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Poirot WILL be axed

stylestocurtain 12 Mar 11 at 6:28 p.m. GMT

According to the Daily Mail, insiders at ITV say Poirot will be axed, despite the fact that there are 6 more episodes to be made.

The ratings have been in decline over the years - which doesn't surprise me, with this new-fangled Poirot they brought in since 2002.

As far as I'm concerned, the Poirot I knew and loved disappeared back then.

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22 replies

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marlonbrando76 21 Mar 11 at 8:43 p.m. GMT

Dear Fans, i have opened this page:

http://www.youtube.com/user/marlonbrando76

to try to help our friend Hercule Poirot! this march i've read BAD news about the itv decision to axed the last six episodes of our beloved series, the canon is almost complete, David Suchet want to complete the canon, fans want tha canon to be completed, my idea is to use this page to collect ours video clip and show ITV there are fans around the world wants this dream became true.David Suchet deserve it! so fans write to me and send your video.

save.poirot@gmail.com   the video must be long 30 sec. and you must put fake mustache on your face and said: "ITV PLEASE, SAVE POIROT AND COMPLETE THE CANON! MERCI."i waiting for your video, Poirot need our help!

knottyceltic 15 Mar 11 at 6:09 p.m. GMT

Here's Darren's link

https://www.facebook.com/pages/ITV-MUST-film-the-remaining-Poirot-stories/176751832370891?ref=ts&sk=wall

Number3 15 Mar 11 at 3:13 p.m. GMT

I don't  like the new episodes.  But if the Americans fans find out about the ax, they will find a way to get funds for the series.  Maybe Masterpiece Theater might have the funds to help finish the series.  Or even possibly A&E might jump on the opportunity to finish the series.

We can only hope 

DarrenLB 15 Mar 11 at 9:26 a.m. GMT

Hello. If any of you use facebook, you may be interested to know I've started a campaign on there to encourage ITV to film the remaining stories. You can find it by typing this into the search bar on facebook:

ITV must film the remaining poirot stories

lisap 14 Mar 11 at 7:19 p.m. GMT

I just got a reply from ITV as follows:

Dear Ms Phelan Thank you for your email regarding ‘Poirot’.

We have a new film yet to be broadcast The Clocks which was produced last year and ITV is in active discussions about doing more. Scripts are currently being developed but we are not currently in a position to announce new commissions.

We are delighted with how well both Poirot and Marple are received by the ITV1 audience.

I do hope you will continue to watch and enjoy many of our programmes.

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

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

 Kind regards

Mike

ITV VIEWER SERVICES

pauly1138 14 Mar 11 at 7:11 p.m. GMT

I completely disagree with some of the previous comments as i am a fan of the more recent Poirot's than earlier episodes.  The earlier episodes were a little "light-hearted" whereas Agatha wrote them to be serious analytical stories.  Hastings & Japp were sometimes "crow-barred" into stories just for comic relief.  Poirot is getting older and more jaded and this is reflected in the films.  I for one thought 'Orient express' was excellent and would have cringed if Japp had bungled on board shouting the odds.  It will be awful if Poirot is axed, especially since they are so near completion of the canon.  Marple has become almost a parody of Agatha's work and whe i watch them i'm almost waiting for someone to tell me it's all a joke.  Give me Joan Hickson's episodes anyday.  Cancel Marple ITV if you have to cancel anything.  Poirot deserves to be finished.

lisap 14 Mar 11 at 6:19 p.m. GMT

I truly hope that ITV does not axe Poirot, it would be a dreadful shame, I would love to see if we could manage to ask all the Poirot fans to contact ITV at viewerservices@itv.com to reqeust that they make an official comment in realtion to new commissions. I hope we can all pursuade ITV to continue with both Marple and Poirot...

GYoung 14 Mar 11 at 6:11 p.m. GMT

We must not let this happen. Remember how much we love Poirot! Don't let him be axed so close to the end. Email ITV viewer services so that even if these are just rumours they will still know that there are loyal fans out there for the show.

geoffas 14 Mar 11 at 5 p.m. GMT

I received an reply from ITV which stated

ITV is in active discussions about doing more(Poirot), Scripts are currently being developed but we are not currently in a position to announce new commissions.

I think that sounds very hopeful.

Rach30 14 Mar 11 at 2:38 p.m. GMT

I'm new to this site and I was devastated to hear that ITV might be dropping the axe on the last episodes of Poirit. It seems rather galling that they would rather spend their money on reality tv shows. 

Lone_Wolf 14 Mar 11 at 5:34 a.m. GMT

Tankster

And while a debate over "old vs new" is probably best left to some other thread, I'm always amazed at the flack that the newer adaptations receive.

