is generally consistent with the stories on which the scripts were based. Hugh Fraser and David Yelland returned for two episodes of the final series (''
The Big Four'' and ''
Curtain
A curtain is a piece of cloth or other material intended to block or obscure light, air drafts, or (in the case of a shower curtain) water.
Curtains are often hung on the inside of a building's windows to block the passage of light. For instan ...
''), with Philip Jackson and Pauline Moran
returning for the adaptation of ''The Big Four''. Zoë Wanamaker also returned for the adaptations of ''
Elephants Can Remember'' and ''Dead Man's Folly''.
Clive Exton adapted seven novels and fourteen short stories for the series, including "
The ABC Murders" and "
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
''The Murder of Roger Ackroyd'' is a detective novel by the British writer Agatha Christie, her third to feature Hercule Poirot as the lead detective. The novel was published in the UK in June 1926 by William Collins, Sons, having previously ...
", which received mixed reviews from critics.
Anthony Horowitz
Anthony John Horowitz (born 5 April 1955) is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense. His works for children and young adult readers include the '' Alex Rider'' series featuring a 14-year-old British boy who spi ...
was another prolific writer for the series, adapting three novels and nine short stories, while
Nick Dear adapted six novels. Comedian and novelist
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...
wrote three episodes and also guest-starred in the series, as have
Peter Flannery and
Kevin Elyot.
Ian Hallard, who co-wrote the screenplay for "The Big Four" with Mark Gatiss, appears in the episode and also in "Hallowe'en Party", which was scripted by Gatiss alone.
Florin Court in
Charterhouse Square,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, was used as Poirot's London residence, Whitehaven Mansions. The final episode to be filmed was "Dead Man's Folly" in June 2013 on the
Greenway Estate (which was Agatha Christie's home) broadcast on 30 October 2013. Most of the locations and buildings where the episodes were shot were given fictional names.
Casting
Suchet was recommended for the part by Christie's family, who had seen him appear as Blott in the TV adaptation of Tom Sharpe's ''
Blott on the Landscape''.
Suchet, a
method actor
''Method Actor'' is an eponymous album of the band Method Actor released in 1988 featuring American singer Eva Cassidy. It was unofficially re-released on CD in 2002.
Track listing
# "Getting Out" (David Christopher) – 4:19
# "Look in to My ...
, said that he prepared for the part by reading all the
''Poirot'' novels and every short story, and copying out every piece of description about the character. Suchet told ''
The Strand Magazine
''The Strand Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine founded by George Newnes, composed of short fiction and general interest articles. It was published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues, though the ...
'': "What I did was, I had my file on one side of me and a pile of stories on the other side and day after day, week after week, I ploughed through most of Agatha Christie's novels about Hercule Poirot and wrote down characteristics until I had a file full of documentation of the character. And then it was my business not only to know what he was like, but to gradually become him. I had to become him before we started shooting".
During the filming of the first series, Suchet almost left the production during an argument with a director, insisting that Poirot's odd mannerisms (in this case, putting a handkerchief down before sitting on a park bench) be featured; he later said "there's no question
oirot's obsessive-compulsive". According to many critics and enthusiasts, Suchet's characterisation is considered to be the most accurate interpretation of all the actors who have played Poirot, and the closest to the character in the books. In 2013, Suchet revealed that Christie's daughter
Rosalind Hicks had told him she was sure Christie would have approved of his performance.
In 2007, Suchet spoke of his desire to film the remaining stories in the canon and hoped to achieve this before his 65th birthday in May 2011. Despite speculation of cancellation early in 2011, the remaining books were ultimately adapted into a thirteenth series, adapted in 2013 into 5 episodes, from which "Curtain" aired last on 13 November. A 2013 television special, ''Being Poirot'', centred on Suchet's characterisation and his emotional final episode.
Development
Actors

Alongside recurring characters, the early series featured actors who later achieved greater fame, including
Sean Pertwee ("
The King of Clubs", 1989; "Dead Man's Folly", 2013),
Joely Richardson ("
The Dream", 1989),
Polly Walker ("
Peril at End House", 1990),
Samantha Bond ("
The Adventure of the Cheap Flat", 1990),
Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor whose work has encompassed Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse films, television dramas, Shakespearean stage performances and science fiction, most notably the Ninth Doctor, ni ...
("
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe", 1992),
Hermione Norris ("
Jewel Robbery at The Grand Metropolitan", 1993),
Damian Lewis
Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is a British actor, musician and producer. He rose to prominence portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers''. Lewis won a Prime ...
