Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: David Suchet, Zoë Wanamaker, Sean Pertwee, Stephanie Leonidas, Martin Jarvis, Rebecca Front, Sam Kelly, Chris Gordon, Richard Dixon, Francesca Zoutewelle, James Anderson, Rosalind Ayres, Daniel Weyman, Emma Hamilton, Ella Geraghty, Sinéad Cusack, Eliot Barnes-Worrell.
Dead Man’s Folly is surprisingly one of the last of the Hercule Poirot stories to be televised under the banner of David Suchet’s remarkable tenure as the Belgian Detective. Surprising because it is a cracking tale and one that is amongst the best that Agatha Christie wrote for the little man with the waxed moustache; although possibly anticipated when it had the spectre of the 1986 film haunting its every move. However thankfully, no matter how poor that particular version was and with the great Peter Ustinov not being able to carry on the fine form he portrayed in his previous outings as the investigator, David Suchet once more showed the way on how to get the very best of one of the great detectives.
Reunited once more with the sublime Zoë Wanamaker as detective fiction writer Ariadne Oliver, Poirot is called into investigate a murder that has not yet taken place. In the same spirit of investigation as And Then There Were None, the murderer seems to completely untraceable, unless of course you watch a lot of detective drama.
It also seems that I.T.V. wary of what they will fill the winter schedules with once Poirot is dispensed with for the final time, are adding great stock in the support cast for these final few episodes. With Rebecca Front proving a point once more that she is an actor of depth and purpose, she moves away from being Lewis’ boss to being a woman of great charm and suspicion and the much underused Sean Pertwee being a welcome addition in a very meaty role. An actor who should have been a bigger star than has been allowed it seems, his portrayal as Sir George Stubbs was a great bonus to a story that was bold and superbly shot.
If these last four ever stories that have lightened up the dark autumn nights have proved and will go on to prove anything, it will be that great drama never goes out of fashion and that whilst one of the greatest detectives may soon be hanging up his walking stick and leaving a world poorer for his leaving, the dance with murder is never short of intriguing British television audiences in their search for the restoration of justice.
Whilst it may be a Dead Man’s Folly, it is never foolish to revel in David Suchet’s appearances on television; especially when the role that he has nurtured for nearly a quarter of a century is nearing its end.
Ian D. Hall