TV News: Big Four reunite for Poirot's The Big Four

I'm pleased to see the return of Japp, Hastings and Miss Lemon!

From an ITV press release yesterday:

Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson and Pauline Moran are reunited with David Suchet for Agatha Christie’s The Big Four.

Last seen together in the television adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Evil Under the Sun, Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson and Pauline Moran are back to reprise their iconic roles as Captain Hastings, Inspector Japp and Miss Lemon alongside David Suchet as the legendary Hercule Poirot in The Big Four.

Adapted by award-winning screenwriter and actor Mark Gatiss and actor Ian Hallard, The Big Four plunges Poirot into a world of global espionage where he uncovers a theatrical tale of murder, secrets, lies and love, set against the backdrop of the impending World War II.

As a deadly game of chess unfolds, Russian grandmaster, Dr Ivan Savaranoff (Michael Culkin) meets a shocking end, sending the public spiralling into panic, as suspicion is cast upon Peace Party stalwarts Abe Ryland (James Carroll Jordan) and Madame Olivier (Patricia Hodge). In one of his toughest challenges yet, Poirot must work out who the good guys are from the bad, as a complex plot sees a host of international figures used like pawns by a gang of dangerous dissidents tagged “The Big Four”.

As the murders and disappearances stack up one by one, Poirot is joined in his investigations by his old friend Japp (Philip Jackson), the dogged journalist Tysoe (Tom Brooke), and struggling actress, Flossie Monro (Sarah Parish), in an attempt to snare the killer and shatter “The Big Four” for good.

More Poirot & Marple on ITV1

Separate announcements today have revealed that 5 more Poirots and 3 more Marples are on their way.

From The Telegraph:

Five new films, based on a mixture of novels and short stories, will go into production next year.

Suchet said: ''I'm more than delighted to be reprising my role as Poirot. It's been my life's ambition to bring this amazing canon of works to completion on ITV.

The new films include Curtain, which is Poirot's last case and sees the detective, immobilised with arthritis, call on his old friend Captain Hastings to help him as they return to the scene of their first ever case to try to prevent another murder.

And in an ITV press release:

ITV is delighted to announce that acclaimed stage and television actress Julia McKenzie will return to her role as Miss Marple.

Three Marple films including Caribbean Mystery have been commissioned from ITV Studios and Agatha Christie Ltd.

A Caribbean Mystery will be the first film to be shot during the summer of 2012 with two further films Endless Night and The Seven Dials Mystery produced during the autumn of 2012.

Murder on the Orient Express

Christmas Day tv's looking good in the UK: Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol (update: 6pm UK, BBC America at 9pm ET) and Murder on the Orient Express on ITV at 9pm.


From the ITV press release:

World-famous sleuth Hercule Poirot has just solved a complex case in Istanbul for the British Army, when he witnesses an act of brutal injustice on the streets. Relieved when a new case calls him back to London, Poirot’s old acquaintance Xavier Bouc (Serge Hazanavicius), secures him a last minute ticket on the luxurious Orient Express.

Among the eclectic range of passengers are Princess Dragomiroff (Dame Eileen Atkins) and her nervous maid Hildegard Schmidt (Susanne Lothar), English Governess Mary Debenham (Jessica Chastain) and Swedish missionary Greta Ohlsson (Marie-Josée Croze).

Whilst aboard the train Poirot is approached by ruthless American businessman Samuel Ratchett (Toby Jones) who offers him $10,000 to watch his back. Could Ratchett be fearful of the Italian Antonio Foscarelli (Joseph Mawle), English Colonel John Arbuthnott (David Morrissey), pushy American Mrs Hubbard (Barbara Hershey) or Hungarian diplomat Count Andrenyi (Stanley Weber) and his wife, Countess Andrenyi (Elena Satine)? Poirot awakes the following morning to find the train stuck in a snowdrift and Ratchett dead in his compartment

With nothing but a scrap of paper to go on, Poirot must piece together Ratchett’s identity before he can establish which of his fellow passengers murdered him and their motive.

David Suchet says: “It's an honour to have such a wonderful international cast on board for this world famous murder mystery. Writer, Stewart Harcourt, has created an exquisite script. His attention to detail is impeccable.”

Producer Karen Thrussell says: “We’re all incredibly delighted that 21 years after David Suchet first played Hercule Poirot he is now starring in arguably the most ingenious and best loved Agatha Christie title of all time.”

As one Wallander closes, another one opens...

The brilliant Swedish series of Wallander has just finished on BBC4 with The Secret, but Kenneth Branagh's version returns on Sunday at 9pm on BBC1 with Faceless Killers (the first book in the series and fourth to be televised). The BBC press release is here.

