Poirot: The Labours of Hercules Preview

©ITV

The penultimate Poirot episode, part of the thirteenth and final series, will be broadcast on Wednesday 6th November 2013 at 8pm on ITV.  This episode is based on a collection of twelve short stories entitled The Labours of Hercules. It was adapted by Guy Andrews (The Mystery of the Blue Train, Appointment With Death), directed by Andy Wilson (Poirot: Death on the Nile, Marple: They Do It With Mirrors) and produced by David Boulter (Poirot Series 13). 

It features the recurring character of Countess Vera Rossakoff, the Russian jewel thief and the only woman Poirot has ever loved. In this adaption, she is played by Orla Brady. She last appeared in The Double Clue, played by Kika Markham. 

Here is the description from ITV.com: 

"In the penultimate film Poirot falls into a deep depression, after his egotism plays a part in the murder of a society girl. It is the desperate plea of a lonely chauffeur (Tom Austen) to find his missing soul mate, which eventually motivates Poirot to get back to work. His quest takes him to the Swiss Alps where he stumbles on clues, which may lead to a very personal showdown."

The episode stars Orla Brady (Mistresses), Eleanor Tomlinson (The White Queen), Simon Callow (Marple), Morven Christie (Hunted) and Rupert Evans (The Village). 

  

It was filmed at Halton House and The Funicular, Saint Hilaire du Touvet, France back in April 2013. Jeff Tessler, the production designer, had this to say about the location in an ITV interview:

 

 "We had previously used this location (Halton House) in a Marple adaption and whilst it does get used for filming occasionally, we had never used it for a Poirot, and we wanted to use a new location that hadn't been used on the series before." 

 Andy Wilson, who's previous directing credits include work on Poirot and Marple adaptions, said this: 

"The film should have as slightly psychotic tone."

Eleanor Tomlinson as Alice Cunningham (©ITV)

This is certainly going to be a very packed episode, and I am a little apprehensive about the plot (Guy Andrews adapted the awful Appointment With Death, remember), but as long as it is good entertainment and like a normal Poirot episode, and very much in the style of Christie, I'll be happy. I'm sure the dirction will be good as Wilson has done a magnificent job on the Marple series. Also, I'm looking forward to seeing Poirot reunited with his old flame Countess Rossakoff, especially as she now has a daughter, Alice Cunningham (pictured, left). How will Poirot react?

Remember, I will be tweeting throughout the episode using the hash-tag #Poirot13. Follow me on twitter : @AChristieWeb 

(Check out the frame-by-frame look at the Polish trailer over at the excellent blog Investigating Poirot.)