Appointment with Death 

Syria 1937. While accompanying her husband on an archaeological dig, the abusive and overbearing Lady Boynton is found stabbed to death.

Director:

Ashley Pearce

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel), Guy Andrews (screenplay)

Stars:

David Suchet, Tim Curry, Jawad Elalami

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
David Suchet	...	Hercule Poirot
Tim Curry	...	Lord Boynton
Jawad Elalami	...	Labourer
Christina Cole	...	Sarah
Tom Riley	...	Raymond Boynton
Cheryl Campbell	...	Lady Boynton
Zoe Boyle	...	Jinny Boynton
Emma Cunniffe	...	Carol Boynton
Angela Pleasence	...	Nanny
Abdelkader Aizzoune	...	Concierge (as Abdelkader Aizoun)
Paul Freeman	...	Col. Carbury
Beth Goddard	...	Sister Agnieszka
Christian McKay	...	Jefferson Cope
Mark Gatiss	...	Leonard Boynton
Mansour Badri	...	Taxi Driver (as Badri Mansour)

Storyline

Syria, 1937: Hercule Poirot is one of several people present at an archaeological dig to find the skull of St John the Baptist, led by the exuberant Lord Boynton and his loyal son Leonard. The enterprise has been financed by Boynton's rich, rude and overbearing American wife. She bullies her three adopted children, Carol, Jinny and Raymond, as well as the family's nanny. Sarah King, a young English doctor, falls for Raymond and would love to tear him from his mother's apron-strings, and another doctor, Dr Gerard, takes an interest in Jinny, as does a Polish nun, who, with Jinny, is subject to an attack - by white slavers, according to the independent travel-writer Dame Celia Westholme. A mysterious young American, Jefferson Cope, whose link to the Boyntons seems tenuous, completes the group. Only his Lordship has any love for his wife so that, when she is found stabbed to death one blisteringly hot afternoon, Poirot has more than his fair share of suspects to interrogate.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel | dead body in a bathtub | hercule poirot | nanny | stabbed to death | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 July 2010 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Casablanca, Morocco

Company Credits

Production Co:

ITV Studios,WGBH,Agatha Christie

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 93 min (DVD) 93 min (11 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Features considerable changes regarding Agatha Christie's novel, like the fabrication of new characters (Lord Boynton, Nanny Taylor, and Sister Agnieszka), the omission of others (such as Nadine Boynton and Amabel Pierce), the retooling of existing characters and even the reasons of the killer.

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Quotes

Hercule Poirot: There is nothing in the world so damaged that it cannot be repaired by the hand of the almighty God. I encourage you to know this, because without this certainty, we should all of us be mad.

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Connections

Version of Appointment with Death (1988)

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Soundtracks

Dido's Lament
(uncredited)
Written by Henry Purcell

User Reviews

A mess

I have been reading Agatha Christie for over 50 years, but I am not one of those who think she is a sacred text, incapable of improvement and which it is sacrilegious to change. All the same, change should be an improvement or at least do no harm. The book "Appointment with Death" (a) has a clear plot and in Mrs Boynton one of Christie's most memorable characters (b) is a masterpiece of misdirection (c) shows Poirot's ability to see beneath the apparent to the real. This version tries to cram a much more complicated plot and more characters (notably Lord Boynton, someone superfluous to requirements if ever there was one) into a little over an hour of screen time. The result is that it is difficult to grasp who the characters are, let alone what their motives might be. Needless complications abound. Why are the Boynton children adopted? What purpose does Nanny Taylor serve? Why can Col Carbury, a British Foreign Office official, call on the French police in a French mandated territory? Why does Dr Gerard become a wholly superfluous villain? Above all, what does Lord B and his absurd search for the head of John the Baptist add? All this is such a muddle that it takes Poirot almost 15 minutes to explain the answer, which is not enough.The impression left is that the re-write team decided to throw in a little something for everybody - the Baptist for the religious, a peer for N American snobs, beatings for the sado-masochists, love interest for the damp handkerchief brigade,and plenty of drugs for all and sundry.

It is sad to see David Suchet's talents wasted. The Hotel Constantine's interiors are notable and some of the desert scenes handsome. Otherwise best forgotten.

Orde Morton