Reception
Agatha Christie's grandson Mathew has commented: "Personally, I regret very much that she never saw David Suchet. I think that visually he is much the most convincing and perhaps he manages to convey to the viewer just enough of the irritation that we always associate with the perfectionist, to be convincing!"
In 1989, the series was nominated for four BAFTA awards in the category of Best Graphics, Best Design (episodes 1, 2, 5, 8 & 10), Best Costume Design (episodes 2, 4, 7, 8 & 10), and Best Original Television Music, winning all but the nomination for Best Design. It was also nominated for Best Television Drama Series in 1990 and 1991, and Suchet was nominated for Best Actor in 1991. In total between 1989 and 1991, the series received 20 nominations.
In 1992, writers David Renwick and Michael Baker received an Edgar Award in the category "Best Episode in a TV Series" from the Mystery Writers of America for the Second Series episode The Lost Mine, which, like the other Agatha Christie's Poirot episodes, aired in the U.S. as part of the PBS anthology series Mystery!
More recently, the series has been described by some critics as going "off piste", though not negatively, from its old format. It has been praised for its new writers, more lavish productions and a greater emphasis on the darker psychology of the novels. Significantly, it was noted for Five Little Pigs (adapted by Kevin Elyot) bringing out the homosexual subtext of the novel.
Yet the New Year's Day 2006 episode of The Mystery of the Blue Train attracted a high 30 percent audience rating (7.4 million viewers), and the show's enduring popularity was shown once again in August 2008, when a repeat received 3.2 million viewers and a 16 percent of the viewing population. The 2008 series drew a 23.5 percent share of the viewing population, although only reaching 9.8 percent of the viewers between the ages of 16–34. The total figures were up on its previous slot average of 4.5 million viewers.
Read more about this topic: Agatha Christie's Poirot
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“Aesthetic emotion puts man in a state favorable to the reception of erotic emotion.... Art is the accomplice of love. Take love away and there is no longer art.”
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