("
Hickory Dickory Dock", 1995),
Jamie Bamber
Jamie St John Bamber Griffith (born 1972/73), known professionally as Jamie Bamber, is a British actor, known for his roles as Lee Adama in ''Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series), Battlestar Galactica'' and Detective Sergeant Matt Devlin in t ...
("The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", 2000),
Russell Tovey ("
Evil Under the Sun", 2001),
Kelly Reilly
Jessica Kelly Siobhán Reilly (born 18 July 1977) is an English actress. She first appeared on screen in 1995 on the series ''The Biz (TV series), The Biz''. Her other television work includes starring roles in the British crime drama ''Above S ...
("
Sad Cypress", 2003),
Aidan Gillen
Aidan Murphy (born 1967 or 1968), better known as Aidan Gillen (), is an Irish actor. He is known for his roles as Stuart Alan Jones in ''Queer as Folk (British TV series), Queer as Folk'' (1999–2000); Tommy Carcetti in ''The Wire'' (2004–20 ...
("
Five Little Pigs", 2003),
Emily Blunt ("
Death on the Nile
''Death on the Nile'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 1 November 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at ...
", 2004),
Alice Eve ("
The Mystery of the Blue Train
''The Mystery of the Blue Train'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by William Collins & Sons on 29 March 1928 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in ...
", 2005),
Michael Fassbender ("
After the Funeral", 2006),
Ruth Gemmell ("
Mrs McGinty's Dead", 2008),
Toby Jones
Toby Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. He is known for his extensive character actor roles on stage and screen. From 1989 ...
and
Jessica Chastain
Jessica Michelle Chastain (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in projects with Feminism, feminist themes, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Jessica Chastain, various ...
("
Murder on the Orient Express
''Murder on the Orient Express'' is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934. In the U ...
", 2010), and
Tom Ellis ("
Dead Man's Folly", 2013).
Four
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nominees have appeared in the series:
Sarah Miles,
Barbara Hershey,
Elizabeth McGovern
Elizabeth Lee McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, three Golden Globe Award nominations, and one Academy Award nomination.
Born in Evanston ...
and
Elliott Gould.
Peter Capaldi, Jessica Chastain, Michael Fassbender,
Lesley Manville,
Vanessa Kirby and
Emily Blunt went on to receive Academy Award nominations after appearing on the show (with Chastain winning the Best Actress award in 2022 for ''
The Eyes of Tammy Faye''). Several members of British thespian families appeared in episodes throughout the course of the series.
James Fox appeared as Colonel Race in "Death on the Nile", and his older brother
Edward Fox appeared as Gudgeon in "
The Hollow
''The Hollow'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company, Dodd, Mead & Co. in 1946 and in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in November of the sam ...
".
Three of the Cusack sisters each appeared in an episode:
Niamh Cusack
Niamh Cusack ( ; born 20 October 1959) is an Irish actress. Born into a family with deep roots in the performing arts, she has performed extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and other prominent theatre ens ...
in "The King of Clubs",
Sorcha Cusack in "Jewel Robbery at The Grand Metropolitan", and
Sinéad Cusack in "Dead Man's Folly".
Phyllida Law and her daughter
Sophie Thompson appeared in "Hallowe'en Party".
David Yelland appeared as Charles Laverton West in "
Murder in the Mews
''Murder in the Mews and Other Stories'' is a short story collection by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by Collins Crime Club on 15 March 1937. In the US, the book was published by Dodd, Mead and Company under the ti ...
" and as George for the remainder of the series from Series 10 onward, and his daughter
Hannah Yelland appeared as Geraldine Marsh in "
Lord Edgware Dies".
Multiple roles
Reception
Critical response
Agatha Christie's grandson Mathew Prichard commented: "Personally, I regret very much that she
gatha Christienever saw David Suchet. I think that visually he is much the most convincing and perhaps he manages to convey to the viewer just enough of the irritation that we always associate with the perfectionist, to be convincing!"
In 2008, the series was described by some critics as going "off piste",
though not negatively, from its old format. It was praised for its new writers, more lavish productions, and a greater emphasis on the darker psychology of the novels. Significantly, it was noted for "
Five Little Pigs" (adapted by Kevin Elyot) bringing out a homosexual subtext of the novel.
Nominations for twenty
BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
s were received between 1989 and 1991 for series 1–3.
Accolades
Home media
In the UK,
ITV Studios
ITV Studios Limited is a British multinational television media company owned by British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcasters, and is ba ...
Home Entertainment owns the home media rights.
