"Agatha Christie's Poirot" Evil Under the Sun (2001)

Director:

Brian Farnham

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel)
Anthony Horowitz (dramatized by)

TV Series:

"Agatha Christie's Poirot" (1989)

Original Air Date:

20 April 2001 (Season 8, Episode 3)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

Poirot's rehabilitative health retreat on an island resort becomes an even more stimulating mental exercise when a flirtatious film star is found strangled on a nearby beach.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Murder | Hercule Poirot | Private Detective | Remake

Cast

David Suchet	...	Poirot
Hugh Fraser	...	Hastings
Philip Jackson	...	Chief Inspector Japp
Pauline Moran	...	Miss Lemon
Michael Higgs	...	Patrick Redfern
Tamzin Malleson	...	Christine Redfern
Louise Delamere	...	Arlena Stuart
Tim Meats	...	Stephen Lane
Marsha Fitzalan	...	Rosamund Darnley
Carolyn Pickles	...	Emily Brewster
David Mallinson	...	Kenneth Marshall
Russell Tovey	...	Lionel Marshall
Ian Thompson	...	Major Barry
David Timson	...	Horace Blatt
Rosalind March	...	Mrs Castle
Paul Ready	...	William
Rebecca Johnson	...	Gladys Narracott
Guy Vincent	...	Barman
Roger Alborough	...	Chief Constable Weston
Kevin Moore	...	Coroner
Jason Davies	...	Nathan Lloyd
Kenneth Gilbert	...	Mr Applegood
Lawrence McGrandles Jr.	...	Simon Kelso (as Lawrence McGrandles)
Grant Gillespie	...	Jack Lovett
Harriet Eastcott	...	Librarian
Andrew MacBean	...	Waiter (as Andrew Macbean)
Steve Bennett	...	Policeman
Andrew Ashby	...	Officer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Laurence Richardson	...	Hotel Guest (uncredited)

Directed by
Brian Farnham

Writing credits
Agatha Christie		(novel)
Anthony Horowitz		(dramatized by)

Produced by
Phil Clymer	....	executive producer: Chorion plc
Simon Crawford Collins	....	associate producer
Brian Eastman	....	producer
Delia Fine	....	executive producer: for A&E Television Networks
Kris Slava	....	supervising producer: for A&E Television Networks

Original Music by
Christopher Gunning

Cinematography by
Fred Tammes		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Chris Wimble

Production Design by
Rob Hinds

Art Direction by
Paul Booth
Nigel Evans
Henry Jaworski

Costume Design by
Charlotte Holdich

Makeup Department
Alison Elliott	....	makeup artist (as Alison Davies)
Sarah Grundy	....	make-up
Kate Hodgson	....	makeup artist
Teresa Kelly	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Bobby Prince	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Roger Simons	....	first assistant (as Roger Simmons)
Marios Hamboulides	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
Danny Pruett	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Marshall Aver	....	buyer (as Marshal Aver)
Steve Bohan	....	construction
Mike Killman	....	property master
Rob MacPherson	....	stand-by props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Peter Bond	....	sound editing
Sandy MacRae	....	sound recordist (as Sandy Macrae)
Mike Reardon	....	boom operator
Ian Tapp	....	dubbing mixer
Oliver Tarney	....	sound editing
Ian Tapp	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Stunts
Peter Diamond	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ian Buckley	....	grip
Jamie Harcourt	....	camera operator
Kenny Sykes	....	gaffer
Jason Wrenn	....	focus puller
Martin Cox	....	electrician (uncredited)
Chris Samworth	....	camera loader (uncredited)

Casting Department
Anne Henderson	....	casting
Julie Harkin	....	casting assistant (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Del Colley	....	wardrobe
Mandy Harper	....	wardrobe (as Mandy Dunn)
Pat Williamson	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Hermione Byrt	....	assistant editor
Justin Eely	....	on-line editor (uncredited)

Other crew
John Beharrell	....	accountant
Marissa Cowell	....	script supervisor
Joel Holmes	....	locations manager
Kora McNulty-Klimov	....	coordinator (as Kora McNulty)
Penelope Beharrell	....	assistant accountant (uncredited)
Elton Farla	....	medic (uncredited)
Joe Haines	....	location assistant (uncredited)
Pauline Hume	....	title designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Lionel Strutt	....	adr mixer

Other crew
Mark Albela	....	location manager
Daren Thomas	....	location runner

Production Companies

• Carnival Films
• A&E Television Networks (in assocation with)
• Chorion (as Chorion PLC)

Distributors

• A&E Home Video
• A&E Television Networks
• Malavasi Editore (Italy)

Other Companies

• Anvil Post Production  sound re-recorded at (uncredited)
• Pepper Post Production  post-production facilities (uncredited)

Runtime:

100 min | UK:100 min (14 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:PG (video rating) (2001)

Filming Locations:

Burgh Island, Bigbury-on-Sea, Devon, England, UK

Company:

Carnival Films

Trivia:

The hotel at Burgh Island, Bigbury-on-Sea, where this episode was filmed, is the one where Agatha Christie wrote the book "Evil Under the Sun".

