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There's nothing more British than Agatha Christie.
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Since the publication of her first book 100 years ago,
she's been delighting us with fiendishly clever murder mysteries
set in the charming villages and grand homes of our nation.
Yet it took someone quite un-British to solve the crimes in her stories.
Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective with a brain like no other.
'Agatha launched him into the world a century ago,
'and they've been partners in crime ever since.
'Like millions of others, I adore them both,
'but Agatha Christie, just like Poirot,
'didn't give much away.'
And both seem to be, well, mysterious cases.
So now I want to turn the investigation back onto them.
'Agatha Christie is the Queen of crime.'
This master of storytelling.
She is on it every time, every page, every book.
'And Hercule Poirot was always by her side,
'on page and on screen.'
Hercule Poirot is a private detective.
Hercule Poirot is irresistible, he has star quality.
He has this extraordinary brain.
Always I am right, it is so invariable it startles me.
'But how do they conquer the world together?
'With the help of some famous faces...'
Loosen your belts... LAUGHTER
..it's gonna get messy.
'A host of experts...'
She describes cleaning them with a bit of dental equipment
and her face cream.
Weapons, wounds, trace evidence, it's all there.
'..access to her family and their private archives...'
I think she will always be here
and while she's always here, Poirot will be here.
'..and the locations that shaped Agatha's work.'
This was nicknamed "the best hotel west of The Ritz."
'This is the story of the greatest crime duo ever.'
I think I Agatha Christie and Poirot will be forever.
No-one else has come close. They just haven't.
Agatha Christie was a Devon girl,
she drew upon the county of her childhood
for so many of her stories.
Creaky country houses, the vicars on their bicycles,
and the chocolate box villages with a secret behind every door.
It's not the obvious home for a Belgian detective
with a fondness for order and cleanliness.
But it's in Devon that Agatha found Poirot.
'Agatha Christie was born in 1890 in Torquay,
'a popular holiday spot for wealthy Victorians.'
Devon was a massive part of her life,
a part of her being, I think.
She certainly felt happier here than anywhere else.
'Her family lived in a large villa
'with spacious grounds on the edge of town.'
That genteel, upper-middle-class childhood that she had,
it's there through the books.
'Agatha's father died when she was 11.
'From this point on, she became incredibly close with her mother.'
Agatha Christie's home life was a matriarchy
that the women were in positions of power
and that the women held a lot of importance.
They're right there and they have big personalities
and they have the same desires and needs as the men
and I really, I love that about her writing.
'Agatha had a brother and sister, 10 and 11 years older than her,
'meaning she grew up largely in her own company.'
She was like an only child, because she spent so much time on her own
and in her own world, playing her own games.
I'm an only child and I know that, growing up,
I didn't have anybody else to play with.
And making up stories and acting out different scenarios
and coming up with different characters.
'Although Agatha's mother
'decided against giving her a formal education,
'she still found her own sources of knowledge.'
Agatha Christie taught herself a lot.
She was obviously incredibly motivated,
she was obviously incredibly clever, incredibly imaginative.
'By her late teens, Agatha had started writing as a hobby.
'Before long, she had short stories and poems
'published in local magazines,
'but for her talent to become a career,
'it took a challenge from her older sister.'
I gather that she'd been reading a lot of murder mysteries
and saying, you know, "I could do this,"
and her sister said, "Well, why don't you?"
To get the best out of someone, you need to be challenged,
you need to be pushed to become the best
and I think it was interesting seeing Agatha Christie
being pushed by her older sister to write a novel.
'Even much later in life,
'Agatha would describe the origin of her career
'as an accident.'
Why are you so fascinated by crime?
I don't know that I'm really fascinated by it,
I just began writing about it,
then one continues, doesn't one, usually?
I always liked detective stories.
'Agatha's debut novel, The Mysterious Affair At Styles,
'was published in the UK in 1921.'
An immediate success, it introduced the world to someone
who would go on to be Agatha's longest life companion,
Hercule Poirot.
A retired police officer from Belgium,
Poirot was like no other detective seen before in fiction.
He does drop in to Styles perfectly formed.
Poirot is incredibly methodical, he's incredibly, obviously, clever.
He's also meticulous, he's also vain,
but at the end of the day, he has a twinkle
and you respect him.
Hercule Poirot is one of the greatest creations
in all literary fiction. There's no question of it.
'Agatha Christie would write 33 novels,
'three plays and 69 short stories featuring Poirot.'
She's sold on all four corners of the earth,
she's sold more books than any other novelist.
She's, you know, been published in more languages
pretty much than anyone, it's a pretty extraordinary story.
I imagine there is a generation of crime writers
that would hold Agatha Christie up as their leading light.
I'm the author of the Murder Most Unladylike mystery series.
My detective Hazel has a lot to do with Poirot,
and the logic puzzles they solve,
the kind of very tight, enclosed murder mysteries they solve
are really, completely based on Agatha Christie's mysteries.
So I'm an author who is really inspired by her.
I am the author of four continuation novels starring Hercule Poirot.
I first discovered Poirot when I read Murder On The Orient Express.
It felt like a sort of Eureka moment.
I have loved him ever since.
'Poirot is also the star of a major Hollywood movie franchise
'starring Sir Kenneth Branagh.'
My name is Hercule Poirot,
and I am probably the greatest detective in the world.
'Yet it's through the television that most of us know Poirot.
'From 1989 to 2013,
'the iconic detective was beamed into our living rooms every week
'with David Suchet taking the lead role.'
The original series was a huge Sunday night treat.
Beautifully produced, wonderful production values,
a fantastic lead actor.
It seems as if you have thought of everything, Monsieur Doyle,
except for one thing...
Hercule Poirot.
They've allowed us, the televisual sort of generation,
to enter into Agatha's world
in a way that no-one would ever have dreamt of.
Me and Monsieur Poirot have met before.
There's no man's judgement I'd sooner take than his.
If I'm not greatly mistaken, he's got something up his sleeve.
Well, I will tell you this.
If you arrest Monsieur Alfred Inglethorp,
it will bring you no kudos.
The case against him will be dismissed comme ca.
