Saturday 5 October 2013

A very eventful (Poirot) autumn!

(c) ITV
As we await the UK broadcast of the final episodes (and envy those people in Poland who have already seen The Big Four!), there's lots of exciting things happening in a couple of weeks; a preview screening, a book, a UK tour and a soundtrack album! Let's have a look:

29 October 2013: Dead Man's Folly Preview + Q&A
BFI Southbank, 6:20 p.m. Tickets £11. On sale from 8 October.

Yes, you read that correctly. The British Film Institute in London is hosting a preview screening of Dead Man's Folly, in association with BAFTA. I quote from their website:
'Introduced by Mathew Prichard, Agatha Christie’s grandson and Chairman of Agatha Christie Ltd. Interview and audience Q&A with David Suchet, who discusses the role and his departure with his biographer Geoffrey Wansell. It has always been David Suchet’s ambition to bring Agatha Christie’s canon of works to completion. Join us for this significant moment in UK broadcasting history.'
[This leads me to believe that the UK broadcast date for this episode will follow shortly after the preview, since this tends to be the case with BFI previews. Also, script editor Thom Hutchinson has reported on Twitter that Dead Man's Folly will be the second episode to air in the UK]

7 November 2013: Poirot and Me by David Suchet is released
Available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk

I've mention this before. It's (almost) as interesting as the new episodes; David Suchet's story of how he developed the character (plus loads of photos etc.). Should be a great Christmas present for any Poirot fan.

7 November - 10 December 2013: David Suchet Poirot and Me Tour

Next on the list is a promotional tour to coincide with the release of the book. He will visit Theatre Royal Nottingham (7 November), Chepstow Drill Hall (10 November), Chorleywood Memorial Hall (11 November), London/Dulwich (12 November), and finally, Harrogate (10 December). More information here.


11 November 2013: Poirot - Music from the TV Series is released
Available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk

Yes, we have a new soundtrack! They're spoiling us this year, with the re-release of Gunning's score earlier this year and now this release, with music by Stephen McKeon (Series Ten and Eleven) and Christian Henson (Series Twelve and Thirteen).


Now, the final track, 'Adieu Poirot' seems to suggest some sort of version of Gunning's theme. Having searched the Internet for more information, I think this might be 'Adieu Poirot' by Amy Dickson, which is basically a re-recording of Gunning's 'The Belgian Detective'. You can listen to it on Spotify or buy her album on Amazon. But we can't be sure until we've heard the album, I suppose.

November/December: Dead Man's Folly, The Big Four, Labours of Hercules?

Judging by all of the above, as well as other rumours, I think it's safe to say that the UK will get the next episodes from November onwards. As mentioned, Dead Man's Folly will be the second episode, which means the most likely broadcast order is Dead Man's Folly, The Big Four, Labours of Hercules and finally Curtain. But it would be nice to have a press release from ITV.

UPDATE: We now have a press release. And The Big Four will be the second episode to air. This means the most likely broadcast order will be The Big Four, Dead Man's Folly, Labours of Hercules and Curtain. Also, according to play.com, the Collection 9 (Series 13) DVD has an estimated release date; November 18th 2013! If that's correct, we'll get to see the final series a lot sooner than we expected. Thanks to Paul who alerted me to this.

23 comments:

  1. Fantastic news! That's my Christmas presents sorted! Do you know how they will work The Labours of Hercules? It was originally a short story collection so it will be most interesting to see how they manage it. They did a good job with the Marple adaption of Greenshaw's Folly so it should be a success.

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    1. It's certainly fantastic news! As to LABOURS, that's the Big Question. Very little information has been leaked online, so we can only guess and make assumptions. From the cast names that have been added to IMDb and Wikipedia, it seems "The Arcadian Deer," "The Erymanthian Boar," "The Stymphalean Birds," and "The Capture of Cerberus" will definitely be included in some shape or form. There's also a character named "Lucinda Mesuriers", so that might include "The LeMesurier Inheritance" (which they've more or less promised will be referenced in the episode). It seems Guy Andrews will be scripting it. To me, that suggests that there will be a number of significant changes. People have suggested online that they have set all the stories (if they've managed to cover them all in 90 minutes) in one location, possibly the snowbound hotel of "The Erymanthian Boar". But that's mere speculation. Thom Hutchinson, a script editor, seemed to suggest on Twitter a while back that they had included all the stories (though one had to make do with a reference - I suspect that's LeMesurier). So that's all we know so far, and I doubt we'll know more until the press release appears online.

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  2. This is exciting news indeed, and makes me wish I lived in the UK! I am very much looking forward to the new soundtrack - you can listen online to some of those tracks (plus many others) on Stephen McKeon's official page,

    I'm also curious to know how The Labors of Hercules will be adapted, as they were (for the most part) 12 independent stories, and probably could have been a separate series of its own.

