Here's my altogether selfish reason for posting this particular review: There are another dozen or so BBC Radio adaptations of Christie novels out there, and I'm hoping that a sequel collection will be offered in the future. That alone should stand as a loud endorsement for these enjoyable and faithful adaptations of Christie classics! When I say faithful, I mean it! Even the brilliant TV films starring David Suchet have messed around a bit with the original stories, adding Hastings when there was no Hastings, eliminating suspects to make the story easier. What joy to listen to "Hercule Poirot's Christmas" and find ALL the Lee children and their spouses spending the holidays with their hated father.
Devout Christie fans like me will appreciate such faithfulness to the original material. I predict they will also like John Moffatt's interpretation of Poirot (he sounds like Suchet and has a twinkle of humor in his voice). In the Christmas story, Poirot is played by none other than Peter Sellers, and it's a shame to report that he's quite dull in the role compared to Moffatt.
Some of the plays, like some of the novels, are better than others, but in certain cases I actually thought that lesser stories (like Halloween Party) played better on the radio, while some of the better books (Five Little Pigs) were less interesting than their originals. Still, a classic's a classic, and some of the best in this collection include "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Death on the Nile," which are deservedly among Christie's more famous stories. What the heck! I enjoyed them all, and I sincerely hope that the BBC will make a second collection available to us in America.