It is about nostalgia, it's about old England.
It gives the audience a sense of pleasure
to see pretty countryside and lovely costumes.
I love the fact that you can sort of smell
the cigarette smoke in the air,
you know when those women walk into the room
there will be a rustle of silk.
I think we can agree I'm not short on motive.
Or opportunity.
By your own admission, you enter the compartment
of Madame Ruth Kettering and rifle through her possessions.
Oh, you had the desire, Senora, and the passion necessaire,
to commit a crime of such atrocity.
Est ca c'est la verite?
'Through the long-running ITV series, Poirot reached an audience
'far beyond anything Agatha could have imagined
'when she introduced him to the British public in 1921.
'Like Agatha, Poirot was formed in Torquay,
'where locals are immensely proud of their connection to both of them.
'At the town's museum, manager Carl Smith
'has been given access to some of Agatha's private notebooks
'that reveal secrets of how she created her stories and characters.'
In front of me, I have a copy of a handwritten article
that was written by Agatha Christie in 1938.
"How did the character of Hercule Poirot come into being?
"It was the early autumn of 1914,
"Belgian refugees were in most country places.
"Why not have a Belgian refugee,
"a former shining light of the Belgian police force."
'During World War I, 250,000 Belgian refugees entered Britain,
'many settling in Agatha's county of Devon.'
Her work always seemed to be organic and coming out of a real scenario.
And then she would sort of secrete those people that she watched...
in the characters that she wrote.
Belgium had a very special meaning to the British.
Poor little Belgium was a phrase that was used all the time.
British middle-class families knitted socks for Belgian children.
It was a thing, you know, that everyone would have recognised.
They had a victimhood, so there was a dignity about Poirot.
He wants to know why we have to speak English all of the time.
He finds it tiring.
Hmm.
Because, Monsieur Van der Stadt, in this country, we are the guests.
If we are to gain the confidence of the natives,
we must learn their ways.
'Poirot was quite unlike anyone else he met
'on his adventures through Britain.'
I see you have joined the cavalry?
Poirot is not a pint-and-pork-scratchings man.
Let's face it.
I say, do you fancy a pint of beer if there's any left?
Non, merci.
I cannot yet bring myself to enjoy the English public house.
'Poirot was not only different to the other characters in her stories,
'he was also quite unlike Agatha herself.'
"He should be very neat, very orderly.
"Is that because I'm such a wildly untidy person myself?"
I think were seeing something
of a mirror-image of Agatha Christie in Poirot.
That were seeing lots of things
that perhaps are not important to her or not strengths of hers
seem to manifest themselves in Poirot.
She is incredibly messy, he is incredibly precise.
So she probably created him that way to be completely outside of her.
Hastings, you dressed in haste, your tie is to one side.
'Agatha also created Captain Hastings,
'Poirot's long-suffering side kick,
'who struggled to keep up with the meticulous investigations.'
Did it not strike you as peculiar...
He's not the sharpest tool in the box,
but, I mean, compared to Poirot,
anyone would be lacking in a few grey cells, I think.
I'm pleased of you, Hastings.
You have a good memory and have given to me, faithfully, the facts.
But of the order in which you present them, I say nothing.
Truly it is deplorable.
Hastings tolerates Poirot's idiosyncrasies, too,
which can become a little tedious, sometimes.
'Poirot's biggest idiosyncrasy was his obsession with tidiness.
'Although tedious to some, it made him an extraordinary detective.'
He's a character that you kind of you're slightly frustrated by
because you just think,
"Just let it go, just let go, just let go and stop being so held,"
but at the same time the way he gets to his point
and the way he gets to the conclusion
is just very, very entertaining.
'In his debut outing,
'he makes a key breakthrough by rearranging items on a mantelpiece.'
I remember that when you and I were together
in the room of Madame Inglethorp,
'that I already straightened the ornaments.
'Now, if they were already straightened,
'there would be no reason for me to have to straighten them again.'
Something that would have connected to the murderer with the crime.
Unless someone in the meantime had touched them.
He's a man that watches things very closely, he's like a great chef.
Because it is all about looking into the detail
and seeing things that other people can't see.
Agatha Christie sums up one of the greatest characters
of all fiction in three words,
"little grey cells."
A great detective needs a great brain.
And that's what Poirot has.
Oh, yes.
The little grey cells have done well today.
For 100 years, audiences and readers have been thrilled by Poirot's
quirky yet meticulous approach to crime solving.
We always know Poirot will catch the murderer, explain how they did it,
and perhaps tidy a few mantelpieces along the way.
But in his first outing, Agatha didn't give him an easy ride.
She drew on her own experiences in war
to devise a method of killing
that could deceive even the keenest of eyes.
In Poirot, Agatha Christie had created the perfect detective.
A Belgian refugee living in Britain,
he studied every case with a detached gaze of an outsider.
And she gifted him with a great brain.
The little grey cells of which he is so proud.
But in her debut novel, Agatha tested that brain to the limit.
'In her first book, The Mysterious Affair At Styles,
Poirot was confronted with a murder victim
who appeared to have been poisoned.
Why did you want to know if Mrs Inglethorp ate well last night?
The contention of the present
is that Madame Inglethorp died of the strychnine poisoning. No?
Agatha Christie likes a poisoner.
She loves a bit of poisoning.
Poison is a wonderful weapon for her
because it is, to all intents and purposes, bloodless.
It is a clean death, it is something that anybody, as well, can use.
'Agatha picked up her unique knowledge of poisons
'while working as a nurse in Torquay's military hospital
'during World War I.
'Forensic scientists and murder mystery obsessive Carla Valentine
'has researched Agatha Christie's medical background.
Agatha would have had a baptism of fire.
She would have seen things that she had never seen before.
Blood and gore, stitching, amputations, bloody floors.
It really was a huge new experience for her
and, you know, one that shaped her character for years to come.
'Before long, Agatha was keen to move away
'from the gruesome front line of nursing.
'So she specialised as a dispensary nurse,
'preparing medication for patients.'
So what she had to do was she would mix powders,
and she would mix solutions, and she would make pills, pessaries,
ointments, even, you know, medications.
