David Suchet Bows Out of Poirot’s Bowler

Agatha Christie first introduced her famous detective Hercule Poirot in 1920, in a novel called The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which she began writing during World War I. An eccentric dandy, Poirot is a Belgian refugee of the war who sets up a detective practice in London. He’s vain and theatrical, but brilliantly intuitive, using what he calls his “little grey cells” to solve crimes. His cases often take place in upper-class homes, fashionable resorts, or exotic locales. Christie had discovered a recipe for success: Poirot remained one of the most popular characters in mystery fiction for over fifty years.

In film and television adaptations, Poirot has been played by actors such as Albert Finney, Ian Holm, Alfred Molina, and Peter Ustinov. But when David Suchet, a former Royal Shakespeare Company member, donned the detective’s signature mustache and bowler hat, it proved to be the role of a lifetime. “When I started reading the novels and the short stories, I started meeting a character that I had not seen portrayed” in other adaptations, Suchet says. His 25-year run as TV’s Poirot ended this summer.

Otto Penzler, an authority on detective fiction, says that it was common for authors to try to differentiate their characters with odd quirks, and Poirot had many: dandified clothes, an obsession with order and method. But for all his emphasis on detail, Poirot essentially solved mysteries by feel — in contrast with that other long-lived fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyle drew on all the science of his time in shaping Holmes’ forensic approach to crime. So while Holmes was a Victorian, he has been easy to update: in two current television series, Sherlockand Elementary, he’s at ease with smart phones, automatic weapons, and spyware. But Poirot, says Penzler, is inextricably linked to his peculiar, old-fashioned habits. He can’t be updated, “because he was never of his time.”

As Suchet’s series, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, began to feature the longer stories and novels, the character deepened, grappling with more complex issues of responsibility and justice. And now, against all odds, Poirot — with his spats, his walking stick, and his comic-opera accent — has survived into the age of binge viewing. All 70 episodes of the series are now available for streaming. He may never be revived; but it would certainly be interesting to see someone try.