Hercule Poirot (radio series)

Last updated

Hercule Poirot
Genre Radio drama
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Home station BBC Radio 4
Starring John Moffatt
Written by Michael Bakewell
Adapted from the works of Agatha Christie
Directed by Enyd Williams
Original release29 December 1985 (1985-12-29) –
27 August 2007 (2007-08-27)

Hercule Poirot is a series of full cast BBC Radio drama adaptations of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels and short stories adapted by Michael Bakewell, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1985 and 2007. With the exception of the first two adaptations, the series stars John Moffatt as Poirot. [1]

Contents

Production

The series consists of 27 full cast radio adaptations of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories, adapted by Michael Bakewell and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. [1]

After the first adaptation, the six episode The Mystery of the Blue Train of 1985 (directed by David Johnston), all following productions were directed and produced by Enyd Williams. For Williams's first production, Hercule Poirot's Christmas , Peter Sallis played Poirot, but she recalled in The Radio Detectives that "I enjoyed very much working with Peter Sallis...but he's not a very happy person doing accents so we decided to leave it there." [2] She subsequently cast John Moffatt, a member of the Radio Drama Company, in the role and he reprised the part for a further 25 productions between 1987 and 2007. [2] [3] [4]

Adaptations in the series were released on CD [5] and are regularly rebroadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra. [1] According to a press release in December 2020, Hercule Poirot episodes are one of the most requested programmes on BBC Sounds alongside Miss Marple . [6] The major omission from the series was the final Poirot novel - Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case - for which the rights proved unattainable. [7]

Cast

The main character, private detective Hercule Poirot, appears in each production and was played by John Moffatt in all the dramatisations except the first two, in which he was played by Maurice Denham and Peter Sallis respectively. [1] [8]

Captain Hastings, Poirot's companion in several stories, was played by Simon Williams in Lord Edgware Dies, The ABC Murders, Peril at End House, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and Dumb Witness, and Jeremy Clyde in Murder on the Links. [1] Police detective Inspector Japp was played by Philip Jackson in The ABC Murders, Death In The Clouds, One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, and The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Norman Jones in Lord Edgware Dies, and Bryan Pringle in Peril at End House. [1] [9]

Crime fiction writer Ariadne Oliver was played by Stephanie Cole in Hallowe'en Party and Cards on the Table, and Julia McKenzie in Elephants Can Remember, Mrs McGinty's Dead, and Dead Man's Folly. Colonel Race, a British intelligence agent, was played by Donald Sinden in Death on the Nile and Cards on the Table. [1]

Multiple actors played different characters in separate adaptations. For instance, Donald Sinden, who played Colonel Race, also played Colonel Lacey in The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding. Two other examples are Mary Wimbush, who played Mrs Lorrimer in Cards on the Table and Mrs Leadbetter in Taken at the Flood, and Michael Cochrane, who played Sir Charles Cartwright in Three Act Tragedy and Sir George Stubbs in Dead Man's Folly. [1] [10] [11]

List of adaptations

No.TitleFirst broadcastNotes
1 The Mystery of the Blue Train 29 December 19856 episodes starring Maurice Denham as Poirot, directed by David Johnston. [12]
2 Hercule Poirot's Christmas 24 December 1986Part of a "Murder for Christmas" strand, starring Peter Sallis as Poirot, directed by Enyd Williams. [13]
3 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd 24 December 1987Part of a "Crime at Christmas" strand, with John Moffatt as Poirot, who reprised the role for all future episodes. [14]
4 Murder on the Links 15 September 1990 Saturday Night Theatre [15]
5 Lord Edgware Dies (a.k.a. Thirteen at Dinner)18 March 19925 episodes [16]
6 Sad Cypress 14 May 19925 episodes [17]
7 Murder on the Orient Express 28 December 19925 episodes [18]
8 Hallowe'en Party 30 October 1993Saturday Night Theatre [19]
9 Five Little Pigs 18 June 1994Saturday Night Theatre [20]
10 Murder in Mesopotamia 26 December 19945 episodes [21]
11 Death on the Nile 2 January 19975 episodes [22]
12 Evil Under the Sun 6 April 19985 episodes [23]
13 After the Funeral 28 August 1999 The Saturday Play [24]
14 The A.B.C. Murders 22 April 2000The Saturday Play [25]
15 Peril at End House 20 November 20005 episodes [26]
16 Appointment with Death 25 August 2001The Saturday Play [27]
17 Cards on the Table 4 May 2002The Saturday Play [28]
18 Three Act Tragedy 8 July 20025 episodes [10]
19 Death in the Clouds 3 May 2003The Saturday Play [29]
20 Taken at the Flood 13 October 20035 episodes [30]
21 One, Two, Buckle My Shoe 30 August 20045 episodes [9]
22 The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding 24 December 2004 Afternoon Play [31]
23 The Mysterious Affair at Styles 5 September 20055 episodes [32]
24 Elephants Can Remember 7 January 2006The Saturday Play [33]
25 Mrs. McGinty's Dead 3 March 20065 episodes [34]
26 Dumb Witness 7 December 2006Afternoon Play, 2 episodes [35]
27 Dead Man's Folly 6 August 20074 episodes [11]

Reception

The Sunday Times wrote in 2004 that "Radio 4...relies on the same clever but unpublicised creative trio it has had since the 1980s: John Moffatt, who plays Poirot with such finesse, Michael Bakewell, who adapts the stories with clarify and affection; and Enyd Williams, the producer and director." [36] Moffatt's portrayal of Hercule Poirot is cited in his obituaries as the definitive radio portrayal of the character. [3] [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hercule Poirot</span> Fictional detective character created by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays, and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975.

