Customer Reviews

Hercule Poirot's Greatest Cases - 28 Audio CD's (BBC Dramatization)

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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.

I'd like to say I totally agree with the Mr. Friedman. There are probably at least as many out there that did not make it into this collection and deserve a release. They are incredibly faithful and wonderfully dramatized. John Moffat is an excellent actor who has done Sherlock Holmes, Straker(Salem's Lot), to name just a few. Hercule Poirot's Christmas stars Peter Sallis, the voice of Wallace of Wallace & Gromit fame, and not Peter Sellers. I'm afraid his french accent is a little rusty and I think his forte is in comedy really. It's not that I've heard him in other radio productions where he's done comedy and he more than holds his own. His voice is gentle and endearing and the dry sense of humor the British possess comes off much better when Mr. Sallis is doing it. Otherwise the "Christmas" production is still a first rate production. I just wish they decided on John Moffat for all of them as he does not play Poirot in "Mystery on the Blue Train" either. That role is taken up by Maurice Denham who did a wonderful take as Rumpole of the Bailey in the quite brilliant series BBC Radio did in 1980. This is an excellent collection, but not the entire collection!

I use audio books as a diversion to temper tantrums while driving in daily traffic. This one is exceptionally good as it is a full cast play, and one doesn't have to pay as close attention as to who it is that is speaking, because the voices are all different.

Being new to audio books on cd , this set has to be the ultimate set if you love Poirot & Agatha Christie on CD audio . Close your eyes and your in a surround sound theater with your own 3-D visuals . ABSOLUTELY AWESOME !!! Unfortunatlely there is no Box set #2 or follow up . Having said that , the BBC Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot CD audio mystery books on CD are absolutely wonderful and I just keep buying them every chance I get. I also only buy them in one place , and you can bet on it being Amazon.com . I love there site and trust them with all my purchases . Sincerly Happy Customer, Pat Simmons

If you are an Agatha Christie fan, then this series is for you. In my opinion these "Audio Books" are superb. I have lived in the US for 36 years, I miss the BBC most of all. PBS tries hard but doesn't really succeed. These audio books are absolutely the very best, well acted, well recorded, and well "compressed" in a very good surround stereo. They are from 90 to 150 minutes in length. I record these into MP3PRO format at 96 KB/S and listen in the car, also on a Sony player. So each cd lasts up to 16 hours, also you can burn these onto a dvd which plays 100 hours odd. At this time there are many more available from Amazon UK, I think around 43. In terms of cost, the UK is about the same even including Air Mail. The cd's arrive in about 6 days. I'm waiting for "And then there were none" due in January 2011. I can also recommend the Paul Temple series, here though the UK is preferred (a lot cheaper), the boxed set is $510.00 (US), and $225 (UK). So, highly recommended, and available from the US and UK. Good Listening, Nigel Bailey.

Simply the most marvelous collection of the classic BBC Radio Series. Features John Moffat as Agatha Christie's brilliant Detective, Hercule Poirot.
Many of his most famous cases are present here.

Brilliant characterizations and excellent adherence to the original stories.

Highly recommended.