The Mysterious Affair at Styles (16 Sep. 1990)
"Agatha Christie's Poirot" The Mysterious Affair at Styles (original title)

Hastings renews his friendship with Poirot and involves him in the mysterious poisoning of the mistress of a manor house married to a man twenty years her junior.

Director:

Ross Devenish

Writers:

Agatha Christie (by), Clive Exton (dramatized by),

Stars:

David Suchet, Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
David Suchet	...	Hercule Poirot
Hugh Fraser	...	Lieutenant Hastings
Philip Jackson	...	Inspector Japp
Beatie Edney	...	Mary Cavendish
David Rintoul	...	John Cavendish
Gillian Barge	...	Mrs. Inglethorp
Michael Cronin	...	Alfred Inglethorp
Joanna McCallum	...	Evie Howard
Anthony Calf	...	Lawrence Cavendish
Allie Byrne	...	Cynthia Murdoch
Lala Lloyd	...	Dorcas
Michael Godley	...	Dr. Wilkins
Morris Perry	...	Mr. Wells
Penelope Beaumont	...	Mrs. Raikes
David Savile	...	Summerhaye

Storyline

Recovering from the horrors of World War I, British Army officer Arthur Hastings hopes to find peace and quiet at a country manor in the English countryside. But when the matriarch dies during the night from strychnine poisoning, Hastings enlists the help of an old friend staying nearby with other war refugees to help solve the murder: former Belgian police detective Hercule Poirot.

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Plot Keywords:

hercule poirot | murder | refugee | detective | will | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Crime | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 September 1990 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Twickenham Studios, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

London Weekend Television (LWT), Carnival Films, Picture Partnership Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 100 min (14 episodes)

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' was Agatha Christie's first novel, published in 1920, and also her first to feature the character of Hercule Poirot.

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Goofs

The door of the Mrs. Inglethorp's room (that had been broken in at her death) is fixed in the early morning before Poirot's arrival.

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Quotes

Hercule Poirot: Madame Dainty, has it ever occurred to you to organize the goods by the country of origin?

User Reviews

First and last case

Styles manor was certainly a place dear to the writer,for her first "Poirot" and her last one ("Curtain-Poirot's last case) in which the sleuth dies both take place there.

That said "Styles" is not one of Poirot's best cases,and Christie wrote at least twenty books which are superior to it.

Interest lies somewhere else.This is the novel which tells us why Belgian Poirot wound up in fair England -which he somewhat despised- and it does not forget the historical background ,with a fine depiction of the WW1 years.

If my memory serves me well,Christie wrote the book cause she wanted to take up her sister's challenge: a story where you could never guess whodunit..