Poirot

There is impossible to envision anyone else than David Suchet as Poirot after seeing this show and especially after following him in the role for 25 years. He did it all: the novels, short stories and took everything from the written form and made it into his character. Excellent costumes, atmosphere and the title sequence from the first seasons was so good it is sad they dropped it for the films later. Every episode (especially in the later seasons) is a mini-film on it's own. The relationship between Poirot and his three friends, Hastings, Miss Lemon and Chief Inspector Japp is fun to behold. Some obvious changes from the stories where even the killer is different will anger the purists but I felt not that bad about it actually. I'm not a fan of the Adriane Oliver character that is introduced in some of the last films though as she is annoying and so full of herself (even if she is meant to be a self-parody of Agatha Christie). Still, this is the classic crime series that any other crime show has to be compared to. Absolutely fantastic.

It's the definitive Poirot, but upon rewatch I have mixed feelings. The show begins very strongly, but the later seasons have wild swings in quality. I attribute it to several causes: they tried to adapt every story and run out of genuinely good stories; the scriptwriters of later seasons are hit or miss (Mark Gatiss… enough said, wasn't even the worst); and the directors also started filming in a very "modern" style crime drama, while closely basing it on fundamentally ridiculous murder mysteries. I do believe that humour, subtlety and a bit of self-awareness is what elevates Poirot. Stripping those out and playing everything straight didn't do it good, in the end. It stages visual/emotional high moments, but it gradually becomes fake instead of theatrical.