In Region 1, Acorn Media has the rights to series 1–6 and 11–12. Series 7–10 are distributed by
A&E, a co-producer on several of them. In North America, series 1–11 are available on
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
and
Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...
instant streaming service. In Region 4, Acorn Media, distributed by ''Reel DVD'', has begun releasing the series on DVD in Australia in complete season sets. To date, they have released the first 8 series of the show. Series 1–9 and 12 are available in Spain (
Region 2) on
Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
with Spanish and English audio tracks.
Dutch FilmWorks were reported to be the first company to release series 12, in 2010.
Beginning in 2011, Acorn began issuing the series on Blu-ray discs. As of November 2014, series 1 through 13 have all been issued on DVD and Blu-ray by Acorn. The A&E DVD releases of series 7 through 10 correspond to the A&E versions broadcast in America which were missing sections of the original video as originally broadcast in the United Kingdom. The Acorn releases of series 7 through 10 restore the missing video.
''Being Poirot''

''Being Poirot'' is a 50-minute 2013 ITV television documentary in which David Suchet attempts to unravel the mysterious appeal of Hercule Poirot and how he portrayed him. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom on the same evening as the final episode, "Curtain".
Suchet visits the Greenway Estate, Agatha Christie's summer home, recollecting how he met her daughter Rosalind Hicks and her husband Anthony Hicks for their approval before he began filming. He meets Christie's grandson Mathew Prichard who recounts how his grandmother found the character amongst Belgian refugees in Torquay. There's a visit to the permanent Poirot exhibition at Torquay Museum, to which he presented the cane he used in the television series.
Suchet acknowledges the first stage and film adaptations of the books with actors such as
Charles Laughton on the London stage in ''Alibi'', an adaptation of ''The Murder of Roger Ackroyd'', in 1928. ''Alibi'' was filmed in 1931 with Austin Trevor but is now lost. The oldest surviving film portrayal from 1934 was ''Lord Edgware Dies'' again with Austin Trevor portraying Poirot. Suchet notes a conscious decision was made by the film company to portray Poirot without a moustache.
Films featuring
Albert Finney and
Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...
are also featured. Suchet reveals that he read the books and wrote down 93 notes about the character that he went on to use in his portrayal. The descriptions in the books helped him discover the voice he would use, and the rapid mincing gait.
Suchet also goes to Florin Court, a place that the production company chose to represent his home Whitehaven Mansions. There he meets first producer Brian Eastman, with whom he discusses the set that was built based on the flats, and Eastman's decision to fix the stories in 1936. Suchet also visits composer
Christopher Gunning who had composed four themes for Eastman, the first being Gunning's favourite. Eastman chose the fourth after having Gunning darken the tone.
Suchet travels to
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, where he is feted by the police chief and mayor. He then goes to
Ellezelles, which claims to be the birthplace of Poirot, and he is shown a birth certificate as proof. It says the date was 1 April, "
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool " at the recipient. ...
", with no year mentioned. Finally, Suchet travels on the Orient Express and recounts filming the episode "Dead Man's Folly" last at Greenway to finish on a high note.
Novels or stories not included in the series
Suchet was proud to have completed the entire Poirot canon by the time of the broadcast of the final episode, only slightly short of the target he had set for himself in a 2007 interview of completing the entire canon before his 65th birthday.
[Intervie]
archived here
A number of Poirot short stories were not directly adapted for the series. In most cases, these stories were subsequently reworked by Christie, and adapted for the television series in their final forms. "
The Plymouth Express" was adapted in both its original short story form and as ''
The Mystery of the Blue Train
''The Mystery of the Blue Train'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by William Collins & Sons on 29 March 1928 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in ...
''.
References
External links
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*
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Agatha Christie's Poirot on
SonyLIV
Sony LIV is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Culver Max Entertainment. Sony LIV was introduced in 2013 as the first OTT service in India. As a streaming service, it provides live sports, origina ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agatha Christie's Poirot
1989 British television series debuts
2013 British television series endings
1980s British crime drama television series
1980s British mystery television series
1990s British crime drama television series
1990s British mystery television series
2000s British crime drama television series
2000s British mystery television series
2010s British crime drama television series
2010s British mystery television series
A&E (TV network) original programming
British detective television series
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British English-language television shows
Hercule Poirot
ITV mystery shows
London Weekend Television shows
Television shows based on works by Agatha Christie
Television series by ITV Studios
Television series produced at Pinewood Studios
Television series set in 1917
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Television series set in 1936
Television series set in 1937
Television series set in 1938
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Television series set in 1949