Hercule Poirot in Appointment With Death

ITV1 have finally scheduled Appointment With Death for 9pm on Christmas Day 2009 after keeping this David Suchet Poirot in the storeroom for over a year. It has already been screened by several other TV stations around the world.

The original novel was set in Petra and although several movies have been filmed there, this production was supposedly relocated to Syria but then filmed in Morocco.

The location was not the only thing rearranged for the production. This must have been the most hacked about Poirot for which ITV or WGBH have been responsible. Many viewers will have seen the dreadful 1988 Michael Winner film, the last of the Ustinov Poirots, and so it was probably a good idea to rearrange the fairly simple plot - but there were too many changes and the end result looked like a pastiche.

Cheryl Campbell turned out as a young wife in a 1986 Christie. 22 years later and she is the grotesque matriarch awaiting her inevitable fate - which is soon delivered. We are assured no animals were injured during the production of the film - or in the termination of Cheryl Campbell's character. Thank goodness.

The head of John the Baptist makes an unlikely contribution to the movie as does Lord Boynton who is resurrected and ennobled for the production.

Tim Curry..... Lord Boynton
Jawad Elalami..... Labourer
Christina Cole..... Sarah King
Tom Riley..... Raymond Boynton
Cheryl Campbell..... Lady Boynton
Zoe Boyle..... Jinny Boynton
Emma Cunniffe..... Carol Boynton
Angela Pleasence..... Nanny
Abdelkader Aizoun..... Concierge
Paul Freeman..... Colonel Carbury
Beth Goddard..... Sister Agnieszka
Christian McKay..... Jefferson Cope
Mark Gatiss..... Leonard Boynton
Badri Mansour..... Taxi Driver
John Hannah..... Dr Gerard
Zakaria Atifi..... Mahmoud
Elisabeth McGovern..... Dame Celia Westholme