Recent history offers something of a warning. Both Kenneth Branagh and John Malkovich have taken their shot at Agatha Christie’s fastidious Belgian, and neither has managed to eclipse Suchet. So, is the BBC embarking on a hiding to nothing in resurrecting Hercule? As the man himself might say, it all depends on their method.
There is, after all, a precedent. Endeavour successfully rewound the clock on Inspector Morse, charting the early career of Colin Dexter’s cerebral copper across nine highly successful series. Why not attempt something similar here? A Young Poirot perhaps – or, more enticingly, The Early Labours of Hercule.
Inevitably, there will be purists who will baulk at the idea of stories not drawn directly from Christie’s pen. But that Rubicon has already been crossed. Writer Sophie Hannah has produced a successful run of Poirot continuation novels, while Lucy Foley is now set to do the same for dear Miss Marple. The appetite is clearly there, provided the execution is right.
Crucially, this approach would also swerve the most obvious pitfall: comparison. Attempting to replicate Suchet invites failure, but reimagining the character’s formative years allows for reinvention. It opens the door not just to fresh mysteries but to a richer context. What shaped Poirot’s obsession with order? Why did he choose his career over romance? How did displacement and exile shape his worldview?
The challenge facing the BBC is not to find the next David Suchet, because such a quest is doomed from the outset. The real question is how to make Poirot matter again. The answer lies in following the evidence, which leads us not to imitation but to an origin story. Use those little grey cells, and the ideal solution presents itself.
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