The series suffers from a very mild cause of Broken Base.

But yeah, Curtain needs to be made, it felt somewhat perfunctory as a book to me, but it has great potential.

LittleSquirrel 13 Mar 11 at 11:29 p.m. GMT

If it has to be axed, please at least make CURTAIN!!!!

Tankster 13 Mar 11 at 7:48 p.m. GMT

I too hope this is just a matter of speculation to fill a "no news" void. And while a debate over "old vs new" is probably best left to some other thread, I'm always amazed at the flack that the newer adaptations receive. Sure, some of the newer adaptations miss the mark, but so do some of the older ones, which sometimes also suffer from a rather slow pace. I loved Cat Among the Pigeons, Mrs. McGinty's Dead, Halloween Party, and Three Act Tragedy. And while some modern elements have found their way into the scripts, I find them no more jarring than Japp's confusion over Poirot's plumbing in Hickory, Dickory, Dock. That certainly wasn't Agatha Christie...

geoffas 13 Mar 11 at 4:25 p.m. GMT

May I just point out that Poirot has NOT been axed. It's just speculation from a newspaper and an ITV website. This is how a story gets out of proportion: messages here have gone from speculation to accepting Poirot has been axed. The last word I heard, which I said earlier, was from David Suchet himself who said the next story to be filmed was "Dead Man's Folly". I would think he'd be in a position to know more than most.

MissQuin 13 Mar 11 at 9:43 a.m. GMT

This had taken my by suprise. I thought Orient Express had been a ratings hit. Plus Poirot is sold all around the world, making it succesful in other countries.

I read Marple get's lower ratings that Poirot, so how come that's not axed? I guess Poirot might cost more to film. It has more exotic locations, set in the 30's.

Although I might prefer most of the earlier adapts, there's still been some excellent episodes after 2001. Like the ones LovesM mentioned. Plus Halloween Party was very good, After the funeral too.

So I would be crestfallen if they axed it. I'd love to see Curtain being made. That might be the only chance fans will see Hastings again!! It would be a terrible shame if all the books hadn't been adapted.

johnwaynefreak 13 Mar 11 at 8:31 a.m. GMT

I'm in complete agreement with all of you who say it's no loss to miss out on any new 'updated style' Poirots.

It's a shame we won't get "Curtain", but I also know that I have all the current Poriots on DVD and probably won't ever watch anything post "Dumb Witness" again. Even at the age of twelve, I could see that with "Lord Edgware Dies" and "...Roger Ackroyd", the rot had set in.

At the same time, though, let's remember the four year gap between filming "Dumb Witness" and "Ackroyd" - so a comeback down the line wouldn't be unthinkable. I think ITV shot themselves in the foot, though, with the scheduling - remember when a series was shown as a series? I think Midsomer Murders is only considered a filler for when there's not football on these days.

"Marple" needs the chop, too... Some people rave about the supporting casts these productions have had but how many really mean "Oh, I like those people as celebrities" compared to "What wonderful performances they gave"?

McGinty 13 Mar 11 at 6:37 a.m. GMT

If you prefer the 'old' Poirot, then frankly I'd prefer that they didn't film the remaining novels at all than return to that style of storytelling.

geoffas 13 Mar 11 at 6:34 a.m. GMT

This seems very strange as it had been previously confirmed that Poirot was to continue and David Suchet himself announced the next story to be filmed was "Dead Man's Folly".  Thank you GKCfan for your sample message, I will write to ITV now.

GKCfan 12 Mar 11 at 10:31 p.m. GMT

If you want to keep Poirot going, please contact ITV immediately.  If you want to express concern over the quality or style of the episodes, you may include that too.  Send your messages to: ITV Viewer Services <viewerservices@itv.com>

Here is a sample message.  Feel free to use it and alter it as you see fit.

To whom it may concern,   I have heard that there is some uncertainty as to whether the remaining Agatha Christie stories featuring Hercule Poirot will be adapted with David Suchet.  Right now, the following stories remain to be fimed:"The Lemesurier Inheritance" (short story)The Labours of Hercules (short story collection- twelve mysteries)Black Coffee (play)The Big Four (novel)Dead Man's Folly (novel)Elephants Can Remember (novel)Curtain (novel)    I love this series and I really want to see all of them filmed!  Please keep Poirot going, and please give them a respectable budget!  Also, if possible, please try to recapture the spirit and humor of the earlier years of the show.  Thank you!Sincerely,(Your Name Here)

GKCfan 12 Mar 11 at 10:28 p.m. GMT

It seems like the ultimate fate of the Poirot series is up in the air at present:

http://www.musicrooms.net/tv/28665-itv-to-axe-poirot.html