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The virtual definition of ‘critic-proof’, ITV’s Anglo-Belgian juggernaut begins moving down the gears as David Suchet’s stint in moustache and bowler hat approaches its finale. You already know whether this is for you: inert, stagey, camp – business as usual, in other words.
The performers certainly give it their all. Zoe Wanamaker returns as Ariadne Oliver, approached by a busybody (Greta Scacchi, agreeably over the top) concerned that her son may be marrying a girl (Vanessa Kirby) with ‘a past’. The dual investigation follows the mysterious death of a doctor in an asylum alongside an apparent murder-suicide of the girl’s parents some years earlier.
It’s one of Christie’s lesser efforts – a messy, confused meander into the past which leans on one of the lamest tricks in the crime-writer’s arsenal as part of its reveal. Although hearing Suchet get his fruity accent around the name ‘Desmond Burton-Cox’ confirms that his Poirot passed through the realms of self-parody and into the method acting hall of fame long ago.