Entertainment
Agatha Christie’s 13-Part Classic Mystery Crime Series Is Still the Greatest of All Time
These days, cozy mysteries are all the rage. What’s not to love? After all, murder doesn’t have to be so grim. Folks looking for something thrilling that rivals Knives Out ought to consider perhaps the greatest mystery series of all time: Agatha Christie’s Poirot. Based on the literary works of Christie herself, David Suchet played the famed Hercule Poirot, the maddeningly vain yet terribly elegant and thoughtful detective (who is Belgian, not French) across 13 stellar seasons and 70 episodes. Nothing quite comes close to the brilliance of this undeniably effective ITV series.
‘Agatha Christie’s Poirot’ Truly Encapsulates the Famed Literary Detective
Those looking for something that will scratch that mystery itch will likely find a kindred spirit in Poirot. The fabulous program is simply unparalleled as far as cozy mystery television is concerned, as it adapts the master of murder mysteries herself. No matter if Poirot is your favorite Agatha Christie character or not, you will be fully enraptured by Suchet’s performance as he completely devotes himself to the author’s descriptions of her fictional detective. Physically, of course, by emoting the character’s unusual mannerisms, but also psychologically in the way he explores Poirot’s moral complexity. The series does masterfully capture the detective’s confident charm and his frustratingly irritable personality (which you think would conflict with each other but somehow are not). Still, what truly earns the series the “greatest of all time” label is that it is the most complete adaptation of Christie’s work ever put to the screen.
Poirot originally aired between 1989 and 2013 on the British channel ITV, with Suchet becoming internationally acclaimed for his part. While some may prefer Kenneth Branagh or Albert Finney (and that’s totally okay), only Suchet can lay claim to having adapted not only the most Poirot stories (basically all of them), but with the most clear faithfulness to Christie’s original text. All the classics are accounted for here, including Murder on the Orient Express, The ABC Murders, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Death on the Nile, and, of course, fan-favorites like Five Little Pigs. The series also features a real ending in its adaptation of Curtain (the final Poirot novel), making this detective classic a truly complete work. Agatha Christie’s Poirot may not be a quick binge, but it’s an effortless one that will check all the right British boxes for those looking for something intelligent, entertaining, and downright masterful.
Another reason to give Poirot a try is that, over the course of several decades, the ITV program secured some pretty notable guest stars. Damian Lewis (“Hickory Dickory Dock”), Emily Blunt (“Death on the Nile”), Michael Fassbender (“After the Funeral”), Jessica Chastain (“Murder on the Orient Express”), Kelly Reilly (“Sad Cypress”), and Christopher Eccleston (“One, Two, Buckle My Shoe”) all appeared in episodes, among many others. Like Poirot himself, you never know who you might find next when you indulge in this mysterious obsession.
David Suchet Is the Beating Heart Behind ‘Poirot’
There is a reason that many consider David Suchet to be the definitive Hercule Poirot, and it’s not just because of his funny mustache. The star remained faithful to Christie’s novels not due to creative obligations from the folks behind-the-scenes, but because of a sacred debt he felt to the author. “I thought I would read every single novel and very soon I realized that the character of Hercule Poirot was somebody that I’d never properly met,” Suchet once revealed at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, as recorded by RTE. “And if I hadn’t met him, then I didn’t think that her readership had either, or the future television audience.” For Suchet, it became a mission to properly explore all the multifaceted aspects of the character, which may very well be why the show lasted so long.
Ranging from hour-long episodes to feature-length installments, the 13-season Poirot series is a triumph of British television — and in mystery TV proper. Having played the character for nearly 25 years, nobody knows Hercule Poirot quite like David Suchet, and it’s that commitment to the part that has captured the hearts (and inquiring minds) of all who give Agatha Christie’s Poirot a try. For the best cozy mystery binge you’ll be sorry you haven’t already started, travel back in time for Poirot. Just be sure to watch this TV classic before Hercule premieres.
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