And it really was a very specialist job.
'In her debut Poirot story,
'Agatha's poison of choice was strychnine.'
I would like your consent to a postmortem, then.
That's not necessary, surely it was a heart attack?
Oh, no, I'm sorry.
Mrs Inglethorp showed classic symptoms of strychnine poisoning.
Can't be!
'Although steadily in large quantities,
'it was an everyday medicine if used safely.'
The effect of it on the nervous system, in small doses,
wouldn't kill you, but it would sort of pep you up a little bit.
A lot of the time, it would be even used by old ladies.
Everything in her life seems to have been organic,
and she sees it, grabs it and utilises it.
She was so meticulous about writing about poisoning and poisons,
that the poison society
commended her writing about poisoning.
There, you see.
Already the strychnine is beginning to precipitate
and fall to the bottom.
In a few hours, it will form colourless crystals.
Which remain at the bottom of the liquid?
Which remain at the bottom of the liquid.
'Poison would go on to be
'one of Agatha's favourite methods of murder.
'She killed five characters with strychnine,
'eight with arsenic, and 18 with cyanide.'
She clearly learnt as much
as she could possibly learn about poison
and then dripped those poisonous moments
into her novels and her short stories forever after.
In the laboratory on the previous afternoon,
you would have seen Caroline Crale steal the poison.
Monsieur Blake had his back to the room while he was talking to you,
so it was perfectly possible for you to see her.
The only person who could do so.
'A few years into her writing career,
'Agatha and her husband Archie moved out of London
'to the nearby commuter town of Sunningdale.
'Archie was a fan of golf
'and enjoyed the towns courses a little too much.'
I suppose that's when things started to go wrong.
The golf became a symbol, if you like, of their diverging ways.
She described herself as a "golf widow."
'As Agatha's marriage started to suffer,
'she found comfort in the clear logic of Hercule Poirot.
'In 1926, she published her most celebrated story yet,
'The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd.'
Everything changed, really, with The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd.
It still obsesses people
because it is probably the perfect detective story.
'In this rarely heard interview from her family archives,
'Agatha reveals how her perfect detective story
'was one of the hardest to write.'
CHRISTIE: These are the little plots that tease at one,
one likes to think of, one knows one is going to write.
That was much like Roger Ackroyd...
which played about in my mind for a long time
before I could get the details fixed.
I think we all agree that The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd
is the ultimate detective story.
The best ever piece of fiction of its kind.
POIROT: "My little book is about the murder of Roger Ackroyd,
"the events leading up to it,
"the subsequenct numbskull investigation
"and the final revelation, to you alone, dear reader,
"of the guilty party."
'This game-changing book challenged the rules of crime fiction.
'The murderer's identity is so unexpected,
'that it draws into question every page,
'every word that has gone before.'
As we move towards the end of the novel,
she performs a fantastic trick, but she does it so well
that she absolutely misdirects the reader
in a way that really very few people would be able to anticipate.
That was the story that put Agatha way up on that plinth.
And no-one will ever get her down because of that book.
POIROT: "The true stories of these murders most dreadful
"must, for the moment, remain a secret.
"The last favour, if you will,
"to a man that I once looked on as a friend."
The shock of who the murderer is
resounds to this day through the whole genre.
Once she did that, other detective writers just bowed down and said,
"She is the Queen, there is... none of us can touch her."
And if you haven't read it, I'd urge you to read it.
It's wonderful.
And see if you think you can tell who did it,
and the chances are you won't. LAUGHTER
'As Agatha's career reached a new peak,
'her private world was crumbling.
'Husband Archie revealed
'he had started a relationship with a younger woman.
'And, around the same time, Agatha's mother died.'
In the winter of 1926,
Agatha Christie was at her lowest ebb.
But then her life took a turn
as dramatic as anything in her stories,
and her private turmoil became public.
'On December 4th, her car was found abandoned
'at a beauty spot in Surrey on the edge of the North Downs.
'Before long, police were investigating the incident
'as a missing persons case, and it was front-page news.'
The tabloids must have just not been able to believe it
because it's just like, it could have been one of her books.
You've got a woman missing,
a car parked on the North Downs in the middle of nowhere,
you've got a husband who's run off with a younger woman.
She's on the front page of every newspaper for gossip.
You know, she's basically being trashed
by the poor behaviour of her husband.
'Agatha Christie biographer Laura Thompson
has returned to the Surrey countryside
where police and public searched furiously for Agatha.
These are the police files from the case.
"She might have fallen down
"one of the numerous gravel pits that abound there.
"Or she might have been, as was strongly suggested to the police,
"the victim of a serious crime."
The police wondered whether Archie Christie might have been involved.
Could he have made her disappear?
I mean, after all, when it comes to murder,
the domestic murder is the most common murder.
'But the grim headline everyone had been braced for never came.
'Because, on the morning Agatha's car was found abandoned,
'she had in fact made her way to London and, from there,
'she caught a train home to Harrogate in Yorkshire.'
We sort of gathered that she had lost confidence
in herself and her marriage, and was despairing,
and thought "To hell, I don't want to be anywhere near him and home,"
and goodness knows, I know exactly how that feels.
'She took a room in a spa hotel then known as the Harrogate Hydro.'
I think her heart was broken.
So the crisis that she was in at that time,
I think, absolutely makes perfect sense of her running away.
'During her stay, Agatha appeared to be a normal hotel guest.'
She seemed fine to the people around her,
but I'm pretty sure that was a front.
The thing you do when you've just had a break-up
and you're trying to show your ex how fine you are,
that you're great, you're having a lovely time
and you don't even remember them.
'After nine days, on December 10th,
'two staff members informed the police
'that they believed Agatha Christie was staying at the hotel.
'And the next day, her disappearance ended.'
There, sitting by the fire, was her husband Archie...
who had come up with a policeman.
I mean, it must have been extraordinary.
'With the press gathering at the hotel front entrance,
'they attempted to escape via another route.
'They had to be bright idea of going out to the side entrance,
'but The Daily Mail was onto that, and they were waiting for her there
'and got this amazing shot of this blank face.'
