Agatha Christie's Poirot began its new run on ITV tonight with The Big Four, co-written by Mark Gatiss and Ian Hallard. Among other pleasures, the episode reintroduced Hugh Fraser, Pauline Moran and Philip Jackson as Captain Hastings, Miss Lemon, and the world-weary cop Japp, all of whom played an enjoyable part in supporting the great David Suchet in the early days of the series. The main cast members attended one of the most memorable crime events I can recall, the Agatha Christie Centenary Banquet at Torquay' s English Riviera Centre in September 1990. It was a wonderful, unforgettable night, complete with a dramatic firework display over the bay.
Now, although I'm a Christie fan, I'm the first to acknowledge that not all her detective stories are masterpieces. The Big Four was published at a low point in her life, not long after her famous disappearance, and was cobbled together from a series of lurid episodes. As a result, the book is fragementary, and the plot material pretty risible. How do you adapt something like that so as to satisfy a 21st century television audience?
The answer is to do it confidently, but with respect for the strong points in Christie's writing and the characters. Mark Gatiss, a writer I admire, is well qualified to do this, and I felt he and Ian Hallard did a pretty good job, at least until the closing scenes, which were crazier in mood than the earlier part of the story. I sensed the writers' energy flagging a bit towards the end, with Hastings disappearing from the action for no good reason..But anyone who has read the original novel will surely agree that it would be a challenge to adapt.
Some people might argue that in some ways, it is easier to make a success of adapting a poor Christie book than a good one. In support of that view, I felt that, to take just one example, the TV version of The Sittaford Mystery was hugely disappointing. Having said that, the screenplay of The Secret of Chimneys, which was another Twenties thriller in broadly the same vein as The Big Four, was over the top from start to finish. Despite that faltering in the later stages, The Big Four worked better overall..
Of course, the presence of David Suchet is a huge asset to this series. Almost everyone who has responded to my post on Joan Hickson agrees she was the best Jane Marple, and I think there's even less argument about the definitive nature of Suchet's interpretation of Poirot. He was as good as usual in The Big Four.
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Apparently, modern mystery writers will be penning new Poirot books authorized by the Christie Estate. Sophie Hannah is writing the first one. I'm on the fence about this as I'm somewhat of a purist and can't imagine anyone fussing about with Poirot...
"Some people might argue that in some ways, it is easier to make a success of adapting a poor Christie book than a good one"
Nemesis being a fine example of this. One of her poorest books it was dramatised beautifully with the wonderful Joan Hickson as Miss Marple
Sonia, thanks. I did a post a while back about Sophie's forthcoming book, and though in many ways I'm a purist too, I think she's a good choice for the task.
Elaine, you are spot on. I was so disappointed with the book, but Joan Hickson was always terrific in the role.
I agree, Martin, it's always good to see David Suchet as Poirot, but I was disappointed not to see more of Miss Lemon and Captain Hastings, and as for the gaping hole in the plot . . .
I just hope they went Edgar Wallace on this material. It's such a poor book; like Chandler's THE BIG SLEEP, it reads like a hastily-converted short story collection (which it basically was). Hastings was a true idiot throughout this novel, falling for tricks that wouldn't fool a five year old, and the only thing that really made the book fun was Poirot's twin brother.
That being said, the sinister Big Four, complete with the Evil Chinaman, could have come straight from Edgar Wallace or Sax Rohmer. And at their best, those two were delightful fun to read (questions of racism set aside). So this is one book where I don't particularly care if they adhere to the story faithfully.
Of course, the presence of David Suchet is a huge asset to this series. Almost everyone who has responded to my post on Joan Hickson agrees she was the best Jane Marple, and I think there's even less argument about the definitive nature of Suchet's interpretation of Poirot.
Here is someone who disagrees. Yes, I love Joan Hickson as Jane Marple. But I have also enjoyed Angela Landsbury, Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie. There is no definitive Jane Marple . . . at least for me.
I can say the same about Hercule Poirot. I love David Suchet as Poirot. But I also loved Albert Finney and Peter Ustinov.
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