For Christmas (2013) my wife bought me David Suchet's recently published account, "Poirot and Me", which I had eagerly devoured in those 'lovely lazy days' between Christmas and New Year.
It occurred to me that I could add another dimension to this blog by re-reading the parallel section of the actor's book, at the end of each series.
It takes David Suchet four (out of a total of 19) chapters to bring us to the point where he had just completed the filming of series one, with a short fifth chapter then commenting on its reception when it began to air.
This is understandable: He was not, after all, writing an episode-by-episode review, but an autobiographical reminisence of his incredible 25 years playing Poirot. How it all began is clearly of major significance.
So, after a moving Preface (on filming Curtain) we are given insight, in the opening chapters, into how he came to be offered the role, and how his 'character actor' background led him to gradually, methodically, take on the mantle of the fastidious Belgian detective. This included writing a lengthy list of Poirot's characteristics, drawn from his reading of the original novels and short stories. A facsimile of his original list is published at the end of the book.
The first series was filmed between July and December 1988 - at an exhausting pace. There was considerable uncertainty as to how it would be received. In the end, media and audience reaction was overwhelmingly good - and towards the end of February 1989 (while the first series was still on air) ITV confirmed they wanted to go ahead and make a second series.
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