Poirot on TV Season 13 - Everything Agatha

Filming toom place at the Pinewood Studios in London as well as Grey’s Court a National Trust property in Oxfordshire, Netherwylde Equestrian livery in Hertfordshire and the Park Lane Hotel in London.

Based on the novel by Agatha Christie ‘Elephants Can Remember’ published in 1972. It was one of the last four novels Christie wrote.

Adrian Lukis (Gerneral Ravenscroft) played Tim Kendal in the 1989 film adaptaion ‘Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery’.

Greta Scacchi (Lady Ravenscroft) also played Tuppense Beresford in the 2006 Marple episode ‘By the Pricking of My Thumbs’.

Vincent Regan (Inspector Beale) and Caroline Blakiston both appeared in seperate versions of the Marple novel ‘At Bertram’s Hotel’. Regan played Micky Gorman in the 2007 Marple episode ‘At Bertram’s Hotel’. Caroline Blakiston played Bess Sedgwick in the 1987 version.

Ruth Sheen (Mme Rosentelle) played Mrs Tarrant in the 2004 ‘The Murder at the Vicarage’.

SEASON 13

Episode 2 The Big Four

Based on the novel by Agatha Christie and aired in March 2013. A group of four master criminals are out to start a new world war – can Poirot thwart them with the help of Japp, Hastings and of course Miss Lemon?

Cast

Hercule Poirot, David Suchet

Captain Hastings, Hugh Fraser

Miss Lemon, Pauline Moran

Assistant Commissioner Japp, Philip Jackson

George, David Yelland

Tysoe, Tom Brooke

Ingles, Nicholas Day

Abe Ryland, James Carroll Jordan

Madame Olivier, Patricia Hodge

Stephen Paynter, Steven Pacey

Dr. Quentin, Simon Lowe

Savaranoff, Michael Culkin

Mabel, Lou Broadbent

Flossie Monro, Sarah Parish

Jonathan Whalley, Peter Symonds

Mrs. Andrews, Barbara Kirby

Inspector Meadows, Nicholas Burns

Robert Grant, Alex Palmer

Diana Paynter, Teresa Banham

Gerald Paynter, Jack Farthing

Little Missenden in Buckinghamshire formed the setting for some of the film including Abe Ryland’s home.

The novel ‘The Big Four’ was originally a set of short stories written originally in 1924 by Agatha Christie and then collated together first published as a novel in 1927.

Christie is known to have been disappointed with her novel ‘The Big Four’ and even referred to it as ‘The rotten book’.

Many of the cast of ‘The Big Four’ had previously appeared in Marple episodes:

Patricia Hodge (Madame Olivier) appeared in a Marple episode of Agatha Christie’s novel ‘The Sittaford Mystery’ as Mrs Willet in 2006.

Sarah Parish (Flossie Monro) also appeared in a Marple episode in 2006 as Evie Ballantine in ‘Sleeping Murder’.

Peter Symonds (Jonathan Whalley) appeared as Hurstall in ‘Towards Zero’ in 2007.

Nicholas Burns (Inspector Meadows) played the twins Jack and Joel Britten in the 2007 Marple episode ‘At Berttram’s Hotel’.

SEASON 13

Episode 3 Dead Man's Folly

Based on the novel by Agatha Christie and aired in October 2013. Poirot is called in to investigate the killing of a young girl at village fete. It started as a ‘Murder Hunt’ organised by Ariadne Oliver but when the body is found there’s only one person she can think to call for help.

Cast

Hercule Poirot, David Suchet

Sir George Stubbs, Sean Pertwee

Bickford, Chris Gordon

Henden, Richard Dixon

Mrs. Amy Folliat, Sinéad Cusack

Miss Brewis, Rebecca Front

Ariadne Oliver, Zoë Wanamaker

Dutch Girl Hiker, Francesca Zoutewelle

Hattie Stubbs, Stephanie Leonidas

Michael Weyman, James Anderson

John Merdell, Sam Kelly

Captain Warburton, Martin Jarvis

Mrs. Warburton, Rosalind Ayres

Sally Legge, Emma Hamilton

Alec Legge, Daniel Weyman

Marlene Tucker, Ella Geraghty

Etienne De Souza, Elliot Barnes-Worrell

Detective Sergeant Hoskins, Nicholas Woodeson

Detective Inspector Bland, Tom Ellis

Gertie Tucker, Angel Witney

Filming took place at Christie own home ‘Greenway House’ which is where much of the inspiration for the original story came from.

David Suchet said of the filming there: “I loved filming at Greenway because it took me right back to 1987 when I first met the Agatha Christie family and they invited me down to Greenway. That was my first visit to the house. Having the opportunity to film at Greenway was truly wonderful and a memory I will cherish.”

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Greenway House is now owned and maintained by the National Trust.

Some outdoor scenes were shot at High Cannons, Buckettsland Lane in Hertfordshire which was also used for some filming scenes for the 1974 film adaptation of ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ starring Albert Finney.

Based on the novel by Agatha Christie ‘Dead Man’s Folly’ published in 1956.

Initially, Agatha Christie wrote a short novella called ‘Hercule Poirot and the Greenshaw Folly’ but she then split the tale in two with one a full length Novel ‘Dead Man’s Folly’ and the other a Marple short story ‘Greenshaw’s Folly’ with the proceeds of the later being donated to fund a new stained glass window at Christie’s local church.