SHUTTER SNAPS
I suspect it felt alarming and overwhelming, you know,
the fame wasn't earned, it wasn't from her books,
it was from something she did in her private life
that became public.
The truth is, Agatha Christie wrote fiction,
she didn't want to be a character in a fiction.
'Archie told reporters that Agatha's disappearance
'had been caused by a loss of memory.'
I think most people would accept
that she was going through an incredibly stressful time.
She obviously had some breakdown of some sort.
Even now, we still don't really know what happened.
I mean, we know she was in Harrogate,
but we don't really know why for that long
and why she just went for radio silence
and didn't come out of hiding.
I suppose you could say
it was, like, just a typical Agatha Christie thing to do.
'Agatha and Archie divorced after the disappearance.
'And some would say there was a marked change
'in her depiction of Poirot in the following years.'
I think an experience like that does alter you and,
if you're altered, your books are altered.
Poirot becomes, I think, slightly softer, slightly more mature.
You must look to the future.
SHE SCOFFS Oh, she'd love that.
I am thinking of you.
You have before you your whole life.
We get a glimpse at Hercule Poirot's heart.
You can see that there has been a possibility of love in his eye.
After the media frenzy surrounding her disappearance,
Agatha Christie was front-page news for all the wrong reasons.
With heavy scrutiny from press and public alike,
Britain was starting to feel like a prison.
But Agatha would discover a new freedom through foreign travel
that would liberate her imagination like never before.
Agatha Christie had always been curious
about the world beyond Britain.
After her divorce from Archie, she indulged her curiosity
by travelling abroad alone,
picking up new stories for Poirot along the way.
But it wasn't until she boarded a luxury train bound for Istanbul
that she would discover Poirot's greatest adventure yet.
'In 1928, Agatha took her first journey on the Orient express.
She uses her independent spirit to go travelling...
on her own.
This is 100 years ago, this is unusual.
You have to remember how rare it was
for the British reading public to travel outside Britain.
But, early on, she made enough money to afford to travel en luxe,
go on these grand trains like The Orient Express.
What a woman. I mean, what a woman!
She was a trailblazer in so many different ways.
'Agatha would have started her train journey
'at Victoria Station in London,
'which she described as "the gateway to the world beyond England."
'Today, the luxury train provider Belmond
'runs services that recreate the comfort and elegance
'that she would have enjoyed.'
'Agatha Christie fan and actress Joanna Page
'has come to discover why this opulent mode of transport
'had so much appeal.'
The first time I started reading Agatha's novels
was when I was quite young.
I think I leapt from Enid Blyton to Agatha Christie.
Trains are just such a lovely place to let your imagination just wander.
I mean, you're sitting on there for such a long time,
meeting lots of different people.
It's just the perfect place for stories just to unfold in your mind.
She just must have been lapping up all of these different countries,
and all of the different locations,
and just putting it into each of her books.
I just think that's just wonderful.
Good morning, madam, and welcome on board
the Belmond British Pullman.
I can imagine why Agatha Christie would love train travel like this.
Because it's just so indulgent, and you just feel so special.
'Agatha Christie became a regular traveller on The Orient Express
'and referred to it as "a familiar old friend."
'The long meandering journey from west to east
'would prove to be a gift for a prolific writer like Agatha.'
There's something incredibly glamorous about that period.
And the idea of sitting down for dinner
with the most beautiful, white linen tablecloth
and silver service
and people coming in long, slinky gowns and cigarette holders.
There is something about that period that is just captivating.
To have a train travelling across Europe around the world,
seeing all the different countries with that level of food and service
and hospitality and luxury, I always found that quite special.
'Agatha's love of luxury train travel
'would provide her with a backdrop for Murder On the Orient Express.'
'Inspired by her early experience
'of being trapped on the Orient Express after flooding,
'the story pivots around 12 characters brought together
'after a snow drift blocks the train's path.'
Murder on the Orient Express has lots of things going for it.
The train is obviously, almost an extra character in it.
It is the ultimate in luxury.
Agatha Christie is at her best
writing what one might think of as locked room mysteries.
Where there is a small number of people in a contained space.
You do feel airless and trapped, and unable to get away.
That is frightening.
Everyone's in danger and everyone's looking over their shoulder.
Everyone's, you know,
checking everyone and everything all the time,
and it's a genius device.
To put mystique and betrayal in that confined space,
again with these very well-to-do characters, you know,
the last thing you'd expect is a murder.
There is a murderer among us.
It's the deep, dark, psychological stuff that really floats my boat,
why people do dark and bad things.
Everybody's scared. Or are they?
Everybody could have done it, or could they?
Everybody could be a victim, everybody is a victim.
Who's going to be bumped off next?
And you've got Poirot there to solve it, or not to solve it.
'It's not only the intriguing plot, mysterious characters
'and stunning location that has captured the imagination,
'it is also Agatha's devilishly clever finale.'
The end of Murder On The Orient Express leaves Poirot
with a moral dilemma. What is he to do?
Because justice must be done.
Poirot is in real trouble, and it's good to see him squirm.
Ladies and gentlemen...
..I have understood, in this case,
the scales of justice cannot always be evenly weighed.
And I must learn, for once...
..To live with the imbalance.
I think it genuinely does have the most ingenious
solution to a mystery in the whole of detective fiction.
I've never come across a cleverer solution.
'Today, anyone travelling on the Orient Express
'is transported back to the romance and intrigue
'of Agatha's iconic story.
'It seems author and train will be forever linked.'
If I said to anybody, 'What's the most romantic train in the world?'
They would say, 'The Orient Express.'
Everybody knows the Orient Express.
Pleasingly, I haven't been on a train journey
where a murder has occurred. That's a nice thing.
But I have, been, indeed, on this train.
There is a sense of excitement, event about it.
By the 1930s, Agatha Christie was on her way
to being a national treasure.
Her ingenious plots had secured her place
as the most popular crime writer in the country.
But she was forever curious about worlds beyond our shores.
When the Middle East beckoned,
she would discover one of her most celebrated mysteries ever.
'Agatha Christie had a lifelong passion for archaeology.
