"Agatha Christie: Poirot" Cards on the Table (2005)

Director:

Sarah Harding

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel)
Nick Dear (screenplay)

TV Series:

"Agatha Christie: Poirot" (1989)

Original Air Date:

11 December 2005 (Season 10, Episode 2)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

The enigmatic, sinister Mr. Shaitana, one of London's richest men, invites 8 guests, 4 of them possible murderers and 4 'detectives' to his opulent apartment.

Plot Keywords:

Hercule Poirot | Stabbed To Death | Photographer | Syrian | Homosexuality

Cast

David Suchet	...	Hercule Poirot
James Alper	...	Shaitana's Butler
Philip Bowen	...	Mr. Luxmore
Cordelia Bugeja	...	Mrs. Luxmore
Zigi Ellison	...	Mrs. Craddock
Tristan Gemmill	...	Major Despard
Alex Jennings	...	Dr. Roberts
Lucy Liemann	...	Miss Burgess
Lesley Manville	...	Mrs. Lorrimer
Lyndsey Marshal	...	Miss Meredith
Jenny Ogilvie	...	Millie
Robert Pugh	...	Colonel Hughes
Douglas Reith	...	Serge Mureau
Alexander Siddig	...	Shaitana
Zoë Wanamaker	...	Ariadne Oliver

Runtime:

USA:120 min (including commercials) | 94 min (approx.) | Finland:93 min (excluding commercials)

Country:

UK

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

USA:TV-PG | Australia:M | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Netherlands:6

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Agatha Christie

Goofs:

Continuity: During the party, Shaitana talks to a waiter and pushes him towards Poirot and Mrs. Oliver. When Shaitana pushes him, there is one cocktail glass on the tray carried by the waiter. When he approaches Poirot and Mrs. Oliver, there are two.

Quotes:

Hercule Poirot: Do you know anyone here, Madame?
Ariadne Oliver: No, I don't know a soul, but I've made a few inquiries.
Hercule Poirot: Oui?
Ariadne Oliver: Yes. That little thing is Anne Meredith, a country mouse, up to town.
[referring to Major Despard]
Ariadne Oliver: The dashing major can't keep his eyes off her. As a matter of fact, I've got his book on my shelf. Oh, what's it called? "Amazonian Idle?" I haven't read it yet, but I intend to, because I'm planning to send Sven up the jungle.
Hercule Poirot: [puzzled] Sven?
Ariadne Oliver: Sven Hjerson? My DETECTIVE.
Hercule Poirot: Ah.
Ariadne Oliver: Fictional, of course.

Slow and Camp

The makers of Poirot chose to follow up a snails-pace adaptation of Mystery of the Blue Train, with an even slower version of Cards on the Table. Viewers with heart or blood pressure problems should be warned as this programme could slow your heart to a complete stop.

Part of the reason for this is the insistence of sticking quite closely to the novel (apart from changing two characters and the events of the last fifteen minutes). This renders it somewhat stagy, and the longueurs in front of the fire or two show up the set make this worse.

Then - just before the end - it completely turns on its head - there's a bizarre lesbian fight; and the murderer is revealed to be an evil homosexual (and that's the extent of the motivation). Poirot is left at the end to condemn people for engaging in immoral acts and makes us question the bachelor Poirot's own predilections; but also leaves a very nasty taste in the mouth, so to speak. "Poirot" never used to be this camp or sordid, did it? To sum up: whole thing looks very pretty, and one or two of the cast do quite well (though at least two of the characters appear to have had their voices dubbed by other actors); but this is Suchet's worst performance in the role to date, and the less said about Star Trek's Alexander Siddig the better. The best part of the entire thing for me were the fake Egyptian back drops in the flashback sequences.