“Come at once,” the telegram reads. “Need help. Urgent.”
Poirot obeys at once. He would not leave his old friend the crime writer Ariadne Oliver in distress, even if that means leaving London for the wilds of Devon where Ariadne is a guest at a country estate.
Devon certainly is not Poirot’s preferred milieu. Agatha Christie, on the other hand, adored it. Most of this episode was filmed on the grounds of Greenway, Dame Agatha’s country home, which is now a National Trust property.
The cast said they had a wonderful time filming at Greenway, the place that inspired the goings-on in Christie’s 1956 novel Dead Man’s Folly. Between takes, they walked the grounds in costume—and in David Suchet’s case, in character—and encountered tourists who (lucky them!) ended up with a more memorable visit to Greenway than they ever could have expected.
Populating the scene in this episode are the classic array of characters we have come to expect from an episode of Poirot, including the angry young man (more Fascist than Bolshevik this time); the horrible child; the undeserving lord of the manor (”awfully rich and awfully common” to quote Ariadne); and his unsuitably young, tiresome, ornamental wife. Surrounding them are the ordinary folk, any or all of whom might bear a grudge worth killing for. Plus the local constabulary in the form of Detective Inspector Bland (Tom Ellis).
I have to believe Zoë Wanamaker has good fun playing Ariadne Oliver. Her wardrobe alone is reason enough to envy her. In this episode she’s full-tilt Ariadne, hired to plot a “murder hunt” for a local charity fete, yet refusing to ignore the instinct that insists the hunt is simply a pretense for what will be an actual murder.
“It may well be…that you do not know what it is that you know,” Poirot tells her.
“Whatever it is, I feel certain that someone is going to die. We must do something about it,” she replies.
Well, of course, someone is going to die. We wouldn’t be here with Poirot if this was just a harmless weekend in the country.
Neither the victim nor the murderer were who I expected them to be, although it (mostly) made sense when Poirot spelled it out in the end. And anyway I watch these episodes as much for the clothing and scenery as I do for the mystery.
Sinéad Cusack brings depth to the innocuous Mrs. Folliat, and it’s always a pleasure to watch Rebecca Front, this time as Miss Brewis, the housekeeper. You know her as Inspector Lewis’s boss Chief Superintendent Jean Innocent and we’ll see her again in a few months in Death Comes to Pemberley.
One question though: Did anyone spot a goof about 33 minutes into the episode? No spoilers, but do tell if something in the background behind Poirot seems amiss.
“Dead Man’s Folly,” the last episode of Poirot we’ll see on Masterpiece Mystery this season, gives us everything we expect from vintage Poirot—plus the man himself clutching a kewpie doll. Whether we’ll see the three remaining episodes of Poirot on Masterpiece Mystery is a mystery in itself. Next week we’re on to the 1960s and Breathless.
Leslie Gilbert Elmanis the author of Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous, and Totally Off the Wall Facts. Follow her on Twitter @leslieelman.
Read all of Leslie Gilbert Elman’s posts for Criminal Element.
Is there a question that we might not see the final three episodes on Masterpiece Mystery!? I hope the remaining three are presented and soon.
I will add, that of the three episodes left, I might not watch Curtain. I will record it, but will consider when I will view it. I have not read the novel, Curtain, either. Something about putting off unpleasant things.
Why aren’t the rest of the episodes going to be on PBS?
Why wasn’t there any fanfare at all for the return of this great actor playing this great character?
OK, so they had Mark Gatiss directing ‘The Big Four’; so they felt that they had to show that one. Then Zoe Wananmaker in ‘Dead Man’s Folly’; so that one too. Then the rest are discarded onto something called Acorn TV http://acorn.tv/featured which no one has ever heard of? In fact I only know about that because I read it on SF Gate, otherwise as far as PBS is concerned it’s all like it never happened. No featurettes, no interviews with Suchet.
It’s a crime!
Leslie can you do any journalistic inquiry into what on earth is going on please!
I can’t explain why the decision was made not to show the remaining three episodes on Masterpiece Mystery. (And I did ask!) I’m hoping that someone rethinks it and we get them next year. The Miss Marple mysteries we’ll see in a few weeks were made two years ago and held back from the U.S. for some reason, so it’s possible the same will be done with Poirot.
There should have been more (some?) fanfare for these Poirot episodes. We know what a treasure David Suchet is. Seems like a missed opportunity for Public Television.
Meanwhile, we have a week off then we’re on to Breathless.
Leslie, I am wondering if they sort of stink maybe? Is that possible?
Suchet, whom I ADORE, seemed a bit off of his game in ‘Dead Man’s Folly’. I see a tremendous amount of press in the UK for that actual filming, particularly the filming at Christie’s house, but for these episodes not so much. Of course over there he is a national treaure; so likely no one would speak ill of him. Heck, I feel that way and I’m from Louisisana. Still, someone needs to take one for the team and purchase acorn TV obviously.