'Historian Bettany Hughes, has come to the British Museum to explore
'the role the past played in her writing.'
I think archaeology really appeals to Agatha for two reasons.
First, because she is actually very precise,
and she likes to arrange evidence in a particular way.
But she is also a storyteller and someone who loves solving mysteries,
so the fact that archaeology is a science where you have to find
the answers by jigsaw puzzling together the clues,
I'm sure would have appealed to her.
I think she was really a frustrated archaeologist
through most of her life.
'In 1930, aged nearly 40,
'Agatha travelled to Iraq to attend an excavation.'
How brilliant that someone who liked to dig around in people's lives
and their behaviours went to dig around in people's past lives
and their past behaviours.
'It's here that she met archaeologist, Max Mallowan.
'Within six months of meeting, they were married.'
So, these are ivories that were found by Max Mallowan in Iraq.
We know that she adored helping Max find and restore them.
So, she worked kind of as an archaeologist by day,
and then by night, she would sit and write her books.
'Before long, The desert lands of the Middle East
'became the settings for Agatha's stories.
'Murder In Mesopotamia
'brought Poirot to an archaeological dig in Iraq.'
You'd have been a good archaeologist, Mr Poirot.
You have the gift...
..Of recreating the past.
He actually describes his work as being like archaeology.
Burrowing around, trying to find the truth and trying to find clues
and piece them together.
Agatha herself talks about putting aside debris
to find the shining truth.
That is what both authors and archaeologists do.
Facts, Hastings. Facts.
Those are the cobbles that make up the road along which we travel.
'It wasn't all work for Agatha and Max when they travelled.
'During a holiday to Egypt, they boarded a steamboat
'and travelled down the Nile.'
I have done a trip down the Nile on a boat.
I have done one of those trips.
And it is one of the most interesting,
romantic things you can do.
I've been on that boat down the Nile.
I've done it, and it's exhilarating. You know?
You're down the Nile, you pass the Valley Of The Kings,
you get a shiver over you.
'Agatha's slow boat through Egypt became the inspiration
'for one of her most enduring mysteries.
Death on the Nile.'
There's something about this place. Don't you think?
Something unsettling one can't quite resist. Oui.
For Agatha Christie and her husband, Max, to go down the Nile...
..Must have been absolutely fascinating.
She will have looked at those characters,
like on The Orient Express, who were on that boat and thought,
'Oh, my goodness. There's a murder mystery here.'
You refuse to help, Monsieur Poirot, and look what happens.
But this is not of my making, Madame.
But how could she have known that we would be on the boat?
But if you are suggesting...
I'm suggesting nothing, Monsieur, but I will tell you this.
Everybody hates me. OK? I'm surrounded by enemies.
The reason Agatha Christie is such a genius
is she gets the three essentials right.
Plot, character, location.
She's clear about all of them. And the locations are wonderful.
'Death On The Nile and Murder On The Orient Express
'secured Agatha Christie's reputation as a writer
'who could take Poirot and fans
'on captivating journeys into unknown lands.'
'But which was her favourite Poirot story?'
A lady wouldn't say easily. Oh, I should think...
..I think it's very good for fans...
Perhaps the Murder On The Orient Express.
'As Agatha's success reached new heights,
'she turned more and more to the familiar settings of Devon and home,
'where both she and Poirot would uncover
'some of the most shocking murders of their careers.'
QUIETLY: Is that what you have feared has happened, Madame?
Le mort?
Well, you don't mean... You don't mean... Oh, Marlene.
Agatha Christie found inspiration wherever she went,
be it on a train journey through Europe or a holiday on the Nile.
But nothing provided more material
for her extraordinary imagination than the familiar places of home.
It was here, in Britain, that she was able to bring Poirot
directly into her life.
'In 1938, Agatha Christie bought Greenway.
'A gorgeous house on the banks of the River Dart In Devon.'
She had the money to look for a house, and famously,
she came down here one day and virtually bought it on sight.
It is the most amazing place.
It is also an incredibly private place.
And it was her happy place for a very long time.
A great, Georgian house, about 1780 or 90.
Woods sweeping down to the Dart below. The perfect house.
My wonderful and most beautiful possession.
'Agatha's great-grandson, James Pritchard,
'remembers Agatha and husband Max spending cherished time with family
and close friends at Greenway.'
They used to come down here during the holidays in the summer,
and they would entertain quite widely.
There's a tennis court, a putting green on the top,
and probably boating on the river, and a lot of eating and drinking.
It was a big part of my childhood.
We used to come down here for weeks at a time in the summer.
I mean, in some ways, we kind of never left,
because there was so much to do.
'Agatha took Poirot along with her to Greenway,
'setting some of his most memorable adventures
'in the grounds of her idyllic home.
'And the book which was most clearly influenced by it
'was Dead Man's Folly.'
I have been admiring the house. I thank you.
It was built by my husband's great-grandfather.
'When the ITV Poirot series came to make the screen version,
the obvious place to film it was here.'
To have Agatha Christie's home, Greenway,
featuring in an episode of Poirot was the ultimate coming together
of the creator and the creation.
'Not only did Agatha bring Poirot into her real life,
'but she also found a way of putting herself directly into his stories
'when she created the character of crime writer, Ariadne Oliver.'
ARIADNE: 'Come at once. Nasse House, Devon. Need help. Urgent.
'Ariadne Oliver.'
As far as I can tell...
..She sort of wrote Ariadne as a sendup of herself.
This is also a wonderful antithesis to Poirot,
that he's so anal and she's not.
Hello, Poirot.
What is wrong, Madame? Nothing's wrong.
I just wanted to see if someone would come.
Ariadne is very messy.
She's always sitting there, crunching apples
and having feminine intuition.
She's a very funny character.
That toing and froing between them was just such fun.
She was so rude to him, which was great.
POIROT WINCES
What's the matter? SIGHS
It is my feet. They cause me the pain.
It's those silly patent leather shoes of yours.
Ludicrous for the country.
It's the yin and the yang together, and that's why they get on.
That's why they tolerate each other.
Now, why don't you get yourself a nice pair of those buckskin ones
with the rubber soles?