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And like buses, not only is there one but two crime programmes on on Sunday. Which to watch and which to record? Scheduled against Wallander is Poirot: Three Act Tragedy (on ITV1 8-10pm) and the guest stars include Martin Shaw and Art Malik.

The full ITV press release is here but here are a few paras from David Suchet concerning Martin Shaw and also the filming locations:

"Three Act Tragedy is to do with this great star, played by Martin Shaw, who swans around and we see his world, his theatrical world if you like, of how he lives, his loves and his tragedies. In it we see crime, we see murder.

"The way the adaptation of Three Act Tragedy works is terrific. Ashley Pearce, who has directed other Poirot’s and therefore knows Poirot very well, has been wonderfully creative and done a sort of theatrical presentation of it.

"It was particularly wonderful for me to be reunited with Martin Shaw. Martin and I go right the way back. It was the first time we worked together since The Professionals, so the best part of 40 years ago. Martin is a really great actor and it was really good to be working with him again.

The main locations we used for Poirot: Three Act Tragedy were Knebworth House and Eltham Palace. Speaking about these David says, “On Poirot we have the great privilege on this series of going to some of the finest locations in England. To go to Knebworth is like going back into another era.

“Although the exterior of Crow’s Nest was filmed in the South West of England we looked for an interior location that we could make look as though it fitted the outside, and we found this at Eltham Palace.

“It was a great joy for me to film at Eltham Palace. It is the most extraordinary location and place to visit. It is very 1930s and very art-deco as well.

“I have two great soft spots for Eltham Palace, one because I do the audio guide there – so if you ever go to Eltham Palace you will hear my voice saying, ‘And on your right is...’ And my other is that it was where we filmed when I played Robert Maxwell, for which I received an Emmy. Going back there was very special to me.”

TV Shows - win some (Foyle's War), lose some (Wire in the Blood)

A press release from ITV has good news and bad news. Wire in the Blood is out but Foyle's War is in, plus details of more Poirot (including Murder on the Orient Express) and Marple. From The Stage:

ITV has commissioned a new series of Doc Martin and three more episodes of Foyle’s War.

The broadcaster’s decision to recommission the dramas follows the news that another long-running favourite, Wire in the Blood, has been axed, and that doubt hangs over the future of popular series Heartbeat.

In its announcement today, ITV said Foyle’s War, created by Anthony Horowitz and starring Michael Kitchen, will return with three new episodes, while Martin Clunes will reprise his role as Doc Martin in a new eight-part series to be filmed in Cornwall.

Elsewhere, ITV director of drama Laura Mackie has also commissioned eight new Agatha Christie films, including Murder on the Orient Express. This will star David Suchet as Hercule Poirot, and will run alongside three other Poirot dramas.

At the same time, Julia McKenzie - who later this year will make her first appearance as Jane Marple - will begin production on four new Marple films.

More Poirot episodes?

From Digital Spy:

David Suchet has revealed that he wants to continue playing Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot until he has filmed the novelist's "complete works".

The 62-year-old confessed that he had experienced mixed emotions at the thought of leaving behind the Belgian detective that he first portrayed in 1989.

"I feel two emotions, great sadness to leave him, and 700 million people watch it throughout the world, but also terrific joy if I am given the opportunity to do the complete works," he said, as he accepted the Freedom of the City of London today.

"It really depends if the money is there because they might not have the funding. We are filming four episodes this year, which will leave six more to do and that will be the complete works. He doesn't exist after that."

The character of Hercule Poirot appeared in 33 novels and 51 short stories. Suchet has starred in more than 60 feature-length shows in the ITV franchise.

The link between Bones and Poirot

I'm always lagging at least a week behind with my tv watching and the other night I watched half of Poirot: The Third Girl which was on ITV1 last weekend followed a bit later by the (fairly awful*) series opener of Bones, Yanks in the UK. Not only did both shows use the same stately home, or at least the hallway but they shared an actor: David Yelland went from being Poirot's butler George to Duke Gerard Bonham in Bones.

*This is the hire car the Americans were given - a H reg (old registration) mini... (look how shiny it is!) It does provide the funniest line from Booth (David Boreanaz) when trying to get out of the back seat: "Geez, getting out of this thing is like being born."

Poirot - Interactive DVD Game & PC Games

The good news about being a bit late in the 'game' as it were, (this came out last November), is that it's now only £6.99 at HMV.

