Customer Reviews

Agatha Christie's Poirot: Collector's Set Volume 8

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It is always a fascinating study to compare the shorter Poirot television versions with the stories on which they are based. So much circumstantial detail is added to most of them in order to stretch the scenarios to a full 51 minutes that one wonders if each episode should have been kept to 25 minutes and we would have two cases instead of one. But it is all done with such finesse that we cannot complain. Now that Acorn Media has made Collector's Set 8 available, we have yet three more chances to watch, read and compare.

But setting aside the originals, here are three excellent mysteries, each with a little something special. In "The Case of the Missing Will," we have a good deal of upper class British male anti-feminine feelings as a background to a murder designed to disinherit everyone mentioned in a will by stealing it and bringing up the possibility of a long-lost heir. The actual solution ties in nicely with the patriarchal theme set up early in the episode.

"The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman" finally brings in "an admirer" for the usually machine-efficient Miss Lemon and plays up Hastings' love for automobiles. Here too, an early incident--the purchasing of the car-- comes full cycle to a "gag" at the end to create a symmetry that would please Poirot himself. The running theme here is the rise of Mussolini and Italian criminal organizations that pre-date the Mafia (as we are told by the dialogue).

Possibly "The Chocolate Box" is the most special of the entire series of short episodes. Here we have flashbacks of Poirot when he was in the Bruxelles police force, trying to prove that a death by "natural causes" was indeed a murder. Naturally those involved are powerful people and Poirot's superior tries desperately to get him to stop looking into the case. Many years later, when Inspector Japp is called to Bruxelles to receive an award, Poirot finally gets to resolve things in a most surprising way. Here the background theme is religion and its tie-in with politics.

Only two more sets to go. And look for the DVD versions of "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" and "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe," also issued by Acorn Media.

The Case of the Missing Will - This is a great episode! It's so complex it feels like it should be a 2-hour fare! All the relationships with characters made me watch it again DIRECTLY after seeing it the first time! - 4.5 stars

The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman - again more complex than many of the earlier cases, and it's nice to see the comic antics of Miss Lemon and Hastings in full-blast again! - 4.5 stars

The Chocolate Box - Very well done, and unique among all the episodes! Great flash backs, and great characterizations between Poirot and Japp! I loved how they explain the pin he's been wearing all through the series. One wonders if they thought ahead or if including it was an afterthought. I haven't read the original story of this one, so I'm interested to know if the pin was Agatha's idea, or the episode-writers'. - 4.5 stars

Box Set Overall score (Not an Average) - 5 stars

I've been working my way through this Acorn Media set, and I must say this is the best of the collection to this point.

I don't recall any story that fits "The Case of the Missing Will," and I've read nearly every Agatha Christie novel, short story, or play script. The title and description of the former reminded me of a short story of the same title in the collection Poirot Investigates, but the production was nothing like it. Perhaps a bit of poetic license?

"The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman" was very nearly spot-on with the original short story. Additions to the plot include Miss Lemon's romance with the butler, Hastings' car purchase, as well as the moderately high-speed car chase.

"The Chocolate Box" is a touching story told mainly through flashback scenes. I wonder if David Suchet is the only British actor capable of effecting a Belgian accent, or perhaps Poirot is the only Belgian who has not perfected a British accent?

I love everything Poirot. I especially like how he uses his "little grey cells".

I like all of the Poirot stories, they tend to be more expensive and I am retired the cost is high for me. I do splurge once and a while for one. This is another English non subtitled but is very easy to understand. Agatha Christies' other stories that use English actors who have not made American movies are very hard to understand. I will buy a new Poirot when I get my Social Security, increase in Jan 2012.

I bought Agatha Christie's Poirot: Collector's Set Volume 8 for my daughter. We are huge Agatha Christie fans and have many DVDs that feature David Suchet as Hercule Poirot. He never disappoints with his portrayal. My daughter loves this collection and has watched it several times.

"Poirot Collector's Set 8" includes three 50-minute episodes from Series 5 of "Agatha Christie's Poirot", which originally aired on Britain's ITV in 1993: "The Case of the Missing Will", "The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman", and "The Chocolate Box". The remaining five episodes from Series 5 can be found on Collector's Sets 7 and 9. All episodes feature David Suchet and the dapper expatriate Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot and Philip Jackson as Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Japp. Poirot's friend Capt. Arthur Hastings (Hugh Fraser) and secretary Miss Lemon (Pauline Moran) make appearances in two of the episodes. "The Chocolate Box" is an interesting treat, as it takes us back to a case that Poirot worked on in his native Belgium twenty years earlier, when he was a junior police officer. The episodes are:

"The Case of the Missing Will" reunites Poirot with an old friend, Mr. Andrew Marsh (Mark Kingston), an academic who opposes women's entry into the Cambridge Union, while his ward, Miss Violet Wilson (Beth Goddard) and the son of his solicitor Bobby Siddaway (Edward Atterton) campaign for equal access for women. As the argument rages on, Andrew invites Poirot to visit his home. He confides in Poirot that he intends to make a new will, leaving his entire estate to Violet, who was excluded in his previous will. But Andrew Marsh dies before he can make the new will, and his old will has disappeared, leaving his estate intestate. As numerous parties come forth claiming to be Marsh's sons, Poirot insists his friend's death was a murder contrived to steal Violet's inheritance.

"The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman" finds Capt. Hastings debating whether to buy an Italian sportscar and Miss Lemon being wooed by a Mr. Edwin Graves (Leonard Preston). By coincidence, a physician friend of Poirot's is called to the home of one of his patients, Count Foscatini (Sidney Kean), who is also Mr. Graves' employer. Foscatini has been murdered shortly after receiving a mysterious Italian caller named Ascanio (Vincent Riotta). The Count was either blackmailing or being blackmailed for letters that reveal the political sympathies of a wealthy Italian businessman, the man from whom Hastings is considering purchasing a car. There are a lot of coincidental relationships, but it's a puzzling case. Poirot remarks halfway through, "We have seen everything the wrong way around."

"The Chocolate Box" takes place in Brussels, where Poirot and Inspector Japp have traveled so that Japp might accept an award from the Belgian government for his policework. While there, Poirot introduces Japp to Claude Chantalier (Jonathan Hackett), Poirot's colleague 20 years earlier when he served on the Brussels police force. Claude tells Japp the story of an old case in which he believes that Poirot was mistaken: Just before World War I, a liberal politician, Paul Deroulard (James Coombs), died of apparent heart failure after eating chocolates. The cousin of Paul's late wife, Virginie Mesnard (Anna Chancellor), believed foul play was involved and asks for Poirot's help. Poirot was quite taken with the woman and ruffled some powerful feathers in investigating the case.

The DVD (Acorn 2004): The disc contains the usual Collector's Set bonus features. A text interview with David Suchet, a brief Agatha Christie text bio, a list of Poirot books, and selective filmographies for 9 members of the cast. No subtitles.

If you want this, and the other eleven Collector's sets, then you want: Agatha Christie's Poirot - The Classic Collection. These sets are the same as the Classic Collection sets Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Classic Collection - Set 1 through Poirot: Classic Collection Set 4. Don't be fooled into buying duplicate DVDs.

I'm getting the entire series - bit by bit. That's how much I like Suchet and Poirot.

This volume of Agatha Christie's Poirot: Volume 8 has very captivating stories. The stories are not too long or too short. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed them.