Madame, cher Madame, I do not know that I agree with you.
Her sparring with Poirot always makes me think that actually,
it's Agatha Christie talking to her main character
and it's a dialogue between the two of them.
'At the outbreak of World War Two,
Agatha was forced to give up Greenway to the US Admiralty.
While husband, Max, joined the war effort in Africa,
Agatha moved out of the countryside and into London,
where new fashions and new styles
had transformed the face of the capital.'
'She lived in this cutting-edge building in the north of the city,
'known as the Isokon.'
'Cultural historian, Gus Caseley-Hayford,
'has come to take a look around.'
Agatha grows up in gorgeous country houses.
Traditional sort of architecture. But this? This was a departure.
This was her stepping into another world.
'One of the flats in the Isokon has been restored
'to the style and layout that Agatha would have known.'
Just look at this. Isn't it...
..Exquisite?
And for a writer and someone like Agatha, somewhere like this,
quiet...
..Contemplative, beautiful,
it would be the perfect place to retreat in the centre of London.
'Britain in the 1930s had undergone a style revolution,
'and Art Deco was all the rage.'
It's a gorgeous period of architecture and design.
It's cool, it's sleek.
Beautiful buildings with elegant silhouettes.
It's a style that absolutely, we would associate with luxury.
With sophistication.
'In Agatha's stories, Poirot's London flat, Whitehaven Mansions,
'perfectly embodies the Art Deco style.'
There's a quality, there's a style about Art Deco,
that runs through all of Agatha Christie's adaptations.
And that's one of the things I really do love about that look,
that style of that design.
It catches that era, the 20s and 30s.
I just think it's absolutely stunning.
'Florin Court, an iconic 1930s building in central London,
'doubled up as Whitehaven Mansions
'when the stories were brought to television.'
Interestingly, we went to quite a lot of Art Deco houses,
usually in and around London...
..Where the owners who were passionate about Art Deco
had them perfectly preserved in the period.
It was a joy to be in those places.
What Agatha Christie allowed to flourish in her pieces was style.
We were constantly reminded of the time and the era
that she was writing about, because of the visuals, what we saw.
Art Deco was everywhere.
Because of television design and the beauty of some of those costumes
and set designs, I think he'll always inhabit that period for us.
I think that speaks to Poirot and his character.
We naturally feel like he would have inhabited
a kind of Art Deco environment.
And those clean lines, these gorgeous shapes. That clarity.
That represented who Hercule Poirot was and his way of thinking.
There is, with Poirot, precision that makes him
look almost like an Art Deco work of art.
What do you make of that?
I do not know what to make of it, Madame.
Not symmetrical enough for you?
'This new style was not only confined to the capital.
'In Devon, Agatha's home county,
'Burgh Island Hotel is a beacon of this new aesthetic.'
It is very, very beautiful island, and a beautiful Art Deco hotel,
all in its original form.
It's an iconic Devon landmark. Famously, it's cut off by the tide.
It's actually completely isolated.
And that, I think, just has a certain mystique about it.
'Agatha Christie was a regular visitor to Burgh Island
'in the 1930s. Current owner, Giles Fuchs,
'has restored the glamour and opulence
'that she would have been familiar with.'
Burgh Island Hotel is famous for being Art Deco,
and has now one of the largest collections
of Art Deco furniture in the country.
Agatha Christie would have recognised this room.
She would have walked in and seen the magnificent Peacock Dome,
which is the centrepiece of the Palm Court.
'For Agatha, the island was more than just a luxurious indulgence.
'It was also a writing retreat.'
This is the beach house,
where Agatha Christie wrote some of her novels.
The island changes, as we know, from the summer and the Riviera feel,
to the winter and the ominous, sinister feel that it has.
I imagine her imagination would run wild
with the views that she was looking at.
I like to imagine her sitting, looking out of the window
and just letting it all come to her. As the tide came in,
the story came in.
I can see her thinking...
..'Page one.'
'It was here that Agatha wrote Evil Under The Sun.
'A murder mystery set on an island, cut off from the mainland.
'And when it came to adapting the book for the ITV series,
'there was no better location.
Burgh Island is one of the most extraordinary, romantic,
amazing places to set a detective story.
This is the hotel. It is on an island.
Oh, don't worry, Poirot, you won't have to go on a boat.
There's that to carry you over the causeway.
All aboard, please, we leave in a minute.
You have these different people coming from different places
with different motivations and different secrets,
and they all come together.
Hercule Poirot.
This is my associate, Captain Hastings. How do you do?
Hercule Poirot, the famous detective.
Ah, that'll certainly liven things up.
When I first read the book, I knew where Poirot was sitting,
looking at the swimmers in the pool, in the mermaid pool.
And where the coves were, of course, where the murder took place.
She's very good at maximising all the features
of whatever setting she has chosen.
It's the fact that there are caves
where people can hide near the beach.
She just uses all the assets of the island and beach-side setting.
And you've got built in, this idea that at certain times of the day,
a lock is closed and the island becomes almost a prison.
You can't get off it, because the tide has come up.
That is wonderful for a murder mystery story.
But surely, no one could think of murder in such a beautiful place?
No, no, no, Hastings.
It is romantic, yes?
It is peaceful.
The sun shines, the sea, it is blue.
But you forget, mon ami, there is evil everywhere under the sun.
Throughout her career, Agatha Christie had taken the people
and places of her life and recreated them on the page.
But as the 1950s got underway, new forms of storytelling arose,
and Agatha would soon see Poirot go from script to screen.
Agatha Christie was a voracious reader with a deep love
for the written word.
When her Poirot stories were first taken from a page
and adapted into movies, she wasn't too impressed.
But her fans thought differently.
Because Poirot, with his dashing moustache and crisp suits,
worked like a dream on the silver screen.
'Over the years, a number of leading actors have interpreted
'the iconic detective for the stage and screen.'
It's always nice to see Agatha come to life in a different way,
in a different director, in a different script, different actors.
For me, Poirot is iconic. He's one of the most iconic detectives.
I think when you hear the name and you see his look,
it's established all over the world. We recognise him for that.
'Screen depictions of the Belgian detective go back nearly a century.
