"Agatha Christie: Poirot" Death in the Clouds (1992)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Stephen Whittaker

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel)
William Humble (screenplay)

TV Series:

"Agatha Christie: Poirot" (1989)

Original Air Date:

12 January 1992 (Season 4, Episode 2)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

After spending a bit of a holiday in Paris, Poirot finds himself on a flight to London with an odd assortment of people...

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Belgian | Hercule Poirot | Sleuth | Private Detective

Cast

David Suchet	...	Hercule Poirot
Philip Jackson	...	Chief Inspector James Japp
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yves Aubert	...	Airline Clerk
Harry Audley	...	Raymond Barraclough
John Bleasdale	...	Mitchell
Jenny Downham	...	Anne Giselle
David Firth	...	Lord Horbury
Cathryn Harrison	...	Lady Horbury
Roger Heathcott	...	Daniel Clancy
Richard Ireson	...	Inspector Fournier
Gabrielle Lloyd	...	Elise
Guy Manning	...	Jean Dupont
Nick Mercer	...	Policeman
Eve Pearce	...	Madame Giselle
Hana Maria Pravda	...	Concierge
Russell Richardson	...	French Registrar
George Rossi	...	Zeropoulos
Amanda Royle	...	Venetia Kerr
Raymond Sawyer	...	Hotel Clerk
Shaun Scott	...	Norman Gale
Hilary Waters	...	Receptionist
Sarah Woodward	...	Jane Grey

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Granada Media

Typically absorbing, deliberately paced Agatha Christie murder mystery

Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of an old woman which happened during a flight from France to England - a flight on which he was also on board! The victim seems to have been killed by a poisoned dart shot on her neck, and Poirot's investigation takes him (along with Inspector Japp) to Paris, where the woman lived.

Before seeing "Death in the Clouds" and without having read the book, I was under the impression that the action would be almost entirely confined inside the plane, but no - the murder happens there, but most of the action takes place on land (and most of it in Paris). There is ingenuity in the way the murder is carried out, but some of the coincidences revealed by Poirot at the end to explain the motive seem a bit strained. The pacing is also quite deliberate (this is a feature-length episode). Nevertheless, the production (including the Paris location shooting) is up to the usual high standards, and the cast is well-chosen; in the absence of Captain Hastings, Inspector Japp gets a lot of screen time and has some good moments, and Sarah Woodward, as an air stewardess who was also on board the same flight, makes a very likable sidekick for Poirot. (***)