Hercule Poirot | Tellyspotting

Posted October 31, 2022 - 4 Comments

Remembering ‘Mystery’ on PBS before mystery was cool….

For those PBS Mystery series fans that are currently experiencing the Sunday evening greatness that is Miss Scarlet and the Duke, Magpie Murders and Annika and who have been anxiously awaiting each Summer for the new seasons of Endeavour and Grantchester for the better part of the last decade, you may not be aware of the root history of ‘mystery’ on PBS that needs to be recognized for those that remember way, way back into the 80’s, back when the Earth was beginning to cool from the Ice Age.

Posted July 28, 2018 - No Comment

Benny Hill’s The Strolling Ones – part of the British Invasion that never landed in the U.S.

In the overall British comedy landscape, The Benny Hill Show had more than its share of slapstick, mime and double entendre during its brilliant run from the mid-50s up until the British sketch comedy series was cancelled in the late 80s. A steady decline in ratings and what was, at the time, a very high production cost of approximately £450,000 […]

Posted June 2, 2017 - No Comment

Sir Kenneth Branagh and Dame Judi Dench board the Orient Express for Agatha Christie’s whodunnit

As most P1’s of Tellyspotting are well aware, I’m not a huge fan of remakes. I’m all on board with prequels. Remakes, not so much. That said, the forthcoming November release of Kenneth Branagh’s ‘remake’ of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express may go a long way to alter my future close-mindedness. Sir Kenneth will not only co-produce and […]

Posted September 2, 2016 - No Comment

It’s Christie for Christmas x 7!

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Beginning in 2016, we’ll be having a ‘Christie for Christmas’ holiday season for the foreseeable future. Given the audience response following last Christmas’ small screen adaptation of the Agatha Christie classic, And Then There Were None starring Aidan Turner (Being Human, Poldark) and the earlier re-do of Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence detective novels, Partners […]

Posted August 17, 2016 - No Comment

With Poirot in his rear view mirror, David Suchet heads to ‘Doctor Who’ for guest role

After a quarter of a century plus playing Agatha Christie’s quirky Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, Sir David Suchet will guest star on the upcoming tenth series of Doctor Who. Unfortunately, as fans have come to expect in the run-up to any new series of Who, no details exist as of yet with respect to the […]

Posted July 5, 2016 - 1 Comment

Lewis and Hathaway prepare for final case beginning Aug 7 on PBS

When Kevin Whately begins to solve his final case beginning Sunday, August 7 as part of PBS’ Masterpiece series, he’s got to feel a bit like Sir David Suchet and his quarter of a century on-screen relationship with Hercule Poirot. Whately stepped into the role of DS Robert “Robbie” Lewis in 1987, opposite the late John Thaw […]

Posted November 23, 2015 - 2 Comments

Post ‘Wallander’, Kenneth Branagh sets sights on ‘Murder on the Orient Express’

Just two short years after the longest-serving Poirot, David Suchet, hung up his iconic waxed moustache, Kenneth Branagh is to become the latest star to portray Agatha Christie’s most famous and long-lived character, eccentrically-refined Belgian detective in a new movie version of the classic Murder on the Orient Express. Branagh, who will bring to an end his […]

Posted January 24, 2015 - No Comment

For David Suchet, it’s goodbye to Hercule Poirot and hello to Lady Bracknell

After 25+ years of bringing Agatha Christie’s dapper Belgian detective to life, Sir David Suchet will remove the trademark Hercule Poirot hat and moustache in favor of another hat, handbag, dress and petticoat to play Lady Bracknell in a new West End production of The Importance Of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde’s satire of Victorian high […]

Posted August 9, 2014 - No Comment

'Being Poirot' is a delight for current and future Poirot fans

When the phrase Must See TV was coined by NBC years ago for its’ Thursday night comedy/drama lineup it must have had an upcoming public television special in mind some 30 years later. Being Poirot, which recounts Sir David Suchet’s last days as that ‘funny little man’ born in the mind of Agatha Christie, will […]

Posted July 27, 2014 - No Comment

David Suchet's final days as Poirot begins tonight on PBS

It all began in January of 1989. Probably not even David Suchet himself knew that some 25+ years later he would have portrayed the world’s most notable Belgian detective for the entire Agatha Christie catalog that featured Hercule Poirot. Tonight’s premiere of “The Big Four” on PBS’ Masterpiecemarks the return of Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser), […]