How the series "Agatha Christie's Poirot" was filmed: stills from the set 14 interesting facts about the cult series (18 photos)

The series "Agatha Christie's Poirot", based on the novel by the English writer, became a real hit among viewers. It's hard to believe, but it managed to stay on television for 24 years, and at the same time ended logically.





1. As you all know, the British television series "Agatha Christie's Poirot" was not filmed from scratch. This project was filmed based on the works of the famous British writer Agatha Christie.



In 1988, Rosalind Hicks (Agatha Christie's daughter) suggested to the famous producer Brian Eastman to make a series based on her mother's works. And Hicks really found this idea interesting, so he agreed to make a series about an eccentric mustachioed detective.

2. Brian Eastman saw only David Suchet as Hercule Poirot himself. He had worked with him on the set of the film "Blott in the Wild", which is why he was so confident in him.





Agatha Christie's family also approved of David Suchet's candidacy, as they really liked him in the same project "Blott in the Nature".

David Suchet himself took his role very seriously, and in order to better prepare for it and create an image for his character, he spent days on end reading Poirot novels, writing out the main characteristics of the detective. He sincerely believed that viewers would notice any inaccuracy, even if Poirot in the series puts one more piece of sugar in his tea.

3. But if there were no problems with the candidate for the main role, then there were some difficulties with the actor for the role of Arthur Hastings (Poirot's assistant).

Moreover, there were a lot of candidates for this role, but none of them, in the opinion of the director and producer, were suitable for this role. But after a long time, Hastings was found. British actor Hugh Fraser was taken for this role.



The only problem was that, according to the plot, Hastings is an avid smoker, while the actor himself simply could not stand cigarettes and tobacco smoke. Then it was decided to make Hastings a non-smoker.

In addition, Hugh Fraser was much younger than the book Hastings. But here the make-up artists came to the rescue, who artificially aged the actor.

4. The book Poirot was a rather plump character, which David Suchet was not. Therefore, the actor had to wear special pads under his suit, which visually made him look fatter, and also wore special stand-up collars to make his neck seem thicker.



5. In total, 13 seasons of the series were released from 1989 to 2013, but few people know that David Suchet himself almost left the series after the first season. And the thing is that during the filming of the first season he had a big fight with the director.



Suchet himself tried to fully immerse himself in the role, and wanted to show all the strange habits of the detective. Take, for example, his habit of putting a handkerchief on the bench before sitting on it.

But that's not all. According to the script, Poirot was supposed to wear checkered trousers, a hunting jacket and a cap in the style of Sherlock Holmes. Suchet himself was not delighted with this image, and accused the creators of making a jester out of the character.



David Suchet wanted his character to be as stylish as in the book, that is, to wear suits, a bow tie and other wardrobe items that were described in the original source. But the director did not like this, since in his opinion the audience would find such an image too boring. And only after Suchet threatened to leave the set, the director agreed to accept his conditions.

6. One of the important details in the image of Poirot was his legendary moustache. In the novels of Agatha Christie, the detective's moustache was always described differently, so the creators decided to take as a basis the moustache described in the book "Murder on the Orient Express".



7. Another of Hercule Poirot's distinctive features was his signature gait. David Suchet wanted his character to match the book character as closely as possible, so he trained his gait for a long time.



As the actor himself admitted, in order to walk like the book Poirot, he clamped a penny coin between his buttocks. He borrowed the technique from Laurence Olivier, who also carried a penny when he was practicing his walk for Restoration Comedy.

8. In the episode "The Royal Ruby" there was a scene where Poirot expertly cuts a mango. And when he is asked where he learned to do this, he replies that a duke taught him.

In fact, this scene was neither in the book nor in the script, and it appeared only thanks to one interesting incident.



In 1990, Queen Elizabeth II invited David Suchet and his wife to her palace for a reception. David Suchet reached for a mango, but when he took the fruit, he did not understand what to do with it or how to eat it correctly. Then the Queen's husband (Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh) showed the actor how to properly cut and eat a mango.



David Suchet found this very funny, so he suggested filming this scene during the filming of one of the next episodes.

9. The series "Agatha Christie's Poirot" was not the first film adaptation of the detective novels of the English writer. Between 1978 and 1988, 6 films were released, where the role of Hercule Poirot was played by Peter Ustinov.

But the most interesting thing is that in one of these films, namely in the film "Thirteen at Dinner" (1985), David Suchet played. True, here he did not play Poirot, but Inspector Japp.



The actor himself admitted that this role was one of the worst in his life, since he was always chewing when he appeared on camera.

10. According to the plot, Hercule Poirot constantly caught a cold. And the most interesting thing is that during the filming of the series, actor David Suchet also constantly caught a cold, although this had not been noticed before. Apparently, he was too immersed in the role.



11. In total, six seasons (45 episodes) were released between 1989 and 1996, after which the series was closed. But in 2000, filming of the series was resumed. However, not all actors returned to their roles. For example, Hugh Fraser, who played Hastings, returned only in the final 13th season (5 episodes).



Evid Suchet himself said that his return was not easy for him, since over these five years he had already forgotten how to play his character. Of course, it took him a little time to get back into the game, but he still had to practice.

In 2006, the 10th season of the series was released, which was supposed to be the last. But in the end, fans began to beg to continue filming new episodes about the eccentric detective. So, in 2008, the 11th season was released, in 2009 - the 12th season, and 4 years later, the final thirteenth season was released, consisting of five episodes.



During this time, the series changed 13 directors, 10 screenwriters, 5 producers, etc. Only David Suchet remained unchanged.

13. The night scene on the train in the film "Murder on the Orient Express" was not filmed on the train, and not even at night. The carriage was in a dark pavilion, and in order to create the effect of movement and light that periodically streamed into the window, a lighting device was placed opposite the carriage, which automatically rotated around its axis at the desired speed.



13. The series "Agatha Christie's Poirot" received several awards at the annual "BAFTA" awards, but despite the fact that David Suchet was nominated for Best Actor three times, he never won. But Hugh Fraser (who played Hastings) won a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actor. 14. Many episodes featured actors who had previously appeared in the series, but played completely different characters. 15. Many actors were very happy that the next film would be dedicated to Egypt, because they were counting on a business trip to this country. But they were disappointed, as the necessary scenes were filmed against a green screen (chroma key), and the necessary views were added during editing.



16. SPOILER ALERT! David Suchet insisted that the death of his character in the final episode be shown earlier, and that the episode end with a live Poirot. The fact is that over these 24 years Suchet had become very attached to Poirot, and it was difficult for him to realize that his character, who had become his second self, would die. And he felt better about the fact that the series ends with a still-living Poirot.