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Poirot to be axed?

johnwaynefreak 28 Jan 10 at 7:05 p.m. GMT

From a press release:

Hercule Poirot faces his trickiest dilemma - as he waits to see if he is being killed off by TV bosses.

David Suchet, who has played the Belgian detective for 20 years, admits his little grey cells are working overtime.

And he fears the long-running show is about to be axed as ITV chiefs struggle to save cash.

The actor has revealed there are no plans to start work on the final six stories in the Agatha Christie series.

Since 1989 ITV has made 65 films and Suchet had hoped to complete all 71 by his 65th birthday in May 2011.

But he reckons it now seems increasingly unlikely.

He said: "I'm pragmatic and accept that things get cancelled. Of course there are cutbacks in TV drama and if it is not to be, it is not to be. I will have to be a big boy and accept it." He added: "Of course I would be very sad if it didn't get recommissioned."

Cast and crew fear the plug will be pulled because - despite three films already in the can and due to be screened this year - there are no plans to make any more for 2011

One insider said: "We'd normally have heard by now. Everyone is wondering whether this is it.

"It also doesn't sit particularly well with the new, thrusting, trendy ITV drama landscape, which features shows like Collision and Prisoner."

Itv has already axed several shows, including Heartbeat, The Royal, Sharpe, Where the Heart Is and Kingdom.

The most recent Poirot, Three Act Tragedy, was watched by 4.9 million earlier this month. It was beaten by BBC1's Wallander and C4's Celebrity Big Brother. In its heyday the drama pulled in around 14 million.

The Poirot films waiting to air are Murder On The Orient Express, The Clocks, which co-stars Jaime Winstone, and Hallowe'en Party.

The source added: "It will be a great shame if it doesn't carry on. The world is hoping for and expecting the full boxed set - all 71 stories. We know this from the letters we get.

"A lot of people will be disappointed if the next three are the last."

The series has already been rested by ITV once before. It was "axed" in 1995 but brought back four years later by popular demand.

Last night an ITV spokeswoman said a decision on recommissioning would be taken once the three films had been placed in the schedule.

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Personally, I'm not all that surprised the ratings have plummeted - the shine really has gone out of the series. Arty-farty camerawork and a Poirot who rabidly shouts at all the suspects throughout the final twenty minutes... I think the biggest problem of all is ITV's lack of commitment when it comes to publicising the show. Like "Midsomer Murders", the scheduling seems totally haphazard - and how long had "Appointment With Death" been in the can (and how many other countries had seen it) before it's Xmas Day airing?

I have to admit, I will be disappointed if we don't see "Curtain" filmed (minus the seemingly requisite incest, added homosexuality and general air of condescending camp, of course!)

Any views?

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93 replies

Reverse order

Tommy_A_Jones 23 Jun 11 at 4:04 p.m. GMT

I can't remember what all the last ones are, Elephants Can Remember, Dead Man's Folly, The Big Four, Curtain What is the 5th, If it is Black Coffee it is a short story turned into a Book or Play or something so I don't see it is that big a deal if the money isn't there to make it, if it is The Labours of Hercules it is a Book of short stories and again I personally don't think it would be a disaster if they weren't done but the 4 I mentioned should definitely be done.

johnwaynefreak 22 Jun 11 at 8 p.m. GMT

David Suchet collects his CBE

"I have done all but five of the stories. My lifelong dream will be releasing the Poirot boxset of all the novels she wrote.

"It may happen. There's a green light flickering and I'm waiting for it to be steady. It may be next autumn."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13875225

Again, of course, there is the question; which five?

octopusdave 26 Feb 11 at 8:17 p.m. GMT

Upon reading what was said by johnwaynefreak and the comment made by GKCfan , I wrote to ITV Viewer Services upon the information. I give you their response as follows:

Dear Mr Allen,

                          Thank you for your letter dated 19th February 2011 regarding Agatha Christie's Poirot.

It is always encouraging to receieve letters about our programmes and we are delightd to learn that you are a fan of the drama series.

We have a new film yet to be broadcast "The Clocks" which was produced last year, however ITV is in active discussions about doing more. Scripts are currently being developed but we're not currently in a position to announce new commisions. We're delighted with how well both Poirot and Marple are receieved by ITV1 audience.

May we take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time to contact us here at at ITV Viewer Services.

If we can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours Sincerley

Stephen Morris

Head of ITV Viewer Services

A polite, quick and positive responce in my opinion.

geoffas 17 Mar 10 at 12:35 p.m. GMT

It's unfair to compare ratings of several years ago with today. The top rated programme for the week ending 7th March was "Coronation Street" with 11 million. Almost 5 million for "Three Act Tragedy" isn't bad. Ratings have dropped for all programmes.

