David Suchet returns as Poirot

David Suchet returned as Hercule Poirot with eight new two hour dramas after a break of a few years.

David Suchet began filming Poirot TV films again in June 2003. The first of these was Five Little Pigs followed by Sad Cypress, Death on the Nile and The Hollow.

His agent Gilly Sanguinetti said: "He is thrilled to be back. He loves playing Poirot."

Arts & Entertainment funded the films jointly with ITV and controls the US rights. ITV holds the UK rights.

Five Little Pigs was screened on ITV1 in December 2003, followed by Sad Cypress the following week.

The Mystery of the Blue Train was screened on ITV1 on New Year's Day 2006. The cast included James D'Arcy, Georgina Rylance, Jaime Murray, Lindsay Duncan, Nicholas Farrell, Bronagh Gallagher and Elliott Gould with David Suchet.

The Mystery of the Blue Train is one of the weakest Poirot novels. However, the Guy Andrews screenplay and the high production standards from director Hettie MacDonald created one of the best Poirot films.

David Suchet filmed three other Poirot mysteries in 2005: Taken at the Flood, After the Funeral and Cards on the Table.

The cast for Taken At The Flood includes Elliot Cowan and Jenny Agutter. After The Funeral includes Robert Bathurst, Anna Calder-Marshall and Geraldine James. The cast for Cards on the Table includes Alexander Siddig, Zoë Wanamaker and Honeysuckle Weeks.