The Murder of Roger Ackroyd 

Poirot comes out of retirement when his industrialist friend is brutally murdered a short while after a local widow who was suspected of killing her husband commits suicide.

Director:

Andrew Grieve

Writers:

Agatha Christie (based on the novel by), Clive Exton (dramatized by)

Stars:

David Suchet, Philip Jackson, Oliver Ford Davies

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
David Suchet	...	Hercule Poirot
Philip Jackson	...	Chief Inspector Japp
Oliver Ford Davies	...	Dr. Sheppard
Malcolm Terris	...	Roger Ackroyd
Selina Cadell	...	Caroline Sheppard
Daisy Beaumont	...	Ursula Bourne
Flora Montgomery	...	Flora Ackroyd
Nigel Cooke	...	Geoffrey Raymond
Jamie Bamber	...	Ralph Paton
Roger Frost	...	Parker
Vivien Heilbron	...	Mrs. Ackroyd
Gregor Truter	...	Inspector Davis
Rosalind Bailey	...	Mrs. Ferrars
Liz Kettle	...	Mrs. Folliott
Charles Simon	...	Hammond

Storyline

Living quietly in the small village of King's Abbot, sleuth Hercule Poirot becomes involved in the murder of successful industrialist Roger Ackroyd. The number of potential killers is almost as great as the population of the village itself. As Poirot investigates he sees that there might be a connection to the suicide of a local woman, and the death the previous year of her husband.

---

Plot Keywords:

village | hercule poirot | murder | murder mystery | private detective | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

---

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 January 2000 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Castle Combe, Wiltshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carnival Film & Television, A&E Television Networks, Agatha Christie

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 100 min (14 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

When perusing the unopened letters from Roger Ackroyd's desk, the top one is from The Hudson's Bay Company, the venerable Canadian retailer.

---

Goofs

In the scene where Ackroyd's butler, Parker, is drunk and staggering down the road, the car behind him stops. Visible for a brief instant is the car's license plate, COU 313. In the very next scene as the car begins its run, the license plate has changed to JHX 473.

---

Quotes

Chief Inspector Japp: Well, we'll see if you're right, Poirot. See if your newspaper article has flushed anybody out of the woodwork.
Hercule Poirot: Can woodwork be flushed, chief inspector?
Chief Inspector Japp: You know what I mean.

---

Connections

Referenced in Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express (2006)

User Reviews

The Murder of "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd"

I shan't talk about the plot, because that would ruin it.

Agatha Christie readers could not have possibly have imagined that the adaptation would be this poor. It takes one of Agatha Christie's best novels, and butchers the story, removes half the suspects. It then inserts periods of boring introspection by the detective as he visits his old flat in Whitehaven Mansions.

Moreover, in the novel, most of the characters had some redeeming qualities. All humanity seems to have been stripped out of them in this adaptation. As a result, viewers who have not read the book would probably care even less who the murderer turns out to be.

Fans always knew that this novel would be one of the hardest to adapt, because there is relatively more narrative, and there is less banter than in the Poirot-Hastings stories such as the ABC murders. However, the recent excellent adaptation of Sad Cypress showed that it is possible to convert the moodier, less conversational mysteries to the screen.

A film that is inadequate for first-time viewers and bookreaders alike.