The Daily Star - Stay Tuned
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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, July 1, 2011 2 coverstory Suchet wraps another season as Belgian sleuth Adieu, Poirot By Kyla Brewer TV Media T here’s nothing like a good mystery. Twists and turns keep viewers en- thralled while a sharp-witted sleuth guides the audience to an unexpected outcome. Through the years, PBS’s “Masterpiece” has tackled such mystery-novel icons as Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple, but few characters have proven as intriguing to viewers as Hercule Poirot. Actor David Suchet once again takes up the mantle of Agatha Christie’s famous Bel- gian detective in “Master- piece Mystery! Poirot: Hal- loween Party,” airing Sunday, July 3, on PBS. After a suspi- cious drowning at a Hallow- een party, Hercule Poirot joins forces with Ariadne Oliver (Zoe Wanamaker) to investi- gate. As they dig into the case, they unearth evidence of sev- eral more mysterious deaths in the village. The Halloween program rounds out this season’s “Masterpiece Mystery” run with the classic character, which included three new takes on Christie’s stories. In “Three Act Tragedy,” Poirot became suspicious when more than one fellow cock- tail-party guest died as a re- sult of choking. “The Clocks” followed the quirky detective in a daunting investigation with political implications. One of the true idols of the mystery genre, the fictional French-speaking Belgian de- tective has been solving mys- teries since the 1920s. Al- though he relied on clear-cut clues in his early work, Poirot evolved into a detective who analyzed the psychology of victims and murderers, a sort of prototype of today’s psy- chological profilers. Countless adaptations of Christie’s work have featured Poirot, and his stories prove to be popular time and time again. The funny thing is, Christie claimed not to like the character much herself. Still, he was born of the writ- er’s imagination in her very first novel, “The Mysterious Affair at Styles,” penned in 1916, but not published until 1920. He went on to star in 33 of Christie’s novels and more than 50 stories, even though she claimed she had tired of Poirot by 1930. In the early 1940s, she wrote of the de- tective’s ultimate demise in the novel “Curtain.” Wisely, the so-called “Queen of Crime” recognized that it wouldn’t be prudent to kill him off at the height of his popularity, so she held off publication of “Curtain.” What she likely didn’t count on was the kind of longevity the character would experi- David Suchet wraps up another season as Hercule Poirot this week ence. She finally decided to publish “Curtain” in 1975, the year before she died. Believe it or not, Poirot’s “death” struck such a cord with the public that he was given an obituary in the New York Times, the first fictional character to be given one. In fact, his passing made front- page news. There is no question that, despite Christie’s reported loathing of him, Poirot has been a beloved figure for many. Actors with the skills to portray such an iconic sleuth can be as elusive as the sto- ries’ prime suspects. Portrayal of those roles is a task re- served for only truly capable performers, and PBS has found one in Suchet. Several actors have taken on the role throughout the years, including Albert Finney, Sir Peter Ustinov and Tony Randall. Finney, who played Poirot in the 1974 big screen adaptation “Murder on the Orient Express” even received an Academy Award nomina- A/Auto Boutique B/The Green Giraffe 2 x 2 tion for his work. Interesting- ly, Suchet played Poirot’s col- league Inspector Japp in 1985’s “Thirteen at Dinner” a made-for-television movie starring Peter Ustinov as the Belgian detective. However, today’s Poirot is undoubtedly Suchet’s Poirot. The English actor has been seen in the role since he was first cast in ITV’s television se- ries “Agatha Christie’s Poirot” in 1989. Unlike many previ- ous portrayals, which are of- ten dismissed by true Christie fans as silly or comedic, Suchet’s Poirot has been praised for its accuracy and faithfulness to Christie’s sto- ries. It’s no wonder. The per- former reportedly prepared for the role first by reading every Christie work featuring the sleuth. In interviews he has explained how he com- piled a list of all of the charac- ter’s quirks and tried to incor- porate each one in a way that seemed realistic, not humor- ous as others had done. Suchet’s hard work paid off when he was nominated for a 1991 British Academy of Film and Television Award for his Poirot portrayal. The BAFTA nod is not Suchet’s only accolade. He also earned a 1994 Variety Club Award thanks to his stage role in David Mamet’s “Oleanna.” Another Variety Club Award followed in 2000, along with a Tony nomina- tion, for his turn as Antonio Salieri in “Amadeus.” Chirstopher’s Coins 2 x 2 hollywoodQ&A By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: Do you have any background info about a kids’ show on PBS in the early ‘80s titled “Strawberry Square”? A: I do now, but it took a bit of digging. There’s almost no reference to the show anywhere any- more, other than a lot of people online asking if anyone else remembers it, so I had to go straight to the source. Chet Kincaid is a senior producer with Nebraska Educa- tional Telecommunications, Nebraska’s PBS station, based out of Lincoln. However, 30 years ago she was “a lowly pro- duction assistant” on “Strawberry Square.” “It was like ‘Sesame Street,’ only about music,” she ex- plains of the series. The titular square featured a music shop, a pet shop, and a bunch of buoyant, inquisitive kids and other residents. The show was aimed at kids in kindergarten and Grade 1, quite specifically. It was actually produced by the Nebraska Department of Education for use in classrooms. It’s still used there today, she says, but you won’t find it on TV. “We were airing it because that was the easiest way,” Kincaid said, though now the show is available for free on iTunes. A hand- ful of episodes are also available in full on YouTube. A little more than 60 episodes were produced in total, air- ing at first from 1980 to 1983. A/Crazy Tom's B/Allstar Auto Wash 2 x 3 Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. P name and town. ersonal replies will not be provided. Please include your