Adieu Poirot: 25 Years of Crime Solving

©ITV

David Suchet has played Hercule Poirot on our TV screens for 25 years and appearing in 70 films. The first episode, The Adventure of the Clapham Cook, was first broadcast in the UK on January 8th 1989, and the last film, Curtain: Poirot's Last Case, aired on November 13th 2013, earlier this month. In  this 'overview', I will examine the factors that made this show so popular and gave it a 25 year lifespan.

The Cast 

The reason for the success of the series is the quality of David Suchet's acting. He is Hercule Poirot; he perfectly portrays his mannerisms and quirks and has brought him to life in a way no other actor would have dreamed of. I strongly believe that if someone else had played the role, it would not have lasted beyond five years, let alone 25.  He plays Poirot exactly as Agatha Christie wrote him, and has a detailed dossier on the character. This attention to detail is a key reason for the success of the series and David Suchet's characterization is superb and will be remembered forever. I cannot imagine anyone else playing the role, and I doubt I will ever see another interpretation in my lifetime.

©ITV

The early episodes had a basic family unit that was key to the characterization of Hercule Poirot. It consisted of three perfectly rounded, three dimensional characters played by three incredibly talented actors. Hugh Fraser played Captain Arthur Hastings from 1989 to 2013 in 43 films. Hastings was Poirot's right hand man and trusted friend. He wasn't very bright, but was honorable and often described by Poirot as "the man of action".  Over the years, his character has developed substantially, and Hugh Fraser has made the character so believable and plays him very well. It would have been all too easy to make him a buffoon, but Fraser actually created an amazing character.
Philip Jackson played Chief Inspector Japp, one of Scotland Yard's greatest policemen, but of course, not match for Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells. Jackson does a fantastic job with Japp, making him into a fully rounded character. His trust and friendship with Poirot develops so much over the course of the series, and their relationship is so believable. Japp is very English, and Poirot is very Belgian and Suchet and Jackson have so much fun with the relationship.
Pauline Moran plays Miss Lemon, Poirot's efficient secretary with so much talent. Moran brings so much more to the role than was written in the books, where she is described as more machine than human, but Moran's interpretation shows her to be very much human, but still in keeping with the books. The end result is a perfect character, expertly played by Pauline Moran. 
In the more recent episodes, two new recurring characters have been introduced, Ariadne Oliver and George. Mrs Oliver is played by Zoe Wanamaker, and excellently done too. Although Poirot and Oliver are two very different characters, Suchet and Wanamaker have a brilliant chemistry that makes the relationship superb.
David Yelland played Poirot's loyal valet George, a difficult character to plays as he has so little to do, but Yelland manages to play the part very well, with nice touches of character development as well.

The Crew 

From 1989 to 2002, Agatha Christie's Poirot was produced by Brian Eastman and written by Clive Exton and Anthony Horowitz. Eastman and Exton made Poirot happen, and gave the series a specific light tone and have Poirot himself a set of recurring characters. The earlier episodes of Poirot are genrally consistant with the novels, and are very well made with a great number of directors coming to do each episode. Most of the early episodes were 50 minutes as they started to film short stories, but as the series progressed, some of the novels were adapted into 90 minute films.
However, in 2003, Exton and Eastman left Poirot to work on a new crime series for ITV, Rosemary and Thyme. The series was then produced by Michelle Buck and Damien Timmer up until the thirteenth and final series. David Suchet also became the Associate Producer for the series. Instead of one or two main writers, the series had several recurring and single episode writers. Kevin Elyott wrote the screenplay for 2003's Five Little Pigs and 2004's Death on the Nile, and was invited to adapt Curtain for screen for 2013. Mark Gatiss wrote several as well, 2009's Cat Among The Pigeons, 2010's Halloween Party and co-writing 2013's The Big Four, with Ian Hallard. Nick Dear wrote the screenplay for 2004's The Hollow, 2005's Cards on the Table, 2008's Mrs McGinty's Dead, 2010's Three Act Tragedy and 2013's Elephants Can Remember and Dead Man's Folly.
The later series dropped the theme tune and  the opening credits, and turned darker in tone, a difference from the novels. The series consisted of 90 minute adaptions of novels, and dropped the basic family unit, although it gained Ariadne Oliver and George. I must confess to liking the new approach better as I like the dark, cinematic feel better.

Locations

©JeffTessler

The location used as Whitehaven Mansions, the home of Hercule Poirot from 1989 - 2013 was Florin Court in London. This fantastic location appeared in most of the episodes and looks stunning. However, only the exterior is show at Florin Court, the interior scenes of Poirots' flat were filmed at Pinewood Studios. From 1989 to 2002, Poirot's flat was quite basic and chrome looking, but when the series changed hands, the flat was completely redesigned by Jeff Tessler and his team. The new flat (pictured above) is by far the best, Tessler did a fantastic job on the design. Red, oranges and tan colours are prominent throughout the new apartment. I wish I could visit the set myself, but I  did see the reconstruction in the Torquay Museum back in September during the Agatha Christie Festival. 

Music 

From 1989 to 2004, Christopher Gunning was the composer for the series, and he set the benchmark. His theme is amazing, AMAZING! Apparently, it was his fourth favourite, but Brian Eastman chose the theme we know and love. His soundtrack was released earlier this year, and is fantastic, some of my favourites are "Death on the Nile" "The ABC Murders" and "The Double Clue". For series 10 and 11, Stephen McKeon composed  the music, very differently from Gunning. I like  his tracks, like "The Blue Train" and "Mrs McGinty's Dead" the most. Christian Henson composed the music for series 12 and 13, and references Gunning's original theme. His music is a lot darker than the music of the previous two composers, and fits the end to the series well. I love his scores "The Man Who Blends In", "Murder on the Orient Express" and his incidental music in Elephants Can Remember.

So, we've said adieu to Hercule Poirot, and lost an amazing 25 years spanning series. Let's hope that David Suchet will win a BAFTA for his role at last. 

I will post more info on the cast and locations soon.