My hope would be that we get the last four novels. "Labours" just isn't going to work, it's unlikely they would go back to the short story format. I'm not sure about "Black Coffee"

Just because the series hasn't been re-commissioned yet doesn't mean it won't be. In recent years they haven't  filmed four every year.

Unlike some people I've enjoyed all the Poirots, but thought they took too many liberties with "Appointment with Death".

Tommy_A_Jones 11 Mar 10 at 4:48 p.m. GMT

I thought the identity of No 4 was identified much too quickly, I think if the Chapters had not been pasrt of a Novel they would have been fine, as I say IMHO takew off the beginning and end and take out the BIG FOUR references and the chapters are Fine and I agree it is such a pity Joan Hickson didn't do the short stories.

stylestocurtain 11 Mar 10 at 1:08 p.m. GMT

Lol I think I am the only one who loves Big Four then ... it was a real page turner for me, I loved all the mystery and intrigue ... I didn't like Man in the Brown Suit though (really feeble ending!) Ooh and I loved the Secret Adversary!!! That had me on tenterhooks!

Hmm Mrs Oliver is allright I suppose. Although a welsh friend of mine was a bit offended when she quipped "Never trust the Welsh!" Zoe Wanamaker plays her very well though.

I think the reason is is I don't find her very complementary to Poirot ... to my mind I think he'd probably be pretty intolerant of so much haphazardness and a disorganised person such as her (that apple core scene rolling out of the car was hilarious tho!)

Lone_Wolf 10 Mar 10 at 5:17 p.m. GMT

I'm neutral towards A. Oliver in the books (I don't like any of the books she appears in much, (except "Pale Horse") for other reasons then her presence, though), but I like her in the movies (I didn't think of her performance much in "Mrs. McGinty", but I loved her in "Third Girl").

As to the Big Four, Christie was pretty bad at thrillers at general (Personally, I like "They Came to Baghdad", partly because it was one of my first Christies, but dislike her other thriller books).

MissQuin 10 Mar 10 at 4:46 p.m. GMT

Styles, I'm not crazy about Mrs Oliver. I didnt pay much attention to her in Cards, Dead man or elephants. I only liked her in Mrs McGinty, the Pale Horse and Third girl. But I like her on TV, as those recent adapts need a bit of humour and warmth, which Mrs O brings.

The Big four, good for you going against the crowd and saying you dont like it. I dont like it personally, it reminds me of Bond spoof.

stylestocurtain 10 Mar 10 at 4:30 p.m. GMT

... but I do think they should do ALL of the Poirots, down to the last word. It's such a shame Joan Hickson never did the Marple short stories!

stylestocurtain 10 Mar 10 at 4:29 p.m. GMT

Am I the only one that loves "The Big Four"? I thought it was a brilliant book! The only weak bit is the poison dart bit when they're tied up but otherwise I loved loved loved it! Why doesn everyone else hate it so much?Lol I think I'm also the only one who isn't a big fan of Ariadne Oliver. Dunno why ... I think there's a reason she's only in a few books.

McGinty 10 Mar 10 at 4:29 p.m. GMT

The last four should be The Big Four, Dead Man's Folly, Elephants Can Remember and then finally Curtain. Labours would be difficult as one film - it would be better as a short series, and I don't think they should film Black Coffee. Just my opinion.

Lone_Wolf 10 Mar 10 at 2:16 p.m. GMT

""Folly also MUST be done as that has Ariadne"

That's true. I like Zoe Wannamaker as A. Oliver and it would be a pleasure for me to watch.

Tommy_A_Jones 10 Mar 10 at 1:30 p.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

I think they MUST do The Big Four if they don't do all the Poirot's why carry on? either do them as the book is written or take out all the references to the Culprits and do them as if they were short stories as without the Beginning and the end and the references to the big four that is what they are, I think doing Elephants Can Forget would be brilliant as it isn't realy like any of the other Poirot's is it because of the sollution (If My Memory serves me right, "Folly also MUST be done as that has Ariadne, fo me "The Labours of Hercules" is the one I would say Dunno to but then I would add Probably, Halloween Party is a yes for the same reason as Dead Man's Folly and The Clock a definite Must because I love the book and ofcourse Curtain    

Lone_Wolf 09 Mar 10 at 5:46 p.m. GMT

I actually don't feel the disconnect between the "new" and the "old" as much as you guys, because I buy Poirot films on DVD here, and due to that I watch the episodes not in the order of their filming. Therefore, the balance seems perfect to me - when I'm tired of drama, there's a light episode for me to watch, when I'm tired of light episodes, I can have the drama!

