The ABC Murders (5 Jan. 1992)
"Agatha Christie's Poirot" The ABC Murders (original title)

Poirot receives clues and taunting letters from a serial killer who appears to choose his random victims and crime scenes alphabetically.

Director:

Andrew Grieve

Writer:

Clive Exton (dramatized by)

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
Donald Sumpter	...	Cust
Donald Douglas	...	Franklin Clarke
Nicholas Farrell	...	Donald Fraser
Pippa Guard	...	Megan Barnard
Cathryn Bradshaw	...	Mary Drower
Nina Marc	...	Thora Grey
David McAlister	...	Inspector Glen
Vivienne Burgess	...	Lady Clarke
Ann Windsor	...	Miss Merrion
Michael Mellinger	...	Franz Ascher
Miranda Forbes	...	Mrs. Turton
Peter Penry-Jones	...	Superintendent Carter

Storyline

Hastings returns to Britain after a long absence to find Poirot anxious for a new case which will challenge his gray cells. Poirot quickly gets his wish in the form of taunting letters from a serial killer who has dubbed himself ABC and who leaves an ABC railroad schedule at the scene of each crime. The victims as well as the crime scenes appear to be chosen randomly, but maintain an obsessive adherence to alphabetical order. However, Poirot grows to believe that the killer is not the madman the authorities believe, but a methodical murderer with a very tangible motive.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | letter | serial killer | hercule poirot | dominoes | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 January 1992 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Twickenham Film Studios, St Margarets, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Granada Media, L.T.V., London Weekend Television (LWT)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 100 min (14 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The action music from the contemporary film showing at the cinema in Doncaster is also featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, for the scene where Sir Robin encounters the three-headed knight. The piece is 'Desperate Moment' by Kenneth Essex.

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Goofs

The programme features a number of excerpts from a supposedly contemporary "film" from 1936. The effect is strikingly well-done, except at the end of the film we can see the acting and technical credits - in a genuine 1936 film, these credits would have been shown at the beginning.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Announcer: Train now boarding.

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Connections

Features Footsteps in the Sand (1939)

User Reviews

Well done, well acted

The book is a good one and it has been well dramatized here. Donald Sumpter is excellent as the travelling salesman, Cust.

It's unlike other Christies in that most of the victims are not wealthy or aristocratic. The scenes in the Andover shop and at Bexhill are (perhaps unintentionally) touching. The deaths are really sad -- which is almost never the case in a Christie book, where murder is only a chance for an interesting puzzle and the victim is quite often a nasty tyrant whom almost everyone wants dead. When Hastings is moved by the scene in Andover, Poirot brushes his comments aside, saying they must not succumb to sentimentality.

Entertaining. Recommended.