leekier

At 16 I was really older than the target audience when this started; it was probably aimed at 8 to 12 year olds but quickly achieved a cult following in our areas with the mid teens. It's hard to define the appeal; it was, as I recall, a mix of comedy sketches, music and general humour; a kind of variety show for kids which didn't talk down to them. I remember lots of puns "What's the weather like Brutus?" "Hail, Caesar" "What are the gladiators wearing this season?" "Mail, Caesar" "How shall we get to Gaul?" "Rail, Caesar" Most episodes featured Brian Cant as a presenter and several characters, there were several other presenters each episode, and a wide range of guest presenters and musicians; I particularly recall George Chisholm the jazz musician.

It stopped broadcasting when my eldest was 8 or 9 and I was very disappointed!

It's a perfectly good film, atmospheric, well acted and with beautiful sets, allegedly based on Agatha Christie's "Hallowe'en Party", though there were hints of "The Pale Horse".

Kenneth Branagh is quite good as Poirot, if a rather more introspective and less humorous than the original. Tina Fey is excellent as an American author, though nothing like the good natured and rather vague Ariadne Oliver of the books. Similarly Michelle Yoeh is almost 50 years older than the character of the same name in the novel. The lawyers clerk is now a doctor and the first victim's brother is now his son. The 1960s country house is now a 1940s Venetian palace, the motivation has changed, the plot is very, very different, even the timescale has altered.

All in all, I have to wonder why they used the names of the book characters if they didn't like the plot? There are plenty of original films (and TV shows) based on an established character, just like A Haunting in Venice, however they don't pretend to be based on an specific novel.

This is the first episode of a two parter so the killer and the motive have yet to be revealed. I read the book about 40 years ago and recall the overall plot but don't recall the fine details, so much of who is happening is as much of a surprise to me as to you. I don't want to put any spoilers in so I'll just say that all will be revealed next week and I'm pretty sure it'll be a surprise!

This is well cast and well acted; the plot seems to follow the book well and doesn't reveal too much too soon. I'm really looking forward too to the other episodes.

So far it's excellent, although the hospital seems dated for the 1970s; I'd be interested to hear the opinions of nurses who trained then. Certainly my memory of hospitals at the time is quite different.