13. The Lost Mine

Air date: 21/01/1990
Published: Eighth story in "Poirot's Early Cases" (1974)

This latest episode, in many ways, illustrates elements of what I might call the 'formula of adaptation' in those early days of Poirot one-hour episodes.

The basic story surrounds the proposed sale of a map of a Chinese silver mine to an English company. A Mr Wu-Ling turns up in the UK and books into a hotel prior to a business meeting. He subsequently goes missing and is found dead. Chief suspects are a rather down-and-out character called Dyer and a young bank clerk by the name of Charles Lester, who has a passion for gambling. In the end it turns out to be a Mr Pearson, from the company planning to buy the map.

In the adaptation a number of details and aspects of the plot are changed; more than had become customary, in my view. It is now a bank planning on acquiring the map and Mr Pearson is a director of the bank. Charles Lester, however, is a slightly dodgy American solicitor, whose weakness is opium, not gambling (Pearson is the gambler). Dyer (who is involved with the Chinatown narcotics world) has a much bigger role in the story. In fact, the whole sequence of events is different.

In the original Poirot is telling the story as flashback to Hastings after they begin discussing stocks and shares (Poirot had been given shares in "Burma Mines Ltd" for his part in solving the case). Japp isn't in the original (although he is briefly referred to): now he has a prominent role, using a operations room to dramatically co-ordinate the arrest of Dyer.

So much for the plot (which I didn't think was the most riveting). What do I mean by elements of the 'formula' of adaptation?

First, there is often a thematic link between the crime and Poirot and his 'team'. In this instance, as this is a tale about money and business, Hastings and Poirot are playing Monopoly; Poirot's bank account is overdrawn (it is later discovered that a cheque has not been paid in); and not only Hastings but even Miss Lemon (who is not in the original) are suddenly now followers of stocks and shares.

Also, it was becoming increasingly common for the one-hour episodes to begin and end on the same, slightly tangential piece of humour: in this instance, the Monopoly game. At the beginning Poirot doesn't really see the point of it (presumably because he is not doing too well), but at the end of the episode he wins - much to Hastings' annoyance.