Peril at End House (7 Jan. 1990)
"Agatha Christie's Poirot" Peril at End House (original title)

While Poirot is staying at an exclusive Cornish resort, he meets a beautiful heiress whose life is in danger.

Director:

Renny Rye

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel), Clive Exton (dramatisation)

Stars:

David Suchet, Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
David Suchet	...	Hercule Poirot
Hugh Fraser	...	Captain Hastings
Philip Jackson	...	Chief Inspector Japp
Polly Walker	...	Nick Buckley
John Harding	...	Commander George Challenger
Jeremy Young	...	Bert Croft
Mary Cunningham	...	Ellen
Paul Geoffrey	...	Jim Lazarus
Alison Sterling	...	Freddie Rice
Christopher Baines	...	Charles Vyse
Carol MacReady	...	Milly Croft
Elizabeth Downes	...	Maggie Buckley
Godfrey James	...	Inspector
John Crocker	...	Dr Graham
Pauline Moran	...	Miss Lemon

Storyline

While enjoying a vacation at an exclusive resort on the Cornish coast, Poirot and Hastings meet beautiful young heiress Magdala Buckley. Known to her friends as Nick, she confides to them that she has recently survived several events that might have taken her life: a heavy-framed picture dropping on her head, a boulder falling off a cliff, and failed brakes. When Poirot notices a bullet hole in her hat, they put her under their protection and discover that her dead fiance, a noted aviator killed in a tragic accident, had named her as heir in his will. In the interim, his wealthy uncle is found to have died, making her the unexpected beneficiary of a great fortune. Poirot realizes this inheritance is the motive for continued attempts on her life, and in his quest for the the truth, he uncovers a tangled web of greed, forgery, drug addiction, fraud, poison, and murder.

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Plot Keywords:

beneficiary | resort | estate | murder | will | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Crime | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 January 1990 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Salcombe, Devon, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

London Weekend Television (LWT), Picture Partnership Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 100 min (14 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

Towards the beginning, Nick mentions that there is only one bedroom usable in the house and that visitors stay at the Hotel Majestic. However, when Maggie goes back into the house to fetch a coat on fireworks night, Freddie calls after her to ask if she could bring her coat which is in her room.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Captain Hastings: Looks just like a patchwork quilt, doesn't it?
Hercule Poirot: [eyes closed tight, clutching armrest] No!
Captain Hastings: Well, it does to me. Does to everybody else.
Hercule Poirot: Not to Poirot!
Captain Hastings: Oh, I suppose you don't think that looks like a great mass of cotton wool.
Hercule Poirot: No!
Captain Hastings: I don't think you've got *any* imagination at all, Poirot.
Hercule Poirot: [opens his eyes] That is true, mon ami. But fortunately you have enough for both of us; it is extremely valuable to me.

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Connections

Version of Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie: La maison du péril (2009)

User Reviews

Murder at a Cornish resort while Poirot is on vacation...

Well done Poirot mystery has all the elements that make an Agatha Christie story an intriguing puzzle to solve. Even the famous detective cannot make any sense of the events surrounding a beautiful heiress whom he suspects is being systematically targeted for murder so someone else can inherit her fortune.

I have to confess that I suspected who the culprit was long before the revelation is made, although along the way there were a few surprise twists that I hadn't counted on.

As the young heiress, POLLY WALKER is excellent and all the others in the British cast give her fine support. HUGH FRASER is again on hand as Hastings, as is PHILIP JACKSON as Inspector Jaff. PAULINE MORAN is a breath of fresh air as Miss Lemon.

The plotting is typically full of red herrings but manages to hold up to inspection when the tale is ended. The clues are few and far between and the ending will no doubt come as a surprise to most viewers.

Well worth watching.