Summary:
Can you solve Agatha Christie's classic murder mystery, After The Funeral? Take Poirot's challenge to find clues hidden in this unique Murder Mystery DVD game! Entertainment for all the family - play a series of exciting games and puzzles to test your detective skills in 'observation', 'analysis' and 'intuition' as you try to identify the murderer!

DVD Extras:
Exclusive New Footage Of David Suchet As The World-Famous Detective Hercule Poirot
Over 40 Minutes Of After The Funeral TV Movie Footage
9 Different Puzzle Types - Different Each Time You Play!

The customer reviews on amazon are a bit mixed, it seems that though there are different puzzles, the murderer is always the same and it helps if you can't remember the tv show/book! Still £6.99 for a few hours entertainment can't be bad.

There are also three Agatha Christie PC Games: Evil Under the Sun, And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express the latter with a surprise ending plus David Suchet voicing Poirot. All three can be bought together as a bundle for £19.99 from 20th March. And Then There Were None is also availabe for Wii.

TV News - Rebus and Poirot

The good news is that David Suchet has confirmed that he still wants to film the remaining eight stories before he quits the role.

The bad news is that there will be no more Rebus episodes, though Taggart still rolls on:

ITV1 has axed Rebus but ordered another ten episodes of Taggart.

Rebus has run since 2000 starring John Hannah, then more recently Ken Stott, as the title character. Stott has now dropped out and ITV confirmed no more episodes were planned.

More about the new Poirot films

As reported last month, the first of the four new adaptations is of Mrs McGinty's Dead. The second film is Cat Among the Pigeons which is to be based on a script by Mark Gatiss, author of the Lucifer Box series and one of the stars of the League of Gentleman. From 24 newscentral:

Cat Among The Pigeons sees Poirot face one of his toughest cases yet – one which encompasses international espionage, a middle-Eastern revolution and a missing princess – as well as a huge line-up of characters who all seem to have secrets they could be willing to kill to protect.

When the middle-Eastern country of Ramat is over-run by anti-monarchist revolutionaries, the surviving heir to the throne is spirited away to safety in a small girls’ school, Meadowbank, which is run by the progressive Miss Bulstrode (Harriet Walter, Atonement).

However, when the bullying games mistress Miss Springer (Elizabeth Berrington, The Deal) is found stabbed through the chest with a javelin, it appears that Meadowbank may not be the haven it promised to be.

As Poirot assists Inspector Keslsey (Anton Lesser, Miss Potter) they begin to find that some of the staff may not be quite what they appear, a situation which is compounded when another teacher, Madame Blanche (Miranda Raison, Spooks), is found dead and Princess Shaista (Amara Karan, St Trinian’s) is kidnapped from the school.

With the princess’ life in peril, and the prized rubies of Ramat missing, it is up to Poirot to discover who is the Cat Among The Pigeons.

Cat Among The Pigeons also stars Natasha Little (This Life), Susan Woolridge (The Jewel in The Crown), Carol Macready (The Darling Buds of May), Claire Skinner (Outnumbered), Adam Croasdell (The Chase), Lois Edmett, Katie Leung (Harry Potter), Pippa Haywood (Green Wing) and Jo Woodcock (Torn, Marple).

Read the rest of the article here.

David Suchet to do more Poirot films

From Digital Spy:

David Suchet is to reprise his role as Agatha Christie's Belgian sleuth in a series of four new Poirot films for ITV1.

An adaptation of Mrs McGinty’s Dead begins filming this autumn. The drama is being directed by Afterlife's Ashley Pearce and has been adapted by Nick Dear (Eroica, Byron).

Corinne Hollingsworth, ITV’s head of continuing drama said: "Poirot is one of ITV's most popular titles, and we're absolutely thrilled to be able to commission four more exciting films, featuring, once again, the incomparable David Suchet as Hercule Poirot."

Zoë Wanamaker will return in the role of Ariadne Oliver, a character which first appeared on screen in Cards On The Table in 2006. Some believe Christie based the eccentric crime novelist, who appeared in six novels with Poirot, on herself.

Phil Clymer from Chorion, which owns Agatha Christie Ltd, said: "We are thrilled that ITV are continuing to show support and enthusiasm for the world's most famous detective. We share an ambition with David Suchet that the entire Poirot library will be filmed in the next few years, and that ITV will continue to be our partners in crime."

Suchet last appeared as Poirot in four films for ITV in 2006, the first of which, The Mystery of The Blue Train, attracted a ratings peak of 8 million viewers. The Poirot stories are co-produced by ITV Productions, Chorion's Agatha Christie Ltd, and Boston public television station WGBH.