That attention to detail explains, perhaps, why there are several Miss Marples, but only one Poirot. Suchet even fought with a director over whether or not Poirot should put down a handkerchief before sitting down on a bench, a disagreement borne out of Suchet's research: he had read every story and novel, and kept a substantive file on Hercule's mannerisms and history. With its engaging cast, witty scripts, art deco design and 1930s setting (seemingly every case took place in 1935!), it was like a glamorous Murder She Wrote.Īnd at the center of it all was Suchet, padded up, wearing several fancy mustaches, with mincing gestures and a curious quick-step that further captured the little eccentricities of this bizarre little man. Hugh Fraser became a fan favorite as Captain Hastings Philip Jackson was such a perfect Chief Inspector Japp, he would later the reprise the role for BBC Radio and Pauline Moran's Miss Lemon makes you forget how small a role that character actually played in the original stories. Premiering in 1989, Agatha Christie's Poirot was, for the most part, a faithful adaptation of Christie's short stories, albeit zhuzh'd up a bit to pad the running time, or to fit members of its principal cast into the proceedings. When Ustinov took Poirot to the small screen in Thirteen at Dinner, Suchet took on the role of his Scotland Yard rival Chief Inspector Japp - he would later characterize it as 'the worst performance of my career.' Ironic, then, that Christie would also allow him to give the best performance of his career, one that lasted 25 years, and which, from the outset, was regarded as the definitive portrayal of any Christie character - even Rosalind Hicks said so! Suchet was no stranger to the world of Agatha Christie.

Curtain poirot's last case 2013