David Suchet completes his quarter-century run as Agatha Christie's sartorially fastidious Belgian detective in this long-running ITV series that wraps up with a final five feature-length films. Although Poirot has been played by such luminaries as Albert Finney and Peter Ustinov, it's now hard to imagine anyone but Suchet in the role. So it's a pity that this set features plots that tend to be far from Christie's best. The first, Elephants Can Remember, is based on a 1972 novel (set here in the 1930s) that links a murder case being investigated by Poirot with another from the past being looked into by his friend, crime writer Ariadne Oliver (Zoë Wanamaker). The Big Four, adapted from a very weak 1927 book relocated to the '30s, is about an international conspiracy of arms sellers who are obstructing attempts to avoid a new world war. Dead Man's Folly, from an old-fashioned 1956 novel, has Poirot investigating a death associated with a “murder game” devised by Oliver, while The Labours of Hercules conflates half of the short stories in the 1947 collection of that title into a single narrative, albeit fairly cleverly. Finally, Curtain, which Christie wrote in the 1940s but withheld from publication until 1975 (a year before her death) finds Poirot using his own terminal illness to right an injustice. All five have been produced with characteristic visual elegance, and the supporting cast (including Wanamaker) is excellent, reuniting Suchet with Hugh Fraser (as Captain Hastings), Philip Jackson (as Assistant Commissioner Japp), and Pauline Moran (as Miss Lemon). Extras include a recent interview with Suchet, and a photo gallery. Sure to appeal to loyal fans of the series, this is recommended. (F. Swietek)
Agatha Christie: Poirot, Series 13
Acorn, 3 discs, 462 min., not rated, DVD or Blu-ray: $59.99 Volume 30, Issue 1
Agatha Christie: Poirot, Series 13
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