The ABC Murders

Brue

I think the way it has been produced does justify the series. We are so used to seeing Hercule Poirot portrayed as a slightly comical character. This is a more gritty portrayal. Mind you I wasn't so sure after the first episode but I thought it got a bit more interesting last night. I will wait and see how we end up after the final episode.

David

PS I am pretty sure the place they identify as Andover is not Andover, it looks a bit like Hebden Bridge!!! Can anyone help me with that?

I've got friends in Andover, I didn't recognise it either, especially the surrounding hills. 

My father lived in Andover. It's not Andover. Leaving aside the geography, the pace suggests to me that it could easily be done in two one hour episodes rather than dragging it out for effect.

we think it is Saltaire village just outside Bradford also Bexhill rail station is very much like the entrance to the SPA hotel in Ripon

Ah, the internet is a wonderful thing, just looked up the locations and it's very much a Yorkshire based production. I expect Agatha Christie knew the original places, especially Churston so it's a big diversion from the original. 

Some of the railway scenes are filmed at Pickering station - I think it supposed to be Doncaster 🤔

Forgetting (the excellent) Suchet, Christie did portray Poirot from a slightly amused stance.  He was never 'gritty'. Neither was he a dark soul.

Japp did not die at the beginning of the novel and there was no hint that his judgment and reputation  had been called into question because of his association with HP.

Watched episode one and decided to watch no more.

A pal, fellow crime fiction and Christie aficionado, emailed today and we are in accord, despite the TV critic in our preferred newspaper - The Guardian - "telling" us we should admire it!

This is an appropriation, and not a dramatisation of the novel (or even an adaptation).

Well I stuck with it and I liked the usual final twist. 

Is that the twist in the novel I wonder? I may watch the ending on catch-up out of curiosity.

I must say that,in the end, I rather liked the series. A different way of portraying the story. There would have been no point in just making a copy of the David Suchet, or even Peter Ustinov style of Poirot. it had to be different otherwise they may have just just as well shown the previous series. I will try and get my free copy of the Guardian when in Waitrose tomorrow to see if they have further comment. 

David