The ABC Murders

[Carlyrichards]

Anyone watching? I like Rupert Grint in this.

Exactly rustybear. Agatha Christie wasn't called the Queen of crime for nothing. Now when they did 'And then there were none' that was pretty faithful to the book, but otherwise ...NO.

Awful. I like Malkovich's Poirot but what is the point of changing everything Mrs Marbury didn't pimp Lily out. The anti - Jewish /anti-foreigner thing isn't in the book. Japp doesn't die. Poirot wasn't known to the owners of the Ginger Cat nor the people at Churston.

he sounds like the mispronouncing French policeman off Allo Allo

I thought that too, but DS noticed the odd twang of Schwarzenegger as the programme wore on.

I thought it was bloody awful, BTW. Dark, depressing and, frankly, rather dull.

What's the Jewish angle? I didn't see that.

Watched it thinking it would be as good as And Then There Were None...I doubt we'll be settling in for part two tomorrow!

What's the Jewish angle?

The symbol on the lapel pin of the train guard who deliberately drops Poirot's ticket and doesn't pick it up and on the posters for some sort of anti- foreigner rally. The symbol is similar to the SS lightening bolt.

SS lightning bolt (fgs)

Malkovich isn’t good - very ‘allo ‘allo (Hercule you’re not my sister are you )
I usually love these but a bit underwhelmed .

My current claim to fame is I’ve been to parties at one of the filming locations for this!

After the Ordeal by Innocence fiasco I decided not to watch this. Glad I didn't going by the comments. All her books are finely crafted masterpieces and there is no point in changing anything.

What a load of claptrap. If you’re going to drastically alter the plot, the characters , the context , and the atmosphere , don’t then try and claim this is a Christie just to get a bloody audience . Just call it something else instead . There’s always room for another tortured detective .

@rustbear I also agree with you. And they should also call it something else if they’re going to faff around with the plot/characters. Last year’s was also particularly bad. And what is it with all the booming?

Yes, I got the fascist bit, I just thought I'd missed something specifically anti Semitic.

@plominoagain - snap!

I liked it. Good acting, full of suspense. Looking forward to the next episode

I'm annoyed at what they did to Mrs Marbury and Lily. It doesn't seem fair to make Mrs Marbury so horrible and turn Lily into a prostitute.

I don’t think I’m going to bother catching up. The same writer also messed up The Casual Vacancy, Ordeal by Innocence and Witness for the Prosecution.

If you’re going to drastically alter the plot, the characters , the context , and the atmosphere , don’t then try and claim this is a Christie just to get a bloody audience . Just call it something else instead .

Yes, quite! Now take someone like Posy Simmonds writing Tamara Drew - very loosely based on Far from the Madding Crowd i.e. the same basic plot, but brought up to date with modern characters and settings, so it works as an original story. Admittedly, this is a completely different genre, but there is no reason why this couldn't be done with detective fiction.

I thought the ABC murders one of Christie's best, but not this adaptation.

I enjoyed it, but I haven't seen the Suchet version or read the book, so I am genuinely caught up in the mystery.

I agree with a pp that some of the language was jarring as it was so obviously out of period.

My jury is still out on Malkovitch as Poirot. The accent is very odd. He's not at all the physical type for Poirot as described by Christie. Leaving aside the accent, however, I think his acting and characterisation are good - he's playing Poirot sympathetically yet enigmatically. I'll definitely be watching again tonight.

absolute rubbish.

so , so disappointed with this.
Mucked about with the plot, Japp dead ??? and what everyone said ^^.
I was actually looking forward to this, hoping for some new angles even though I am a big fan of the David Suchet ones. ( In fact I am re-watching them on itv3 - and guess what- it The ABC murders was on in the afternoon ). Such a shame , not sure I will watch the next 2

@KenDoddsDadsDog

So unbelievably glad I didn't watch this last night after these reviews- the snippets I've seen were enough.

I was brought up on Agatha Christie, my uncle used to read them to me when I was wee and I have read and reread them numerous times.

The ABC murders is one of my favourites and ,quite frankly, with Agatha Christie books if it isn't broke, don't try and fix it!

It was OK but I get fed up with the BBC shoehorning in references to modern attitudes re immigration or other PC shit, just to make sure we all know how to think

Davros I agree. It does seem shoe horned. The PM at the time was Ramsay MacDonald!