"Agatha Christie's Poirot" Death on the Nile (2004)

Director:

Andy Wilson

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel)
Kevin Elyot (screenplay)

TV Series:

"Agatha Christie's Poirot" (1989)

Original Air Date:

12 April 2004 (Season 9, Episode 3)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

A wealthy British heiress honeymooning on a Nile cruise ship is stalked by a former friend, whose boyfriend she had stolen before making him her new husband.

Plot Keywords:

Egypt | Hercule Poirot | Murder | Austrian | Detective

Cast

David Suchet	...	Hercule Poirot
James Fox	...	Colonel Race
Emma Griffiths Malin	...	Jacqueline De Bellefort (as Emma Malin)
JJ Feild	...	Simon Doyle
Emily Blunt	...	Linnet Ridgeway
Judy Parfitt	...	Miss Van Schuyler
Daisy Donovan	...	Cornelia Robson
Barbara Flynn	...	Mrs Allerton
Daniel Lapaine	...	Tim Allerton
David Soul	...	Andrew Pennington
Frances de la Tour	...	Salome Otterbourne (as Frances De La Tour)
Zoe Telford	...	Rosalie Otterbourne
Alastair Mackenzie	...	Ferguson
Steve Pemberton	...	Dr Bessner
George Antoni	...	Cruise Manager (as George Yiasoumi)
Elodie Kendall	...	Joanna Southwood
Félicité Du Jeu	...	Louise Bourget (as Felicite Du Jeu)

Directed by
Andy Wilson

Writing credits
Agatha Christie		(novel)
Kevin Elyot		(screenplay)

Produced by
Michele Buck	....	executive producer
Phil Clymer	....	executive producer: Chorion plc
Delia Fine	....	executive producer: for A&E Television Networks
Leila Kirkpatrick	....	line producer
Margaret Mitchell	....	producer
Emilio Nunez	....	supervising producer: for A&E Television Networks
David Suchet	....	associate producer
Damien Timmer	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Christopher Gunning

Cinematography by
Martin Fuhrer		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
John Mayes

Production Design by
Michael Pickwoad

Art Direction by
Malcolm Stone

Set Decoration by
Mark Rimmell

Costume Design by
Sheena Napier

Makeup Department
Carol Cooper	....	makeup designer
Carli Mather	....	makeup artist
Sian Turner	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Fiona McGuire	....	executive in charge of production
Kate Stannard	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Giles Butler	....	second assistant director
Robert Fabbri	....	first assistant director
Jessica Hurles-Laws	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Mike Fowlie	....	prop master
Kenneth Hambling	....	construction manager (as Ken Hambling)
Dougie Lankston	....	dressing prop/storeman (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Downer	....	supervising sound editor
Tony Jackson	....	sound recordist
Billy Mahoney	....	dubbing mixer
Sarah Morton	....	dialogue editor (as Sarah Morten)
Mike Reardon	....	sound maintenance
Charlotte Gray	....	sound trainee (uncredited)
Mike Reardon	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Alan Church	....	visual effects supervision
Simon Giles	....	visual effects producer
Simon Giles	....	visual effects supervision
Simon Hutala	....	visual effects post production (as Simon Huhtala)
Ben Stallard	....	visual effects post production
Melissa Butler Adams	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Adam Gascoyne	....	effects compositing supervisor (uncredited)
Simon Hughes	....	digital compositor: CLEAR (uncredited)
David J. Zimmerman	....	data operator: CLEAR (uncredited)

Stunts
Ray Donn	....	stunt double: David Suchet (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jim Boorer	....	grip
Michael Green	....	focus puller (as Mike Green)
Mike Miller	....	second unit: camera operator
Phil Penfold	....	best boy (as Philip Penfold)
Larry S. Prinz	....	lighting gaffer (as Larry Prinz)
Xandy Sahla	....	camera operator

Casting Department
William Davies	....	casting assistant (as Will Davies)
Maureen Duff	....	casting
Claire Saunders	....	casting assistant
Gail Stevens	....	casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tamar Zaig	....	assistant costume designer
Jason Gill	....	costume assistant (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Dan Coles	....	telecine colourist
Anya Dillon	....	assistant editor
Simon Giblin	....	on-line editor (uncredited)
Judd Watts	....	post-production facilities coordinator: Pepper (uncredited)

Other crew
Nuala Alen-Buckley	....	production accountant
Diane Chittell	....	production coordinator
Simon Hutala	....	titles (as Simon Huhtala)
Simone Le Lievre	....	publicist
Mariette Masters	....	publicist
Gina Nocero	....	senior publicist: A & E
Caroline O'Reilly	....	script supervisor
Patrick Smith	....	publicist
Ben Stallard	....	titles
Karen Thrussell	....	script editor
Peter Tullo	....	location manager
Derek Wax	....	script executive
Emily Chittell	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Elton Farla	....	unit medic (uncredited)
Phoebe Masters	....	assistant coordinator (uncredited)
Maureen O'Farrell	....	choreographer (uncredited)
Sami Rafe	....	location manager: Egypt (uncredited)
Lawrence Stevens	....	floor runner (uncredited)

Sound Department
Lionel Strutt	....	adr mixer

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

Production Companies

• London Weekend Television (LWT) (as LWT)
• A&E Television Networks (in assocation with) (as A & E Television Networks)
• Agatha Christie (in association with) (as Agatha Christie Ltd {a Chorion Company})
• Granada Television (uncredited)
• Granada
• Carnival Films (uncredited)
• Chorion (uncredited)

Distributors

• London Weekend Television (LWT) (2004) (UK) (TV)
• Granada Media (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• A&E Television Networks (2004) (USA) (TV)
• A&E Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• New Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Malavasi Editore (2005) (Italy) (DVD)
• RTL Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing) (RTL8)

Other Companies

• Egyptian Media Production City  production services in Egypt provided by
• Pepper Post Production  post-production facilities (uncredited)

Runtime:

Finland:98 min | USA:97 min (DVD) | UK:100 min (14 episodes)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:12 (video rating) (2004) | Australia:M | Netherlands:6

Filming Locations:

Eltham Palace, Court Road, Eltham, London, England, UK

Company:

London Weekend Television (LWT)

Trivia:

The cruiser Karnak used in this production is the same cruiser used in the 1978 film version, Death on the Nile (1978).

Quotes:

Dr. Bessner:Doyle is ready to see you.
Jacqueline De Bellefort:Is he all right?
Dr. Bessner:Of course he is not all right. You shot him!

Movie Connections:

Version of Death on the Nile (1978)

Worth the wait

Death on the Nile, one of Agatha Christie's best Poirot stories, finally gets the David Suchet treatment. And contrary to what others say, it's been worth the wait.

The plot involves Jaqueline de Bellefort's fiancée, Simon Doyle . When he leaves her for the rich, beautiful Linnet Ridgeway, Jackie follows them around wherever they go. Soon, Linnet is murdered on board a boat while honeymooning in Egypt. But Jackie has an alibi. Leave it to Poirot to discover the truth.

The mood for this film is darker than many other episodes of the series, and that is a good thing for this story. The writing is terrific (especially Colonel Race's entrance), and the cast is wonderful (with the exception of Emily Blunt as Linnet Doyle.) It's also refreshing to not have Hastings, Japp, and Miss Lemon in the story, and let Poirot work with someone else (in this case, Colonel Race.) This episode also explores another aspect of Poirot: less the comical side, and more the serious side. You feel truly sorry for him when he mentions to Jackie "all that I have missed in life", referring to love.

Altogether, Death on the Nile has great writing, acting, and costume and set design. And it surpasses the 1978 Peter Ustinov version.