'Stephen Fry is going to take a look through the archives
with film historian, Mark Aldridge.'
I'm looking forward to lots of different cuts of moustache.
'And some of them took surprising liberties
'with Agatha's iconic character,
'like this 1934 version of Lord Edgware Dies.
Regarding that letter Lady Edgware never received,
there are four solutions to their problem.
The first, that it was lost in the post.
The second, that Lady Edgware was lying
when she said she never received it.
CHUCKLING
Wow. Well, a naked, a bald upper lip, which is a huge shock.
Clearly, you can imagine Agatha Christie,
who wasn't always very pleased with adaptations of her work,
would have found that rather surprising.
'In 1974 came the first truly great
cinematic adaptation of a Poirot story,
with Albert Finney playing the lead role
in Murder On The Orient Express.'
Oh, I love this scene.
Observe, memorise your mind with what it says.
A-I-S-Y A-R-M-S. What does that mean?
WHISPERS: Daisy Armstrong!
It means... We know the true identity of Mr Ratchett.
It's a masterpiece. It's a very great film.
It has a huge cast of massive stars,
and Albert Finney is a magnificent Poirot. His fury, his passion!
It's just wonderful to behold.
'Four years later,
Poirot would be played by Peter Ustinov in Death On The Nile.'
Do forgive me for butting in,
but I've had a bet with my daughter here that you're Hercules Porridge,
the famous French sleuth. Not quite.
I'm Hercule Poirot, the famous Belgian sleuth.
I told you, Rosalie.
There's only one Monsieur Poirot in the world. He's unmistakable.
Everybody has got their specific Poirot that they love.
But Peter Ustinov, to me, he will always be my one,
cos he sort of like a grandfather figure.
He's just, like, this lovely, fat man.
He's kind, and he's wise and he's knowing.
I'm very sorry to see you here, Madamoiselle.
Forgive me for saying,
but you are embarking on a hazardous journey in troubled waters.
To face who knows what currents of misfortune.
So, for some people involved in this film,
when they saw Peter Ustinov,
the reaction was that didn't seem to be Poirot,
to which Ustinov replied, 'Well, it is now.'
LAUGHS I don't think that, er...
..Agatha Christie really had a very detailed view of Poirot,
except that he was bald, which of course, I am, too, and small,
which goes without saying.
People always talk about whether X version of Poirot is right,
or Y is right, and my answer to that is that there isn't a right,
because she never drew him.
'Peter Ustinov would prove a popular Poirot with cinema audiences,
'taking up the role again for Evil Under The Sun in 1982.'
'Nearly 40 years later, Sir Kenneth Branagh has played Poirot
'on remakes of Murder On The Orient Express and Death On The Nile.'
I can only see the world as it should be.
And when it is not,
the imperfection stands out like the nose in the middle of a face.
'Agatha's Great-grandson, James Prichard,
was involved in bringing this latest adaptation to life.'
I remember when I first talked to Ken Branagh about playing Poirot,
and he very firmly said,
'I think there are certainly two things that Poirot has.
He has the moustache and he has the Belgian accent.'
Poirot hides behind this moustache.
He provokes with this moustache,
he is dismissed because of this moustache.
And he, as a result of being dismissed in this way,
puts people off their guard
and he has a chance to be a better detective.
When we started talking about putting together
the cast for Murder On The Orient Express, again,
you are kind of like the kid in the sweetie shop,
with all these amazing actors coming in.
You had your Judi Denches, you obviously had Ken,
and then you had Daisy Ridley.
'And the most recent Agatha Christie adaptation
is just as thrilling as those that have gone before it.'
I have investigated many crimes. But this...
..Has altered the shape of my soul.
'Outside of the cinema, Poirot's also a familiar face on TV.
'But few people know that the Belgian detective
'made his TV debut in an American one-off pilot,
seen here for the first time in almost 60 years.'
Today, however, Mrs Davenheim called in Hercule Poirot,
the internationally famous private investigator.
'Poirot didn't make it to a full series in America.
'But in Britain, he certainly did,
'when David Suchet became the only actor to portray Poirot
'in every story written by Agatha Christie
'in the long-running TV series.
PHONE RINGS
Hercule Poirot.
Hercule Poirot is, for me, much more than the character
on the written page. Hercule Poirot, for me, almost is a real person.
The first time I saw him on the set,
I really was quite surprised at the transformation.
Because, as is well known, David plays the character,
or maintains the character, even when the camera isn't turning.
AS POIROT: Make sure this does not droop a little bit.
Yes. Yes, that is better.
My Poirot is David Suchet, because he was so beautiful and elegant,
and fey, and just wonderful.
And I got to do a story of Agatha Christie's with him,
which was glorious.
Also, your skill. It gave you away.
Such artistry, lavished upon an object of such hate?
No, I did hate her.
My God, I let off a lot of steam stabbing that thing,
I can tell you, thinking of her.
When I was adapting the series, his pomposity, his self value,
his opinion of himself was always done with tongue in cheek.
And again, David Suchet did it so brilliantly.
That sense of, 'I am the best detective in the world.'
The murder that took place here
was the work of the mind that was brilliant.
But there was one thing that the killer did not expect...
..The mind of Hercule Poirot.
After it started going out, it gained a very large audience.
We were well aware of that.
What we weren't aware of was the longevity of it.
The fact that it's playing all over the world,
as we speak.
'As new forms of media have arisen,
'Poirot has been made accessible to each new generation.
'Star of graphic novels, a computer game...
This case is far from being solved.
'..And even a Japanese animation.
'With so many Poirots across the decades, across the globe,
the question remains, what makes Poirot, Poirot?
The physicality. So, everything is very held in.
The way he walks is very small, very little steps.
I think Poirot, for me, is not the moustache. I think it's his size.
Just the weight and the space that he takes up.
It's the monocle and it's the hair, it's the rotundness.
As soon as you see an image of Poirot, you know who that is.
That's a testament to Agatha Christie's characterisation.
The name, the look, the vice. He's all there.
Big Poirots, small Poirots, thin Poirots, fat Poirots.
We've seen them all. But one thing is certain.
