The Hollow 

Poirot stumbles on the murder scene of philandering Dr Christow in a country house as his wife standing next to him with a revolver in her hand.

Director:

Simon Langton

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel), Nick Dear (screenplay)

Stars:

David Suchet, Jonathan Cake, Megan Dodds

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
David Suchet	...	Hercule Poirot
Jonathan Cake	...	John Christow
Megan Dodds	...	Henrietta Savernake
Sarah Miles	...	Lucy Angkatell
Edward Fox	...	Gudgeon
Claire Price	...	Gerda Christow
Lysette Anthony	...	Veronica Cray
Tom Georgeson	...	Inspector Grange
Edward Hardwicke	...	Sir Henry Angkatell
Caroline Martin	...	Midge Hardcastle
Jamie de Courcey	...	Edward Angkatell (as Jamie De Courcey)
Ian Talbot	...	Victor Simms
Angela Curran	...	Frances Simms
Lucy Briers	...	Beryl Collins
Dale Rapley	...	Sergeant Coombes

Storyline

While spending the weekend at his cottage outside London, Hercule Poirot is invited to dinner by Sir Henry and Lady Angkatell. Leaving immediately after dinner, he returns the next day to find that a weekend guest, John Christo, has been shot dead. There is any number of suspects: his former lover, Veronica Cray whom he had not seen for 12 years but suddenly turned up at a nearby cottage; his wife, Gerda who was deeply hurt by his womanizing; his current mistress Henrietta Savernake; Midge Hardcastle, who was very much in love with him, but whom he constantly ignored; and Edward Angkatell, who was in love with Midge. What Poirot finds however is that the evidence equally implicates everyone just a little too equally for it all to be just by chance.

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Plot Keywords:

revolver | shot to death | former lovers | tennis | target practice | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 2004 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Hampton Estate, Seale, Farnham, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Granada Television,A&E Television Networks,Agatha Christie

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 93 min (11 episodes)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Edward Fox's (Gudgeon) younger brother James Fox appeared in the previous episode Death on the Nile.

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Goofs

Outside the Coroners' Court at the Inquest, the sign is displayed without an apostrophe. This is a modern day 'simplification' and is unlikely to have been portrayed that way in the generic time period 1920s to 50s the film is set in.

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Quotes

Henrietta Savernake: I'm not, Mr. Poirot, terribly truthful.
Hercule Poirot: No, but I think you have integrity.

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Connections

Version of Kiken na onnatachi (1985)

User Reviews

Another very well-done Poirot murder mystery

Just after having moved into his new cottage in the English country, Hercule Poirot gets an invitation to dinner from Sir Henry and Lady Angkatell, the owners of a large mansion nearby. But the next day, one of the guests is found shot near the pool, and his clumsy wife is holding a revolver a few steps away....

This Agatha Christie mystery is somewhat thin, though the killer's plan is still very clever. It's the exquisite filming and cinematography that elevate the story to a higher level. This episode mostly keeps the serious tone of "Five Little Pigs" and "Sad Cypress", but contains more dark humor than them. The cast includes possibly the two most famous actors to have worked in the series by this point, Edward Fox (as the butler) and Sarah Miles (as Lady Angkatell), though the standout performance is given by the dazzlingly beautiful Megan Dodds as the ahead-of-her-time Henrietta: her one-on-one confrontations with Suchet sparkle and are the highlights of the film. Oh, and since an English police inspector does get involved in the case, I think they could have brought Philip Jackson back for this one. (***)