Peril at End House 

While Poirot is staying at an exclusive Cornish resort, he meets a beautiful heiress whose life is in danger.

Director:

Renny Rye

Writer:

Clive Exton (dramatisation)

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
Polly Walker	...	Magdala 'Nick' Buckley
John Harding	...	Commander George Challenger
Jeremy Young	...	Bert Croft
Mary Cunningham	...	Ellen
Paul Geoffrey	...	Jim Lazarus
Alison Sterling	...	Freddie Rice
Christopher Baines	...	Charles Vyse
Carol MacReady	...	Milly Croft
Elizabeth Downes	...	Maggie Buckley
Godfrey James	...	Inspector
John Crocker	...	Dr Graham
Pauline Moran	...	Miss Lemon

Storyline

While enjoying a vacation at an exclusive resort on the Cornish coast, Poirot and Hastings meet beautiful young heiress Magdala Buckley. Known to her friends as Nick, she confides to them that she has recently survived several events that might have taken her life: a heavy-framed picture dropping on her head, a boulder falling off a cliff, and failed brakes. When Poirot notices a bullet hole in her hat, they put her under their protection and discover that her dead fiance, a noted aviator killed in a tragic accident, had named her as heir in his will. In the interim, his wealthy uncle is found to have died, making her the unexpected beneficiary of a great fortune. Poirot realizes this inheritance is the motive for continued attempts on her life, and in his quest for the the truth, he uncovers a tangled web of greed, forgery, drug addiction, fraud, poison, and murder.

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Plot Keywords:

resort | beneficiary | will | poison | hercule poirot | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 January 1990 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Salcombe, Devon, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

London Weekend Television (LWT), Picture Partnership Productions, Picture Partnership Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 100 min (14 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first two-parter in the series.

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Goofs

Towards the beginning, Nick mentions that there is only one bedroom usable in the house and that visitors stay at the Hotel Majestic. However, when Maggie goes back into the house to fetch a coat on fireworks night, Freddie calls after her to ask if she could bring her coat which is in her room.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Captain Hastings: Looks just like a patchwork quilt, doesn't it?
Hercule Poirot: [eyes closed tight, clutching armrest] No!
Captain Hastings: Well, it does to me. Does to everybody else.
Hercule Poirot: Not to Poirot!
Captain Hastings: Oh, I suppose you don't think that looks like a great mass of cotton wool.
Hercule Poirot: No!
Captain Hastings: I don't think you've got *any* imagination at all, Poirot.
Hercule Poirot: [opens his eyes] That is true, mon ami. But fortunately you have enough for both of us; it is extremely valuable to me.

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Connections

Version of Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie: La maison du péril (2009)

User Reviews

A good, old fashioned faithful Poirot!

An interesting thing: despite the fact that "PERIL AT END HOUSE" is a two-hour episode, it was shown as two one-hour episodes. This being an "old" episode, it is very faithful to the original novel. I loved it! Nick Buckley's role was played to perfection, and David Suchet once more displays his perfection at playing Poirot. The novel also included Chief Inspector Japp and Captain Hastings, main characters in the series (who at times were inserted pointlessly in stories that didn't feature them in the first place), and their roles are played to perfection. There was only one major change: the attempted assassination in front of Poirot did not take place in a lonely garden in the back of the hotel: it took place in a crowded spot near the swimming pool. Overall: a well-done episode!