He needs a Belgian accent, and a finely groomed moustache.
AS POIROT: Not bad.
And I'm working on the Belgian accent.
By the 1950s, Agatha Christie had achieved more success
than she could ever have dreamt of.
But as she entered her twilight years,
it was the simple pleasures of home she returned to again and again.
Family, friends and food. A lot of food!
'In her Devon home of Greenway, on the banks of the River Dart,
Agatha would regularly host long, indulgent meals.
'It is now owned by the National Trust, and for James Pritchard,
'returning to the old family home evokes fond childhood memories.'
Over there, there is this snake that props open the door,
and I remember that vividly as a child.
I seem to remember being here,
and we definitely had five or six courses in here.
To be honest with you, it feels like I should be sitting down to lunch!
LAUGHS
'James' wish is about to be granted.
'Agatha Christie fan and Michelin starred chef Marcus Wareing
'wants to learn more about the author's love of food,
'so he's invited James and actress, Amanda Abbington,
'to his restaurant in Knightsbridge.'
I find the food element quite fascinating.
It seemed like it does play a massive part in her life.
What sort of food did Agatha like? What was her favourite?
There was quite a lot of rich food,
and there was certainly quite a lot of cream involved, Both on scones.
But she also famously drank cream... LAUGHS
..And she had this enormous mug.
And I'm telling you, it's nearly a litre.
She used to drink cream from it. What?! Yeah.
It's got in gold letters around the side, 'Don't be greedy.'
LAUGHTER It's pretty good.
That's brilliant.
'One Of the biggest events at Greenway
'was Agatha's 80th birthday party.
'And Marcus wants to recreate the main course.'
Well, there is a dish here that I'm intrigued by,
and that is the lobster a la creme.
This is a classic French dish.
But it is incredibly rich and luxurious.
An Agatha had the cream, clearly.
'Marcus has devised his own version of Agatha's birthday dish
with an ocean of cream for the lobster.'
Dig in. What would Poirot think of a dish like this?
I wonder. He'd quite like the symmetry of the split lobster.
I think that would have been all right.
I think he might have found it a bit messy.
It reminded me, he always put the napkin...
LAUGHS
..It was always up there, wasn't it?
Sort of spread out as far as he could get it.
So any splashes, they weren't gonna land on him.
If Hercule Poirot is gonna be at dinner, don't go!
Do not go there.
Chances are, he'd be so irritating to sit next to anyway, wouldn't he?
Dabbing his mouth, checking the size of his eggs.
Seeing if the carrots are the same length.
'Food in Agatha Christie's stories could be deadly
'as well as delicious.'
Ooh!
Ow.
Madame, you will forgive me, but I do not think that tonight,
I will require the dinner.
It would be quite scary to actually sit down and eat a meal
with any of Agatha Christie's characters,
whether you're the murderer or not.
'Marcus Wareing wants to explore this darker side
to Agatha's culinary world.'
So, in this particular book, A Murder Is Announced,
there is a description of a chocolate cake
called delicious death cake.
It's basically described as, 'Rich, rich, and probably even more rich.'
'And it probably will kill you.'
'Marcus has created his own interpretation
'of Agatha's death cake,
'with an appropriately fatal quantity of chocolate.'
That's gorgeous. Loosen your belts!
LAUGHTER It's gonna get messy...
LAUGHTER ..From here on in.
Oh, that's incredible! That is so good!
That is like the most chocolate I have ever had, all at once,
at the same time!
Agatha Christie, the Queen of crime and the Queen of puddings.
'Food, for Agatha Christie, was a way connecting with family.'
ALL: Cheers. To Agatha.
'In the final years of Agatha Christie's life,
'much of her time spent at her Devon home, Greenway,
'with her husband, her daughter and grandson.
'She continued to produce Poirot stories in her final decade.
'But in 1975, she said goodbye to him when his swansong, Curtain,
'was published.
'It would go on to be the final episode of the ITV series,
'starring David Suchet.'
Hastings?
It was very moving to be doing the last one after,
I think it was 25 years.
POIROT BREATHES HEAVILY
Poirot? You're looking pretty awful.
Don't you think I should call a doctor?
What good would that do?
What will be, will be.
There was a very marked change in atmosphere on the set
during that one, particularly towards the end,
where he was doing the scenes where he's bedridden.
It's devastating for Hastings, but it's devastating for us,
because we were all saying goodbye
to somebody that we've known and loved.
My heart bleeds for you.
My poor, lonely Hastings.
Poirot. Go now, cher ami.
Let me rest.
BREATHES HEAVILY
'In an extraordinary real-life epilogue,
'Poirot received an obituary in the New York Times.
'He is the only fictional character
'to have been given this incredible accolade.'
Mr Poirot achieved fame as a private investigator
after he retired as a member of the Belgian police force in 1904.
His career, as chronicled in the novels of Dame Agatha Christie,
was one of the most illustrious in fiction.
At the end of his life, he was arthritic and had a bad heart.
He was in a wheelchair often and was carried from his bedroom
to the public lounge at Styles Court,
a Nursing Home in Essex, wearing a wig and false moustaches
to mask the signs of age that offended his vanity.
We wanted to believe he was real.
We thought we knew him. We do know him.
And the joy is, we can we can go on knowing him forever.
'In 1976, one year after Poirot's final story was published,
'Agatha Christie passed away.'
I think we should remember Agatha Christie as a genius.
As a unique figure in popular culture and literature.
I don't think we'll ever tire of meeting... Her characters.
And therefore, spending time with Agatha Christie
will always be a pleasure.
My children will be reading them, their children will be reading them.
She's going to go on and on.
I don't think she will ever be surpassed
as the world's greatest novelist.
Agatha Christie achieved a level of success
that possibly no other writer has ever known.
And she couldn't have done it without the most enduring creation,
Hercule Poirot.
For 100 years, through twisting tales of murder and intrigue,
they've been thrilling readers and audiences across the globe.
With Agatha Christie, you never know the ending.
So, where does this story end? Well, that's the twist. There is no end.
Because I think the mysterious case of Agatha Christie and Poirot
will remain open for many, many generations to come.
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