Series synopsis
Agatha Christie's Poirot is a British crime drama mystery television series that premiered on ITV1 on January 8, 1989. It ended on November 13, 2013. It stars David Suchet, Tom Riley, Pauline Moran and Hugh Fraser.
From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions.
Premise
From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- David Suchet as Hercule Poirot
- Tom Riley as Raymond Boynton
- Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon
- Hugh Fraser as Captain Arthur Hastings
- Lawrence McGrandles Jr. as Simon Kelso
Guest cast
- Philip Jackson as Chief Inspector James Harold Japp
- Emily Blunt as Linnet Ridgeway
- Alex Jennings as Dr. Roberts
- Aidan Gillen as Amyas Crale
- Brigit Forsyth as Mrs. Todd
- Dermot Crowley as Arthur Simpson
- Freda Dowie as Eliza Dunn
- Antony Carrick as Mr. Todd
- Katy Murphy as Annie
- Tom Mison as David Baker
- Aidan McArdle as Stephen Norton
- Sasha Behar as Pilar
Episodes
This series spans 14 seasons with 76 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 6 | November 20, 2013 | |
| Season 1 | 10 | January 8, 1989 | March 19, 1989 |
| Season 2 | 9 | January 7, 1990 | March 4, 1990 |
| Season 3 | 11 | September 16, 1990 | March 10, 1991 |
| Season 4 | 3 | January 5, 1992 | January 19, 1992 |
| Season 5 | 8 | January 17, 1993 | March 7, 1993 |
| Season 6 | 4 | December 25, 1994 | March 16, 1997 |
| Season 7 | 2 | January 2, 2000 | February 19, 2000 |
| Season 8 | 2 | April 20, 2001 | July 2, 2001 |
| Season 9 | 4 | December 14, 2003 | April 26, 2004 |
| Season 10 | 4 | January 1, 2006 | April 2, 2006 |
| Season 11 | 4 | September 14, 2008 | December 25, 2009 |
| Season 12 | 4 | January 3, 2010 | December 26, 2011 |
| Season 13 | 5 | June 9, 2013 | November 13, 2013 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Interview with David Suchet, Director Paul Unwin and Producer Margaret Mitchell Interview with David Suchet about playing Poirot and creating the character. Interview with Paul Unwin about working with David Suchet and making 'Three Little Pigs'. Interview with Margaret Mitchell about producing the series. Included as a DVD extra for season 9. |
|
| 2 |
Inverviews with the Cast and Crew of 'Death on the Nile' Included as a DVD extra for Season 9 |
|
| 3 |
'The Hollow' On Location A behind the scenes look at filming 'The Hollow' on location in Surrey, England. Included as a DVD extra for Season 9. |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Adventure of the Clapham Cook A Mrs Ernestine Todd, from Clapham, asks Poirot to help her find her cook, Eliza, who has disappeared. Poirot, who aims to accept only really significant cases, is at first insulted by such a trivial request. However, after he sees the contents of the missing cook's trunk, he decides the case could prove to be worthy of his talents. |
January 8, 1989 |
| 2 |
Murder in the Mews Within hours of the Bonfire Night fireworks beginning Poirot finds himself investigating a violent death in Hastings' mews garage. |
January 15, 1989 |
| 3 |
The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly Country squire Marcus Waverly calls on Poirot for help in dealing with kidnap threats against his son. Hastings is appalled by the thought of someone going around kidnapping children and it becomes a race against time to find the identity of the mystery letter writer. |
January 22, 1989 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Peril at End House Poirot and Hastings take a holiday in Cornwall, looking for peace and quiet. They meet Miss Nick Buckley, who lives near their hotel at End House, and she tells Poirot she has had three near-fatal accidents in a few weeks. He then finds a bullet hole in her hat, returns with her to End House and is drawn into a complex murder investigation..... |
January 7, 1990 |
| 2 |
The Veiled Lady Poirot calls to see the veiled lady of the title (Lady Millicent Castle-Vaughn) at her London hotel. Lady Millicent is about to be married, but a mean blackmailer called Lavington has got hold of a love letter she wrote years before to another man. Lavington wants twenty thousand pounds, and Poirot makes up his mind to recover the letter himself, even if it means impersonating a Swiss locksmith. |
January 14, 1990 |
| 3 |