If every episode watched by me was dark, I'd definitely miss something, and vise versa.

Having said that, due to the fact that "Five Little Pigs" is my favourite Poirot film too, I guess when all's said and done, I prefer the darker feel. I can even say that more deep (dark if you like), phsychological approach makes a film more escapist for me, not less.

As to the remaining episodes. frankly, I don't think "The Big Four" is worth filming. Let the "Marple" series use the plot of it for their owm purposes, with Mrs. Marple fighting the Four instead of Poirot. It isn't less preposterous then what they already did, anyway.

"Elephants Can Remember" requires a serious rewrite.

"Halloween Party", with a couple of delicate changes here and there, can make a movie which is better then the novel.

For "Curtain", the darker feel is perfect. With good actors that can compensate for the pallidness or original characters, the movie has the potential to be a truly heatwrenching experience. As long as they don't overdo it, anyway.

Dunno about "Folly".

"The Labours of Hercules" is rather light and not really serious in tone, therefore, I believe that it fits the "earlier" Poirot feel more. Attempting to make it all dark would result in the viewing experience being boring.

Tommy_A_Jones 09 Mar 10 at 4:35 p.m. GMT

I enjoyed the light feel of the early Poirot's I dislike the  style of plungeing into the Drama - that I think started with Five Little Pigs Someone said that the balance between Light and hopeful Drama and More Gloomy Drama has shifted towards the latter and I like the lightness of the old Poirot's, perhaps the Fashion isn't rewalistic, but who cares, Poirot is supposed to take you away from yourself and make you forget real life and for me that works perfectly, Yes there should be accuracy but if there isn't all the time it really doesn't matter as long as the Killers and Sexuality of the Characters stay the same and the viewers are happy surely that is what is importan't and for me Poirot could never get to saturation point and if it is getting to dsaturation point it is due in part tpo the ITV decission to put Miss Marple in Dramas she shouldn't be in - well that is my Humble Oppinion anyway.   

Katherine 09 Mar 10 at 1:38 p.m. GMT

I'm kind of on the fence on this.

I don't miss the fairly weak comedy subplots of the earlier episodes, and also the crowbarring of Hastings et al into every episode often didn't work. Plus it used to annoy me that the earlier series often included a pre-titles sequence which completely gave away the motive for the murder.

Since the new production team took over, I think there have been some fantastic episodes: Five Little Pigs which is still the best Poirot film ever in my opinion, and some stinkers: the recent Appointment with Death whilst looking nice just had too many elements thrown in that didn't work.

There is a danger of making them gloomy and dark for the sake of it. It's still a murder mystery after all. I found the recent Three Act Tragedy rather dull as the script lacked any real wit or humour, and the characters were particularly bland.

And it's true that the hair and make up design can make all the characters look rather anonymous: this was a particular problem in Mrs McGinty's Dead, where this coupled with a lot of far away shots of the actors made it very hard to distinguish between the suspects a lot of the time.

Surely not everyone in the 30s was dressed and styled at the very peak of fashion?!

However if there has been a recent dip in the viewing figures, I'd say that's more to do with TV audiences fracturing generally, and the fact that Poirot is screened constantly on ITV3 these days, so it becomes much harder to make the audience aware of the fact that it's a new episode. It's kind of reached saturation point unfortunately.

stylestocurtain 09 Mar 10 at 1:26 p.m. GMT

Yeah I agree ... I don't like it at all ... that's why the ratings have gone down so much

MissQuin 09 Mar 10 at 1:19 p.m. GMT

The filming is very dark on Mystery of the Blue Train, cards and other epsiodes of that time, theres lots of black. Also the actors are cast in an an almost eerie blue light. Theres lots of night scenes. It's like a film noir style. Theres little in the way of humour and the actors are often shown in shadow, looking very serious.

Yeah ceasefire, so sorry. I was listening to a song called Dont Cry Out earlier today that says seize fire!

stylestocurtain 09 Mar 10 at 1:19 p.m. GMT

go_leafs_nation

But its film technique was quite primitive. Its static feel made for a far more dull viewing experience.

I disagree entirely. The music and film technique of Murder on the Links were top notch and garnered much, much critical success. These recent ones all merge into one they're so bland.

go_leafs_nation 09 Mar 10 at 1:15 p.m. GMT

But its film technique was quite primitive. Its static feel made for a far more dull viewing experience.