<i>Agatha Christies Poirot</i> British television detective series (1989–2013)

Agatha Christie's Poirot, or simply Poirot, is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. The ITV show is based on many of Agatha Christie’s famous crime fiction series, which revolves around the fictional private investigator, Hercule Poirot. David Suchet starred as the fictional detective. Initially produced by LWT, the series was later produced by ITV Studios. The series also aired on VisionTV in Canada and on PBS and A&E in the US.

<i>Cards on the Table</i> 1936 Poirot novel by Agatha Christie

Cards on the Table is a detective fiction novel by the English author Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 2 November 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.

<i>Lord Edgware Dies</i> 1933 Poirot novel by Agatha Christie

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Hastings</span> Only close friend of Hercule Poirot, the fictional detective of Agatha Christie

Captain Arthur J. M. Hastings, OBE, is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie as the companion-chronicler and best friend of the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. He is first introduced in Christie's 1920 novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles and appears as a character in seven other Poirot novels, including the final one Curtain: Poirot's Last Case (1975), along with a play and many short stories. He is also the narrator of several of them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inspector Japp</span> Fictional character

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<i>Halloween Party</i> 1969 Poirot novel by Agatha Christie

Hallowe'en Party is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in November 1969 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. This book was dedicated to writer P. G. Wodehouse. It has been adapted for television, radio, and most recently for the film A Haunting in Venice (2023).

Ariadne Oliver is a fictional character in the novels of Agatha Christie. She is a crime fiction novelist, the creator of the fictional Finnish detective Sven Hjerson, and a friend of Hercule Poirot.

<i>Peril at End House</i> 1932 Poirot novel by Agatha Christie

Peril at End House is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by the Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1932 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in March of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).

<i>Death on the Nile</i> 1937 novel by Agatha Christie

Death on the Nile is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 1 November 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.) The book features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The action takes place in Egypt, mostly on the River Nile. The novel is unrelated to Christie's earlier (1933) short story of the same name, which featured Parker Pyne as the detective.

<i>Dead Mans Folly</i> 1956 Poirot novel by Agatha Christie

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<i>Hercule Poirots Christmas</i> 1938 Poirot novel by Agatha Christie

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<i>The Alphabet Murders</i> 1965 British film

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Lord Peter Wimsey is a series of full cast BBC Radio drama adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey detective novels broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1973 and 1983, with a further adaptation of Gaudy Night mounted for BBC Audiobooks in 2005 to complete the full sequence of Sayers' novels, all starring Ian Carmichael in the title role.

Miss Marple is a series of full cast BBC Radio drama adaptations of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple stories. The original series consisted of adaptations of all twelve Miss Marple novels, dramatised by Michael Bakewell and directed by Enyd Williams. They were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1993 and 2001 and starred June Whitfield as Miss Marple.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "BBC Radio 4 Extra – Poirot – Episode guide". BBC.
  2. 1 2 "The Radio Detectives: Hercule Poirot". BBC Genome. 25 May 1999. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  3. 1 2 "John Moffatt", The Times, 21 September 2012
  4. 1 2 "John Moffatt", The Daily Telegraph, 17 September 2012 Archived copy at WebCite (27 August 2011).
  5. ↑ Hercule Poirot's greatest cases. OCLC   191816504 . Retrieved 26 July 2020– via WorldCat.
  6. ↑ "More than 1bn plays on BBC Sounds in 2020 and That Peter Crouch Podcast most popular of year". BBC Media Centre. 17 December 2020.
  7. ↑ Caroline Raphael. 'Letter: Michael Bakewell obituary', in The Guardian, 24 August, 2023
  8. ↑ "Hercule Poirot - The Mystery of the Blue Train". BBC. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  9. 1 2 "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  10. 1 2 "Three Act Tragedy". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  11. 1 2 "Dead Man's Folly". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "The Mystery of the Blue Train". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  13. ↑ "Hercule Poirot's Christmas". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  14. ↑ "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  15. ↑ "Murder on the Links". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  16. ↑ "Lord Edgware Dies". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  17. ↑ "Sad Cypress". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  18. ↑ "Murder on the Orient Express". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  19. ↑ "Hallowe'en Party". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  20. ↑ "Five Little Pigs". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  21. ↑ "Murder in Mesopotamia". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  22. ↑ "Death on the Nile". BBC Genome. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  23. ↑ "Evil Under the Sun". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  24. ↑ "After the Funeral". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  25. ↑ "The ABC Murders". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  26. ↑ "Peril at End House". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  27. ↑ "Appointment With Death". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  28. ↑ "Cards on the Table". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  29. ↑ "Death in the Clouds". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  30. ↑ "Taken at the Flood". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  31. ↑ "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  32. ↑ "The Mysterious Affair at Styles". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  33. ↑ "Elephants Can Remember". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  34. ↑ "Mrs. McGinty's Dead". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  35. ↑ "Dumb Witness". BBC Genome. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  36. ↑ Donovan, Paul (19 December 2004). "Radio Waves: Paul Donovan: Corpus Christie". Sunday Times.

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