Wintering with Poirot

A love letter to my emotional support Belgian detective

The sun is finally, finally rising before I reach my desk to work and it feels like a miracle. I try not to personify winter as a loss, but I am struck by the shorter hours, the less bugs and bees flying around, the way evenings are cut shorter because we’re all more tired and adverse to travelling in the dark.

In winter, I feel a bit like hibernating. I like the chance to slow down, spend more time indoors reading or writing, cooking food that feels comforting and warm. I also feel like I need something good to watch in the longer evenings. Something that holds my attention for a long time so I don’t have to pick or make choices. This winter, me and my husband watched all 70 episodes of Agatha Christie’s Poirot with David Suchet.

Straight off the bat, maybe it’s useful for me to say I’m not a crime fan. It’s one of the only genres I don’t really read, and I don’t watch crime TV shows or any whodunnits (outside of Knives Out which I can be persuaded to re-watch nearly any time). Most crime shows or fiction, for me, are either so relentlessly bleak that I find them overwhelmingly depressing, or they are so twee and romp-y that it feels a bit disrespectful to the (fictional) dead body. I don’t like wallowing in a world where everyone is one connection away from a blood lusting murderer, but equally, I find the settings where everything ends up okay and the justice system is without cracks or flaws completely unsatisfying.

Poirot kind of manages to personify both and somehow find a space in between the two. Early episodes feature Poirot singing “One Man Went to Mow”, drinking a pint with his breakfast, taking pleasure in wearing lady’s perfume and a lot of comedic moments. A man kidnaps his own son for ransom money and Poirot slaps him on the wrist. His companion Hastings is a kind of hapless everyman who can never keep up and falls in love with any woman who looks at him. Poirot’s secretary, Miss Lemon, meanwhile just raises an eyebrow in this wry Oh, you! kind of way. As much time is dedicated to the case as is to Poirot cooking for Inspector Japp who, in pure-blooded English fashion, just wants roly poly pudding instead of Belgian cuisine.

Poirot with “Bob the Dog” from Dumb Witness (image via Pinterest)

Later series of Poirot (what I dub “Noirot”) have the complete opposite tone. Poirot is now a solitary figure, haunted by a post-war world full of crime and cruelty. His flat feels a lot more sterile and unhomely in, his clothes somehow more starched and uncomfortable. His faith also becomes more and more important, with him frequently praying or turning to God for guidance. In the adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express, Suchet delivers a career defining speech full of righteous anger, religious fervour and a call to justice completely absent from the book.

In between these two sit my favourite moments. Episodes where, yes, there’s a joke about Poirot having a rose named after him, but is also approached by an elderly woman who begs him to protect her, convinced someone will kill her. We’re not lost in post war doom and gloom, but the threat is also real. In Peril at End House, there’s a ghost and a fake exorcism, but there’s also a real comment on how women, being seen as stupid, are manipulated.

Nick Buckley in Peril at End House (image via Agatha Christie Wiki)

Speaking of gender, Poirot is a fascinating examination of a man who, whilst not protesting or acting against the sexist system, still has a lot of empathy for women. Poirot is not a feminist icon (which is a shame, because a t-shirt with David Suchet and a feminist caption would never leave my body), but despite him being a character who doesn’t really spend a lot (any?) time with women, the people he treats with the most disdain is men who abuse their power over them.

Poirot is the perfect winter companion. Lavish costumes and interiors are the perfect escape away from the dark, wet night outside. Every year, I write down that one of my New Year’s resolutions needs to be finding more time to relax and properly rest. Poirot episodes kind of personify a lazy Sunday: the episodes can run up to 2 hours, and remind me of sitting next to my Mum, reading a book as she watched the TV and knitted.

Spring is peeking its head around the corner, but until then - if you need a companion, consider Poirot. I understand not everyone has the time for 70 episodes, so here’s my top 10 -

1. Four and Twenty Blackbirds (S01, E04)
Is this episode a silly mystery that hinges on someone eating a bramble pie at a restaurant? Does it feature Poirot’s dentist for no discernible reason? Yes. That’s why it’s perfect.

2. Problem at Sea (S01, E07)
Deceptively simple, set aboard a boat during a trip Poirot and Hastings take to Egypt. And yes - they do some tourist photo opps.

3. The Dream (S01, E10)
Let me pitch you this: murder, a pie factory and a beautiful fencing woman. But, it all happened in a dream… or did it?

4. Peril at End House (S02, E01)
This is a feature length film and it earns every minute. Poirot meets a young woman who is constantly brushing with death. Soon he decides it may be a murder plot, and everyone in this woman’s orbit is a suspect.

5. Death in the Clouds (S04, E02)
One of my favourites, Poirot solves the murder of someone on a plane - but no one came near the deceased during the flight! The 1930s plane set is charming.

6. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (S06, E01)
Everything that happens in this story, happens because Poirot’s heating was broken and he didn’t want to spend Christmas being cold.

7. Evil Under the Sun (S08, E01)
I’ll be honest and say a solid 70-80% of loving this one is because Tim Curry is there. But what a good reason to watch anything!

8. Five Little Pigs (S09, E01)
The way this episode is shot, taking it’s time to go through every person and their story is so absorbing. Also, I’m a BBC Jane Eyre gal and love Toby Stephens.

9. Murder on the Orient Express (S12, E03)
I’m glad they took time building to this one. I absolutely adore it. Everything is perfect: casting, set, costumes. David Suchet gives a career defining performance.

10. Dead Man’s Folly (S13, E03)
I’m not sure many people would pick this one - but the setting of a town fayre and a silly murder mystery is very fun. Zoë Wanamaker as Ariadne Oliver is probably the best part of the later episodes that can lose themselves in bleakness.