Hercule Poirot in Mrs McGinty's Dead

I will not beat about the shrubbery. This is one of the best David Suchet Poirots.

The screenwriter is Nick Dear, who has also penned the scripts for Cards on The Table and The Hollow. It's a pity the producers did not discover him sooner.

Mrs McGinty, a charwoman, has been murdered and Bentley, her lodger. has been convicted of the crime and has been sentenced to hang. Superintendent Spence is not convinced of the Bentley's guilt, and ask Poirot to find the real murderer.

Zoë Wanamaker and Siân Phillips have starring roles but the acting throughout is excellent. Poirot lodges at the mansion of Maureen and Major Johnnie Summerhayes in the village - where he finds geese in the kitchen, beans being prepared in the sitting room and filthy threadbare rooms. Despite all this Poirot manages to save Bentley from the gallows. Highly recommended.

David Suchet - Hercule Poirot
David Yelland - George
Zoë Wanamaker - Ariadne Oliver
Richard Hope - Superintendent Harold Spence
Lexie Lambert - Eva Kane
Richard Lintern - Guy Carpenter
Siân Phillips - Laura Upward
Paul Rhys - Robin Upward
Amanda Root - Shelagh Rendell
Simon Shepherd - Dr Rendell
Sarah Smart - Maude Williams
Mary Stockley - Eve Carpenter
Ruth Gemmell - Mrs Sweetiman
Richard Dillane - Major John Summerhayes
Raquel Cassidy - Maureen Summerhayes
Billy Geraghty - Joe Burch
Catherine Russell - Pamela Horsefall
Joe Absolom - James Bentley
Emma Amos - Bessie Burch
Simon Molloy - Judge