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): During the flashback of Hastings reading the telegram received by Arlena Stuart, he says "Send the money now or you will lose a great deal", but the word "now" does not appear in the typed telegram shown on screen.

Quotes:

Hercule Poirot:[while talking about the possible reasons for Arlena Stuart entering the cave] But then the question becomes why did Arlena Stuart enter the cave?
Hastings:Perhaps she was hiding from someone.
Hercule Poirot:Hastings... Once again you come up with an explanation that makes everything clear.
Chief Inspector Japp:Not to me it doesn't.
Hastings:You mean she was afraid of someone?
Hercule Poirot:I mean, Hastings, that there is evil on this island. And the murder that took place here was the work of a mind that was brilliant. But there is one thing the killer did not expect, eh - the mind of Hercule Poirot. En bien. It is now time for these two minds to meet, and the truth at last must come to light.

Movie Connections:

Version of Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun (2007) (VG)

"The definitive version."

Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) suffers a collapse while dining out with Chief Inspector Japp (Philip Jackson) and Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser). Poirot is rushed into hospital where he is told that his weight may have lead to a problem with his heart thus causing the collapse. In order to recover and to lose some weight, Poirot accompanied by Hastings visits a health farm on "Burgh Island", which is situated on the Devon Coast. The setting is ideal and the weather is as fine as one could wish, but wherever Poirot goes there is usually a crime of some sort. And there is - a murder! This time the victim is the flirtatious heiress Arlena Stewart (Louise Delamere) who is found strangled on the beach. As usual Poirot has several suspects to investigate including Christine Redfern (Tamzin Malleson), the wife of journalist Patrick Redfern (Michael Higgs), whom was flirting with Arlena in front of Christine much to her upset. Then there's Arlena's 17-year-old son Lionel Marshall (Russell Tovey) whom resented his step mother's flirtations with other men as did her husband Kenneth Marshall (David Mallinson). But there are other strange guests at the resort including Major Barry (Ian Thompson) who is less than friendly towards Poirot and Hastings warning them to leave as the island isn't the safest place to be but refuses to explain why. Nobody it seems can be ruled out as the possible killer...

EVIL UNDER THE SUN was previously filmed in 1982 as a big-budget all star spectacular starring Peter Ustinov as Poirot. However, this remake by ITV is easily the definitive version of Agatha Christie's classic mystery thriller. First of all it reverts back to the original setting of the book on the Devon coast whereas the Ustinov version was relocated to a lavish Adriatic island and as a result the sense of foreboding English menace of Christie's works was lost and matters were not helped by the casting of big name stars who were cast on the basis of their celebrity status rather than on their suitability to Christie's characters and the whole thing had the air of a star-studded charity matinée. In this new version, the entire cast suit their parts down to the ground. Michael Higgs (Eddie Santini in ITV's "The Bill") is excellent as the womanising yet quick tempered journalist Patrick Redfern and Tamzin Malleson is good as his wife Christine, whom has to put up with her husband's obvious flirtations with Arlena. Louise Delamere is fine as the ill-fated Arlena Stewart and we can sympathise with her character as she was naive in that she had no idea that her wealth coupled with her flirtatious nature could ever lead to her demise. There isn't a single miscast part in the entire film (as is usual with this series) and David Suchet is definitely the best actor to have ever played Poirot as he really does capture all of the character's eccentricities with great conviction and above all, he really is made for the part while Hugh Fraser as Hastings and Philip Jackson as Japp are equally outstanding as both Poirot's colleagues and closest friends. As with the best films there is a good chemistry between them. For example, Japp can't adjust to Poirot's eccentric lifestyle and is always peeved when he thinks that he's got an open and shut case and Poirot always finds that Japp's suspects are innocent beyond doubt. Yet at the same time they are extremely close friends and it is rare to find this sort of chemistry between the leads in most of today's films and television shows. Brian Farnham's direction is spot on, the settings are first class with immaculate attention to the period detail of the mid-1930's. It would be interesting to see what this creative team would do with Murder On the Orient Express.