Poirot - Appointment with Death
Murder Mystery Monday takes us back to early 20th Century London and another case for the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. "Appointment with Death" is a curious adaptation of the Agathe Christie novel of the same name involving the murder of a sadistic matriarch with an iron grip over her family. The adaption for Poirot makes a number of curious changes to the story including keeping the matriarch's husband alive (his death, and the will left behind is the catalyst of all that comes afterwards) and changes the woman from being the family's stepmother into one of two adoptive parents for all the various grown children.
Poirot encounters the Boynton family on their tour of the Middle East. With each of the children having motive, as well as others such as a member of Parliament (Elizabeth McGovern), a family friend (Christian McKay), a nun (who has no ties to the original story), a governess (Angela Pleasence), and a doctor (Christina Cole) and psychologist (John Hannah), there is no lack of suspects for when Lady Boynton (Cheryl Campbell) turns up dead. Not content with just the emotional abuse held over her children, the episode also introduces (and repeatedly returns to) flashbacks of physical abuse the children suffered.
Not regarded as one of the better Poirot mysteries, the plot wasn't helped by the numerous changes here that muddy the waters even more while also altering both the motive for the killing and the identity of the murderer from the original work. David Suchet is fine here as Poirot, but the guest-cast doesn't have a real standout and given the changes many characters are unrecognizable from the printed page.
- Title: Poirot - Appointment with Death
- IMDb: link