The Lost Mine Hastings and Poirot are playing Monopoly when they are interrupted by Lord Pearson, the elegant Chairman of the London and Shanghai Bank. The banker asks them to investigate the disappearance of a Mr Ling - a highly-valued customer who before he went missing had arranged to sell Lord Pearson a map showing the location of a long-lost silver mine. Ling is found murdered, a young stockbroker is implicated, and Poirot has to untangle a complicated plot. |
January 21, 1990 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Mysterious Affair at Styles Recovering from the horrors of World War I, British Army officer Arthur Hastings hopes to find peace and quiet at a country manor in the English countryside. But when the matriarch dies during the night from strychnine poisoning, Hastings enlists the help of an old friend staying nearby with other war refugees to help solve the murder: former Belgian police detective Hercule Poirot. |
September 16, 1990 |
| 2 |
How Does Your Garden Grow? Suggestions of a Communist conspiracy cast suspicion on a murdered woman's Russian servant. Meanwhile, Poirot has a rose named after him, and a ceremony at the Chelsea Flower Show makes him the centre of attention. Hastings receives a packet of seeds and develops hay fever. |
January 6, 1991 |
| 3 |
The Million Dollar Bond Robbery The London and Scottish Bank is sending a huge shipment of Liberty Bonds to New York on the liner Queen Mary. Poirot, who suffers terribly from sea-sickness, is asked to see the bonds safely across the Atlantic. |
January 13, 1991 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The ABC Murders Beside the bodies of three murder victims lies a copy of the ABC Railway Guide. |
January 5, 1992 |
| 2 |
Death in the Clouds On an airplane, flying from Paris to London, one of the passengers is killed by a poison dart while Poirot sleeps. |
January 12, 1992 |
| 3 |
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe Poirot believes his dentist was murdered and Japp thinks it was a suicide. |
January 19, 1992 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb An archaeologist dies of a heart attack shortly after opening an ancient Egyptian tomb, but his widow thinks there is dirty work at the crossroads and calls Poirot. |
January 17, 1993 |
| 2 |
The Underdog A wealthy industrialist is found dead in his study. Is his death related to a discovery made at his chemical factory? And is his wife all she seems? |
January 24, 1993 |
| 3 |
The Yellow Iris Friends and family gather at a dinner party to mark the second anniversary of a woman's death. Meanwhile, Poirot is caught up in a coup d'etat and arrested as a spy, which prevents him from solving a murder at a French restaurant owned by an Italian in Buenos Aires. |
January 31, 1993 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Hercule Poirot's Christmas Poirot's Christmas is interrupted by Simeon Lee, who believes his life is threatened. Simeon is soon killed and his diamonds stolen. |
December 25, 1994 |
| 2 |
Hickory Dickory Dock A string of thefts at a student hostel run by Miss Lemon's sister ends in death and Poirot has a number of plots and sub-plots to untangle. A certain mouse is the only witness to a string of murders. |
February 12, 1995 |
| 3 |
Murder on the Links Poirot and Hastings are on holiday in Deauville and receive a visit from Paul Renauld, who believes he's being cheated by Chileans. Renauld is kidnapped and his body is later found buried in a new golf bunker. French detective Giraud unwisely challenges Poirot to catch the killer before he can. |
February 11, 1996 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Living quietly in the small village of King's Abbot, sleuth Hercule Poirot becomes involved in the murder of successful industrialist Roger Ackroyd. The number of potential killers is almost as great as the population of the village itself. As Poirot investigates he sees that there might be a connection to the suicide of a local woman, and the death the previous year of her husband. |
January 2, 2000 |
| 2 |
Lord Edgware Dies Lady Edgware has a dilemma in that her husband has consistently refused to give her a divorce. She asks Hercule Poirot to visit the man and see if there is any possibility of convincing him. When Lord Edgware is found dead, there is no great surprise, but there are a good number of suspects. |
