Hercule Poirot's Christmas (and How I Came to Love the Little Belgian) - Movie Review 

Suchet embodied Poirot he way Jeremy Brett would do with Sherlock Homes.

We watched Poirot’s Christmas last night. One of the most solid episodes and of course is allowed to be watched this time of year because it is a Christmas movie.

7:08 theme: not just piano but out-of-tune piano! Among top 'flavourings' in TV music, matched by those stunning visuals. (BTW I love that you dress for the film reviews.)

Hercule Poirot fan from the days of reading books 😄. I loved his integrity and innate sense of right and wrong

And why didn't you share the photo of you as a child in a plastic blue bowler hat with a construction paper mustache? I, for one, would love to see it!

This was my very first Agatha Christie book: my parents bought it for me during a summer visit to the family in Spain. I was about 7 years old and didn't speak Spanish at that time, so was feeling lonely and left out of things. The book sparked a love for Christie and Poirot; and of course, I have a special attachment to this particular story. It was, therefore, probably a mistake to decide to watch the Suchet version before any other one. My frustration with it made me turn it off about only a quarter of the way through. For me, leaving out or conflating the brothers was a mistake, because the interplay of the various temperaments is so important in the book. To me, the conflating of Alfred and David signified a sort of generalization of what Simeon would call "weakness", where, in fact, what drives the two brothers is very, very different. Hilda is extremely important in the book, especially in how she plays against Lydia. I resented leaving out Stephen Farr and how his character affects the tone of the book and his relationship especially with Pilar. Christie's novels are a delicate clockwork not only of plot but of character and behavior, and when you tinker with that structure, you need to be careful in how you re-wire it. I was probably unfair in not giving the episode time to show me what it offered, but I couldn't help turning away from it. In consequence, I never have watched another Suchet episode. Again, this is unfair of me. I should give it a chance, and the best way to do it is probably to find an episode with a story I have less attachment to.

I am 73 and started reading Agatha Christie's books in the early sixties. Never for one instant did I think of him as creepy! I was such a fan of Poirot I couldn't bring myself to read Curtain when it was published in the 70's. I was in my twenties at that point. There were no Poirot shows around for me to watch. And the fact that the Poirot books were the most popular of her detective stories (I'm not counting the so-called stand-alones) shows the public didn't consider him creepy. A lot of authors get tired of their characters at some point. Conan Doyle tried to kill Sherlock Holmes but the public wouldn't have it. Suchet did a great job of portraying Poirot. He showed his negative side as well as his good side.

this is also my favorit 🙂

I agree this is one of the series' best. My own top faves of the Suchet series include FIVE LITTLE PIGS, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, THE ABC MURDERS (to my astonishment I also loved the Malkovitch version), MRS. McGINTY'S DEAD, and HALLOWEEN.

This one currently ranks in my top 3 episodes with Appointment with Death and Death on the Nile.

I love your poirot videos! I recently got into the films and am obsessed. Thanks for the awesome insight and analysis

I have those covers of poirot and the color illustrations for Miss marple. I watch "hp xmas" and "the theft of the royal ruby" every Christmas.

I really enjoy your reviews

Great review!!

The later seasons are the best. They are like movies. I would be surprised if you didnt enjoy them.

Just in time for the holidays--- I'll definitely check this one out! It's written by Clive Exton, who I noticed wrote some of my favorite Poirot episodes that I've seen so far. Interestingly, he only wrote for the first eight seasons of the show, after which, as you mentioned, the mood turned much darker. Suchet is a brilliant actor. By the way, there are some excellent Bible readings of his here on RU-vid. (the book of Luke, for example.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LJQbwb0Ug74.html ) I loved hearing about your childhood fondness for Poirot 🙂. Merry Christmas to you also.

I LOVE your reviews each time you post them. I enjoyed hearing about how you were introduced to Poirot, by watching the David Suchet series. I was NOT introduced to Poirot by David Suchet, and therefor have issue with his often inaccurate portrayal. HOWEVER, I love to hear how and why he means so much to YOU! Suchet IS an adorable Poirot. His mannerisms stay mostly the same throughout the series. He included some fun and sometimes frivolous details to his performance (how many spoons full of sugar did Poirot take in his coffee?), and was also forced to leave part of Poirot's true nature behind (probably because Poirot was written as a moody jerk and it wouldn't play well on screen). Suchet did a great job of making this arrogant, intelligent, and irascible creature "likeable". Poirot, the character, was NOT written to be a likeable man. He was arrogant, vain, creepy, and sometimes boorish. Suchet managed to make the character "adorable"! Everyone who sees his episodes falls in love with his characterization, despite the fact that the character Christie wrote was often unlikeable. I get a kick out of people who see Suchet, then read the books and claim they can "see Suchet" as they read the stories. They claim that he is the living embodiment of Christie's character, although this is not the truth (he's bald, has a tiny moustache, doesn't have green eyes, etc.) This is because they fell in love with Suchet's performance, and not really because of any accuracy on his part. As I said before, my introduction to Poirot came LONG before Suchet, hence me noting the differences. Although Suchet is far from my favorite Poirot, he gives a memorable, strong, and enjoyable performance as Hercule Poirot that is worth watching.

I don’t know if you’re a fan of the later Poirot films but I absolutely love them. I love all the David Suchet Poirot episodes but I think the later ones show some interesting character development which isn’t all bad. Are you planning on doing any reviews on say murder on the Orient express?

"Grade 6" is Canada-speak (compared with USA "6th Grade".) My little gray cells wonder if you are from north of the 49th Parallel!?

I hope you realise that Death On The Nile and Evil Under The Sun films are British cinema released films. While Thirteen At Dinner, Dead Man's Folly and Murder In Three Acts are TV movies made for US TV. Other than Peter Ustinov, there is no connection to the British films. The British films have more of a connection with Murder On The Orient Express (1974). I am not sure if the US made Appointment With Death has a connection to the British films or not.