‘Dead Man’s Folly’ was the last of the TV episode’s to be filmed despite it only airing as the 3rd episode of 5 making the filming at Greenway House even more poignant.

Sean Pertwee (Sir George Stubbs) is no stranger to Agatha Christie adaptations playing Ronnie Oglander in the 1989 TV episode ‘The King of Clubs’ as well as Dr Owen Griffith’ in the 2006 Marple episode ‘The Moving Finger’.

Many of the cast have also appeared in Marlple television episodes:

Richard Dixon (Hendon) played Rowlandson in the 2005 episode of Marple ‘A Murder is Announced’.

Stephanie Leonidas (Hattie Stubbs) appeared as Hester Argyle in ‘Ordeal by Innocence’ in 2007.

Martin Jarvis (Captain Warburton) was in ‘The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side’ as Vincent Hogg in 2010.

SEASON 13

Episode 4 The Labours of Hercules

Based on the collection of short stories by Agatha Christie and aired in November 2013. Hercule Poirot is at a hotel in the Swiss Alps on the hunt of the notorious thief and murderer ‘Marrascaud’.

Cast

Hercule Poirot, David Suchet

Sir Anthony Morgan, Patrick Ryecart

Harold Waring, Rupert Evans

Lucinda Le Mesurier, Lorna Nickson Brown

Chief Inspector, Stephen Frost

Policewoman, Isobel Middleton

Dr. Burton, Tom Chadbon

Ted Williams, Tom Austen

Katrina, Fiona O’Shaughnessy

Inspector Lementeuil, Nicholas McGaughey

Schwartz, Tom Wlaschiha

Elsie Clayton, Morven Christie

Mrs. Rice, Sandy McDade

Countess Rossakoff, Orla Brady

Francesco, Nigel Lindsay

Gustave, Richard Katz

Dr. Lutz, Simon Callow

Alice Cunningham, Eleanor Tomlinson

Various locations were used for the filming of ‘The Labours of Hercules’.

Halton House in Wendover was used for the front of the hotel or the Swiss hotel.

The funicular used in filming was that of Saint Hilaire du Touvet, France – It links Montfort on the road between Grenoble and Chambéry, with the village of Saint-Hilaire du Touvet.

‘The Labours of Hercules’ was a collection of short stories first published in 1942 in which Hercule Poirot completes a set of 12 ‘labours’ (cases) which are inspired by his name-sake Hercules. The television adaptation does not represent all 12 labours but focuses mostly on:

‘The Erymanthian Boar’ which forms the basis of the major plot taking place in a Swiss mountain-top hotel were Poirot searches for Marrascaud.

‘The Arcadian Deer’ in which Poirot is asked to find the maid of a Russian ballerina.

‘The Stymphalean Birds’i the story of a woman in an abusive marriage seeking help

‘The Girdle of Hippolyta’ about stolen paintings.

‘The Capture of Cerberus’ features the Countess Vera Rossakoff who also appears in ‘The Big Four’ (novel not TV adaptation’ and double clue to name a couple.

Patrick Ryecart (Sir Anthony Morgan) also played Charles Arundell in an earlier Poirot episode ‘Dumb Witness’ in 1996.

Morven Christie (Elsie Clayton) played Kirsten Lindstrom in the 2018 mini series ‘Ordeal by Innocence’ alongside Eleanor Tomlinson (Alice Cunningham) who played Mary Durrant in the same series.

Orla Brady and Sandy McDade appeared together again in 2013 in ‘The Lady Vanishes’.

This is one of the very few Poirot episodes where none of the cast also appear in a Marple episode!

SEASON 13

Episode 5 Curtain: Poirot's Last Case

Based on the novel by Agatha Christie and aired in December 2013. Now an elderly and frail man, Poirot returns to Styles Court with his old friend Hastings

Cast

Hercule Poirot, David Suchet

Elizabeth Cole, Helen Baxendale

Captain Hastings, Hugh Fraser

Daisy Luttrell, Anne Reid

Colonel Toby Luttrell, John Standing

Stephen Norton, Aidan McArdle

Sir William Boyd Carrington, Philip Glenister

Curtis, Adam Englander

Judith Hastings, Alice Orr-Ewing

Doctor Franklin, Shaun Dingwall

Major Allerton, Matthew McNulty

Barbara Franklin, Anna Madeley

Nurse Craven, Claire Keelan

Coroner, Gregory Cox

George, David Yelland

Filming for the television adaptation of Agatha Christie’s ‘Curtain’ took place at Shirburn Castle in Watlington, Oxfordshire. While the same location was used for filming scenes for the episode ‘Third Girl’, the ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ was filmed elsewhere at Chavenage House, Tetbury in Gloucestershire.

Following the release of the novel, Hercule Poirot became the first (and only) fictional character to have an obituary published for them on the front page of the new York times.

‘Curtain’ by Agatha Christie was published in 1975 and is the last novel to feature Hercule Poirot. In fact, Christie wrote the novel as far back as the 1940s during WWII but kept it locked away along with ‘Sleeping Murder’, her final case for Miss Marple.

The last novel Christie wrote featuring Poirot was actually ‘Elephants Can Remember’.