February 19, 2000 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Evil Under the Sun After collapsing with heart problems, Hercule Poirot visits a seaside health farm on Burgh Island. While there, the flirtatious heiress Arlena Stewart is found strangled on a secluded beach. |
April 20, 2001 |
| 2 |
Murder in Mesopotamia While accompanying his friend Hastings to a dig in Iraq, Hercule Poirot becomes involved in the murder of an archaeologist's wife. |
July 2, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Five Little Pigs Lucy Crale hires Poirot to solve the murder of her father sixteen years before, and Poirot finds a number of possible suspects who are still alive. |
December 14, 2003 |
| 2 |
Sad Cypress Young Elinor Carlisle, engaged to marry the dashing Roddy Winter, finds herself charged with the fatal poisoning of Mary Gerrard, her rival in love. Poirot has the job of saving Elinor, but the evidence against her is overwhelming. |
December 26, 2003 |
| 3 |
Death on the Nile A wealthy British heiress honeymooning on a Nile cruise ship is stalked by a former friend, whose boyfriend she had stolen before making him her new husband. |
April 12, 2004 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Mystery of the Blue Train After traveling on the Blue Train from Calais to Nice, Hercule Poirot is pressed into service to help solve the murder of heiress Ruth Kettering who is found savagely beaten in her compartment. |
January 1, 2006 |
| 2 |
Cards on the Table Hercule Poirot finds himself investigating the murder of his dinner host, Mr. Shaitana, who was stabbed in the heart while his guests played bridge. |
March 19, 2006 |
| 3 |
After the Funeral Hercule Poirot's solicitor, Gilbert Entwhistle, asks Poirot to help solve a riddle and a murder. |
March 26, 2006 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Mrs. McGinty's Dead James Bentley is arrested for the murder of old Mrs McGinty. It looks like an open and shut case, but Superintendent Spence is not convinced. He turns to Poirot for help, and together with Poirot's writer friend Ariadne Oliver they set out to find the real killer. |
September 14, 2008 |
| 2 |
Cat Among the Pigeons Poirot finds a connection between a recent murder and a revolution in the Middle Eastern kingdom of Ramat. |
September 21, 2008 |
| 3 |
Third Girl Three single girls share a London flat. The first works as a secretary; the second is an artist; the third, who comes to Poirot for help, disappears believing she is a murderer. |
September 28, 2008 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Three Act Tragedy When a vicar chokes to death on a cocktail while attending a party held by actor Sir Charles Cartwright, Poirot initially dismisses the idea of murder but reconsiders when another guest dies in the same manner. |
January 3, 2010 |
| 2 |
Hallowe'en Party During a village's Hallowe'en party, a young girl boasts of having witnessed a murder from years before. No one believes her tale until her body is found later on in the evening, drowned in the apple-bobbing bucket. |
October 27, 2010 |
| 3 |
Murder on the Orient Express Poirot investigates the murder of a shady American businessman stabbed in his compartment on the Orient Express when it is blocked by a blizzard in Croatia. |
December 25, 2010 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Elephants Can Remember Poirot investigates a strange and gruesome murder of an elderly psychiatrist. Ariadne Oliver is pressed to try and uncover the truth behind two decade-old deaths. They soon find out that their separate investigations are linked and work together to try and solve the mystery. |
June 9, 2013 |
| 2 |
The Big Four With the world on the brink of WWII, there is more political turmoil when it appears that the famous Peace Party is in fact a cover for the Big Four. |
October 23, 2013 |
| 3 |
Dead Man's Folly Ariadne Oliver is asked to devise a murder hunt for a Devon fête, but her sense of foreboding summons Poirot to the scene. Her fears are realized when, during the fête, the girl playing her murder victim winds up well and truly murdered. |
October 30, 2013 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | ITV1 |
|---|---|
| First aired | January 8, 1989 |
| Last aired | November 13, 2013 |
| Runtime | 50 minutes |
| Status | Ended |