The Veiled Lady 

Poirot becomes a criminal himself when he agrees to help a beautiful woman recover a letter written in her youth that is being used to blackmail her.

Director:

Edward Bennett

Writer:

Clive Exton (dramatized by)

Stars:

David Suchet, Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson

Cast

Episode cast overview:
David Suchet	...	Hercule Poirot
Hugh Fraser	...	Captain Hastings
Philip Jackson	...	Chief Inspector Japp
Pauline Moran	...	Miss Lemon
Frances Barber	...	Lady Millicent
Terence Harvey	...	Lavington
Carole Hayman	...	Mrs Godber
Tony Stephens	...	Sergeant
Don Williams	...	Constable
Lloyd McGuire	...	Museum Guard
Peter Geddis	...	Museum Guard

Storyline

Poirot despairs at the lack of crime - and work - concluding that he, Hercule Poirot, has scared off the criminal classes. His mood brightens when Lady Millicent Castle-Vaughn - the veiled Lady of the title - asks him to recover from her blackmailer some indiscreet letters written in her youth. Unable to convince the man to reduce the amount asked for, Poirot decides to take matters into his own hands and steal them. As Poirot and Hastings learn however, not all is as it seems, starting with Lady Millicent.

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Plot Keywords:

puzzle box | murder mystery | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 1990 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Twickenham Studios, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Picture Partnership Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

49 min 50 min (36 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Frances Barber appears here as Lady Millicent, and ten years later in the fourth episode of series 12, The Clocks, as Merlina Rival.

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Goofs

When Poirot is cycling along the street for the first time heading to Lavington's house, a modern car is clearly visible on one of the driveways.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jewellery Store Owner: Stop, thief!

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Soundtracks

Morgenblätter
(uncredited)
Written by Johann Strauss

User Reviews

A cracker of an episode

I'm surprised to see this episode languishing at the foot of the table (Poirot rankings IMDb,) for me this is one of the best short story adaptations, mainly because this is where for me (and i'm sure many others) the Frances Barber idolising started, when she meets Poirot and drops that veil she is so beautiful, and gives a wonderful performance in this episode, bouncing brilliantly off all the cast. There's a good amount of humour in this one, Poirot, Japp and the housekeeper deliver some great lines. It's not the most in depth episode I guess, but it is all perfectly delivered, how nice it would have been for it to be longer, I can't resist watching this one over and over, it is brilliant!!