David Suchet’s definitive TV version of Hercule Poirot’s could be challenged with new BBC series in works
David Suchet might be the defining TV version of famed fictional detective Hercule Poirot, but his throne is about to be challenged with a reboot in development.
For generations of TV viewers, David Suchet is Hercule Poirot and Hercule Poirot is David Suchet. The two are inseparable.
There have been big screen versions, of course. Albert Finney and Peter Ustinov in the 1970s and 1980s and Kenneth Branagh more recently, but Suchet is the man.
He retired the role in 2013 after 24 years with the little grey cells, but last year made the show Travels with Agatha Christie and Sir David Suchet. It’s hard to completely leave Poirot’s world.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.There will soon be a new Poirot with reports the BBC has won a competitive bidding situation to be the home of a new series starting next year.
According to Deadline, the BBC has made an extended commitment and has already commissioned up to three seasons from the get-go. The show is expected to be a significant re-imagining of the Christie stories.
The project is said to be from production company Mammoth Screen, which has been in the business of Christie adaptations for more than a decade since the 2015 miniseries And Then There Were None starring Charles Dance and Maeve Dermody.
In the nine series produced by Mammoth, Poirot only appeared in one – The ABC Murders in 2018, and he was played by John Malkovich.
Agatha Christie Limited, which oversees the rights and legacy to the late writer’s prolific body of work, is involved in the rebooted series.
Poirot is one of the most iconic detectives in western fiction. The Belgian figure is known for his distinctive moustache and exacting presentation, and his deductive reasoning skills.
He appeared in 33 novels, starting with The Mysterious Affairs at Styles in 1920 and was published until Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case in 1975.
Christie’s stories have consistently been adapted for decades including on screen, on stage and in audio form.
Finney played Poirot in Sidney Lumet’s cinema adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express, followed by Ustinov, who played the character six times, including in Evil Under the Sun. Branagh made three movies from 2017. Peter Dinklage has voiced Poirot in a series of audio plays.
Christie’s other most popular creation, Miss Jane Marple, was the centre of the TV series Marple from 2004 to 2013. That seems ripe for a revisit.
