Product Details

• Format: Blu-ray, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Acorn Media
• DVD Release Date: January 31, 2012
• Run Time: 519 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B005X5XIME
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,897 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Now remastered & in original U.K. broadcast order.

As seen on PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery!

Agatha Christie’s brilliant Belgian detective is on the case in the first series of the hit PBS mystery. Fan favorite David Suchet stars as the dapper sleuth who solves the thorniest of cases with his formidable intellect. Set in glittering 1930s Europe, these remastered adaptations capture every splendid detail of the Art Deco era. Also starring Hugh Fraser (Sharpe) as the affable Captain Hastings, Philip Jackson (Robin of Sherwood) as Chief Inspector Japp, and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

109 of 111 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars These are the Poirot 50 minute short stories, presented in original broadcast order. November 20, 2011

By Paul J. Mular TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Blu-ray

In 1988 LWT (London Weekend Television) would make television history and start producing what would be THE definitive version of Agatha Christie's Poirot to air in 1989!
Now ITV, current owner of LWT programs, went back to the original film elements and remastered them in HD. Yes, there are subtitles.

Agatha Christie's Poirot Series 1 features these 50 minute short stories:

1 1-01 08/Jan/89 The Adventure of the Clapham Cook
2 1-02 15/Jan/89 Murder in the Mews
3 1-03 22/Jan/89 The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly
4 1-04 29/Jan/89 Four and Twenty Blackbirds
5 1-05 05/Feb/89 The Third Floor Flat
6 1-06 12/Feb/89 Triangle at Rhodes
7 1-07 19/Feb/89 Problem at Sea
8 1-08 26/Feb/89 The Incredible Theft
9 1-09 05/Mar/89 The King of Clubs
10 1-10 19/Mar/89 The Dream

While 16mm will never look as sharp as 35mm, if you directly transfer the original 16mm camera film elements they will always look better & sharper than the older DVDs mastered from 16mm film copies made form 16mm negatives. The camera originals are sharper than the copies.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars All you have to say for a superlative is "Poirot" December 14, 2011

By Harold Wolf TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Blu-ray

Any POIROT set is just plain GOOD murder mystery. Agatha Christie suspense perfect. David Suchet acting excellence. Combined they make any British Mystery viewer salivate. Add top guest stars in each, SUBTITLES for the hearing and dialect challenged, and kick in some of the best filmed period mystery ever produced. It's what fans have come to expect with Poirot, Agatha Christie, Masterpiece Mystery, and the untouchable as Hercule Poirot--David Suchet.

The Blu-rays and new DVDs are newly remastered and restored to their original U.K. broadcast order. This is wonderful mystery TV, never to get out of date. You WILL love every feature-length episode.

The original 10 late 1930s era episodes (WITH SUBTITLES) in original June-March 1989 order. Period costumes as accurate as the Art Deco sets. David Suchet begins his masterful role as Hercule Poirot with the supporting cast of associate Hastings (Hugh Fraser-Bretts: The Complete Collection); CI Japp (Philip Jackson-`Robin of Sherwood'); and Sec. Lemon (Pauline Moran) as well as numerous episode guest stars.
1 THE ADVENTURE OF THE CLAPHAM COOK: Poirot's unimportant domestic case is searching for Todd's (Brigit Forsyth) cook Eliza (Freda Dowie-The Brontes of Haworth) gone lost. She's inherited and moved to near Carlisle, her trunk left at the station. Dermot Crawley's (`Bleak House') character may be involved.

2 MURDER IN THE MEWS: Poirot helps Japp on a Bonfire Night (aka Guy Fawkes Day) suspicious suicide. Look for David Yelland (`The Bretts') and James Faulkner (First Among Equals).

3 THE ADVENTURE OF JOHNNIE WAVERLY: Waverly's (Goeffrey Bateman) wealthy wife Ada (Julia Chambers) wants Poirot's help when kidnap threats reach a peak.

4 FOUR AND TWENTY BLACKBIRDS: Two brothers die within days Poirot witnessed one, an artist, dining out in a most uncharacteristic manner. Poirot puts his little gray culinary cells to work. Brief nude model (Holly De Jong- Lytton's Diary Complete Collection `Titmuss Regained'). Also see Hilary Mason & Richard Howard (`Love in a Cold Climate').

5 THE THIRD FLOOR FLAT: Poirot is ill plus bored enough to investigate a shooting in his own building flats. Gray cells on the home stairs helps Scot. Yard. Suzanne Burden (`Bleak House') and Josie Lawrence appear.

6 TRIANGLE AT RHODES: See Greek island scenes & costumes instead of the normal London fare. On holiday, Poirot investigates a poisoning of a hotel guest (Annie Lambert). An affair makes Douglas (Peter Steeelen) suspect. Poirot look further--like wife Marjorie (Angela Down-`Emma'), Burns (Timothy Kightley, & Pamela (Frances Low- `Gosford Park').

7 PROBLEM AT SEA: A cruise (see a period yacht) lovelier than a fatal chest wound of a female (Sheila Allen) passenger. Plenty of suspects all with alibi. At least Poirot's clues are all aboard. Victoria Hastead, John Normington, Roger Hume, & Ann Firbank all add star power to the suspects.

8 THE INCREDIBLE THEFT: An industrialist (John Stride-`Lytton's Diary') must convince His Maj.Gov. of his fighter plane's worth & his sincerity after a past scandal. He baits Vanderlyn (Carmen Du Sautoy) a Nazi spy, and his wife (Claran Madden-`Fortunes of War') begs Poirot for security. Phyllida Law plays Lady Isabelle and John Carson (Emma) her spouse. My favorite episode in the first ten.

9 THE KING OF CLUBS: A murder man (David Swift) & a solving clue is a single card. Is a director (Jonathan Coy-`Rector's Wife' `Pillars of the Earth') involved? The stars (Niamh Cusack) (Gawn Granger)?

10 THE DREAM: "King of Pies," Farley dreams of suicide. He asks Poirot if someone could manipulate him to do it. His death matches the dream. Suspect is Farley's daughter (Joely Richardson-`Lady Chatterley').

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW! February 29, 2012

By Chris L.

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

What a treat 'Poirot' is on BD! I can't believe how clear and crisp the image is on BD. I was a little worried since I had read that this show was originally filmed on 16mm, which is half the size of regular 35mm. Acorn to my approval this time has put a lot of care into the product. I have issues with them for releasing the same product in different packaging three times in about 10 years, but invest in the BD and you will be happy. Everyone knows how good most of these shows are so I will not give that type of review. I own some of the A&E films on SD DVD and there is an extraordinary difference between them and the BD just in contrast alone. The blacks are black and the colors dazzle. I would love some kind of special features, lets get interviews with David and the gang or license some of the BBC stuff that was filmed about the series (found on YouTube), something! Acorn has dropped the ball in that department. If you are on the fence about upgrading, don't be, do it and you will be happy just like me. I am a little perturbed at Amazon and their adjustable pricing they practice, like how these were 44 dollars when they came out, but less than a month later, they are half the price?!?!? Use your little grey cells and snatch them up now before the price goes up Mon Amis!