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    1. I agree, I'd love to live in the UK right now! The preview and the tour with David Suchet would be such a joy to experience.

      Yes, I'm equally excited about the soundtrack! I really didn't expect that at all. Especially not a release with music from both Henson and McKeon. Yes, I've listened to McKeon's tracks for years already (since he very kindly uploaded them to his website). I'm slightly disappointed we only get three tracks from Henson (possibly four, if 'Adieu Poirot' is his work, too). But "The Man Who Blends In" is definitely from "The Big Four", "The White Mountains" is presumably from "Labours", "Adieu Poirot" might be from "Curtain", and he's posted tracks from "Orient Express", "Clocks", "Tragedy" and "Halloween" before. So we have seven out of nine of his episodes covered. As to McKeon, I would have liked something from "Appointment" and "Cat". But these are minor quibbles. I'm just delighted to have a very unexpected soundtrack release to look forward to!

      As to how they'll adapt "The Labours of Hercules", I've mentioned all I know in the other comment above. It's possibly the episode I look forward to the most, simply because I'm very curious as to how they managed to pull it off.

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  3. https://www.plikostrada.pl/

    You can download the Big Four from here (in Polish of course).

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    1. Thank you! But personally I'll wait for a UK release (or for the episode to appear on YouTube) :)

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    2. You're welcome. And you can watch the first 10 minutes here:
      http://chomikuj.pl/Morrrgana/Poirot+Wielka+czw*c3*b3rka+-+Agatha+Christie*27s+Poirot.+The+Big+Four+%282013%29+Lektor+PL.HDTV.XviD-BiDA,3136622113.rmvb
      It starts with Poirot's "death"!!!

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  4. THANK YOU for all those interesting news !

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  5. THE BIG FOUR!!!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkJ3GhNJh-k&list=PL1bhUyrRwmimaywJZqui8YD4Pu2Gf6n2h&index=2

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    1. It is MY channel.

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    2. Then I'm sure I speak for all Poirot fans out there: Thank you!

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    3. I've just watched the first few minutes, then skipping ahead a bit, giving my self a little preview, I can't wait to watch this when it airs in the UK. it looks like most of the individual mysteries have been kept.

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    4. It is Polish of couse, but I think it will be enough for curious Poirot fans.

      I downloaded it from a Polish site and I decided to upload it to the Youtube. I'm Hungarian, not Polish, so a don't understand it either.
      It's a fantasic episode I think. And I love last scene when Hastings arrives and see Poirot is alive.

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  6. http://www.itv.com/presscentre/ep1week43/agatha-christies-poirot-big-four#.UlK8a1BJOBI

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    1. Wow! Already?!? That's very surprising actually! Thank you for the link!

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  7. Not surprised that it's back this month as there was a preview page on the web for TV for October and Poirot was listed (but with no other details) - I think the link was on Wikipedia.

    As expected, The Big Four is the first to air. When it was tweeted that Dead Man's Folly would be the second to air, I think the man doing the tweeting was implying that it would be the second to air of the final four (as opposed to the second to air of series 13). So the order will be: The Big Four, Dead Man's Folly, The Labours of Hercules, Curtain.

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    1. I agree, that interpretation of his tweet seems correct. I'm still pleasantly surprised we'll get one in October, seeing as two different newspapers refferred to October and November respectively. Anyway, the point is that it's airing soon, which is great! :) And I think "Labours" is the most natural adaptation to lead into "Curtain" (for obvious reasons).

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  8. I'm going to the BFI for the Dead Man's Folly preview and Q&A. I'll leave a comment here afterwards if I have some time.

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    1. Please do! It would be great to have a report of sorts, both from the preview and the Q&A! You can also e-mail me (poirotchronology@gmail.com) if you have time to write a review of sorts to be posted on the blog :)

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  9. Hi Eirik - no problems - I will try to email you. Great site. Very interested in your latest post on potential UK air dates - I was really hoping (as per the wikipage) that they would show Curtain over Christmas/New Year in the UK - it's the sort of programme that feels right at that time of year!

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    1. That would be great - thank you so much! As to the potential air dates, nothing is set in stone yet. I was hoping for an early January air date myself. (Obviously I want to watch it as soon as possible, but it would be so fitting to mark the 25th anniversary of the first episode). We'll see. But I'm fairly certain that the November/early winter rumours I've heard are correct.

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About Me

I'm a passionate fan of Poirot, Agatha Christie and the ITV series. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or requests, please e-mail me at poirotchronology@gmail.com, post a comment on one of my blogs, or get in touch on Twitter @pchronology. (I used to call myself HickoryDickory)