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In season 13, David Suchet returns in his signature role as suave Belgian super sleuth Hercule Poirot in three mysteries: "Elephants Can Remember," "The Labours Of Hercules" and "Curtain: Poirot's Last Case," based on the novels by Agatha Christie. Whether he's on holiday abroad, taking a countryside break or simply going about his business near his central London home, Poirot finds himself exercising his "little grey cells" by helping police investigate crimes and murders, whether they ask for his help or not.
Review
“David Suchet's swansong as Hercule Poirot proved that the show has been one of TV's greatest achievements... five stars.” – The Telegraph (U.K.)
"Elephants Can Remember" aired Sunday, Dec. 14 at 9 p.m. - While Poirot investigates a famed psychiatrist's murder, crime novelist Ariadne Oliver (Zoë Wanamaker) looks into a couple's mysterious death. The story began 13 years ago, on a cliff top in Eastbourne. A couple tragically died - but the question has always remained - did the husband, General Ravenscroft (Adrian Lukis), shoot the wife, or did the wife, Molly, kill the husband?
Present day, and Poirot has been called in by his old friend Dr. Willoughby (Iain Glen), whose elderly father, an eminent Professor, has been found drowned in his own hydrotherapy treatment bath - a rather brutal contraption he used decades ago to treat psychiatric patients. Poirot is intrigued by the case, and keen to help his friend, although the doctor himself does seem to be the prime suspect in the eyes of the investigating officer...
Meanwhile, Poirot's old crime-writing friend, Ariadne Oliver, is dealing with a case of her own. At a dreaded literary lunch she is approached by one Mrs. Burton-Cox (Greta Scacchi), who quite forcefully insists that Ariadne discover the truth about the Ravenscrofts - as her son, Desmond (Ferdinand Kingsley), is about to marry their daughter, Celia (Vanessa Kirby) - and what if young Celia has inherited the "madness gene"?
A haphazard Ariadne sets off on a mission to track down the truth via half-remembered stories from 13 years ago, while the methodical Poirot pursues his modern-day murder with quiet logic. Until gradually he pieces together the puzzle, and realizes that only when examined together will these two cases reveal the truths which everyone has been seeking - who was murderer 13 years ago, and who is killing again..?
"The Labours Of Hercules" aired Sunday, Dec. 21 at 9 p.m. - Poirot journeys to the Swiss Alps to lay a trap for an infamous art thief. Desperate to catch infamous art thief Marrascaud, the Metropolitan Police build what they imagine is a perfect trap. The Le Mesurier family is to announce the society debut of their beautiful daughter Lucinda (Lorna Nickson Brown), who will be wearing an exceptionally expensive diamond necklace. On display will be "Hercules Vanquishing the Hydra," a priceless work by Marrascaud's favorite artist Van Druys. Last but not least, the great Hercule Poirot will be in attendance. How can Marrascaud resist? The results are catastrophic. Marrascaud pinches the painting and the jewels from beneath Poirot's nose, leaving behind the butchered body of Lucinda.
Poirot is devastated and falls into a heavy depression. Dr. Burton (Tom Chadbon) does all he can to revive the detective's spirits, but it is not until a lonely chauffeur begs the detective to find his missing true love, the maid of a famous Russian dancer, that Poirot feels he can return to his work. The quest for Nita takes Poirot to the Swiss Alps, where fate plays a hand: against all odds, Poirot has stumbled upon Hotel Olympos, now thought to be Marrascaud's hideout. As an avalanche cuts off access to the hotel, Poirot finds himself in a game of cat-and-mouse with a villain he fears and despises.
What is the secret of bedridden dancer Katrina Samoushenka (Fiona O'Shaughnessy) and her missing maid? What are the true intentions of her Freudian therapist Dr. Lutz? Why is Member of Parliament Harold Waring, dogged by salacious Fleet Street rumor, in hiding in Switzerland? Will Annabel Rice (Sandy McDade) and her daughter Elsie Clayton (Morven Christie) escape the wrath of Elsie's abusive husband Philip? Is effusive Italian hotel owner Francesco to be trusted? Who is the enigmatic parlor-game enthusiast Schwartz?
Just when it seems like the situation couldn't be more baffling (or more dangerous) there is another arrival at the hotel: none other than the jewel thief Countess Vera Rossakoff (Orla Brady), whom Poirot has not encountered for over twenty years. This vivacious Russian emigre is the only woman to have stirred his heart - could she really be a killer? And what of her prodigious daughter, criminologist Alice Cunningham, and her ghastly bulldog Binky? Any one of these people could be Marrascaud - but is the disoriented Poirot in a fit state to tell psychology from stagecraft, passions from posture, fact from fiction - before his nemesis kills again?
"Curtain: Poirot's Last Case" repeats Thursday, March 19, 2015 at 9 p.m. - After returning to Styles with Hastings, Poirot confronts a killer and his own conscience as he tries to stop a series of murders. Confined to a wheelchair and crippled with arthritis, the now elderly Hercule Poirot is reunited with his old companion Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser) - back where it all began. Styles is the rambling country house where the pair first met 30 years ago, when Poirot was a refugee and Hastings a wounded soldier. It is also the home of their first murder investigation together - and is soon to be home to their last.
Since they last met, both have faced tragedy - Hastings is a widower, and Poirot has succumbed to a life-threatening heart condition. But the great detective's brain remains as sharp and active as ever, and he tells his loyal friend with utmost certainty that Styles is again harboring a killer - and it is simply a matter of time before the axe falls once more.
The problem is, Poirot does not yet know the identity of murderer or victim, and his disability frustratingly prevents him from acting on his investigative impulses. Poirot recruits Hastings to be his "eyes and ears", but as his health deteriorates and their fellow guests begin to fall victim to confounding attacks, Poirot grows increasingly anxious that he may finally have met his match. He must summon the last of his strength and push his "little grey cells" to the very limit, as he battles his ultimate nemesis in his last ever case.
Distributed by Acorn TV
