Death in the Clouds

Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of an old woman which happened during a flight from France to England - a flight on which he was also on board! The victim seems to have been killed by a poisoned dart shot on her neck, and Poirot's investigation takes him (along with Inspector Japp) to Paris, where the woman lived.

Before seeing "Death in the Clouds" and without having read the book, I was under the impression that the action would be almost entirely confined inside the plane, but no - the murder happens there, but most of the action takes place on land (and most of it in Paris). There is ingenuity in the way the murder is carried out, but some of the coincidences revealed by Poirot at the end to explain the motive seem a bit strained. The pacing is also quite deliberate (this is a feature-length episode). Nevertheless, the production (including the Paris location shooting) is up to the usual high standards, and the cast is well-chosen; in the absence of Captain Hastings, Inspector Japp gets a lot of screen time and has some good moments, and Sarah Woodward, as an air stewardess who was also on board the same flight, makes a very likable sidekick for Poirot. (***)

Several episodes of "Poirot" were double-length and this one features two killings. The first occurs early on as you'd expect, but the other one caught me by surprise late in the show.

Although Poirot claims that he hates boats and airplanes, he sure does travel a lot! This time, he's in Paris...and oddly Hastings is no where to be seen during the episode. My aunt informed me that Poirot stories OFTEN don't have Hastings...even though he is often inserted into episodes of the show.

On his way back from Paris and the French Open, Poirot spends a miserable time aboard an airplane headed back to Britain. While he was snoozing, someone murdered an old woman who was a moneylender. There's an obvious suspect...which in real life means they probably did it. But this is an Agatha Christie story, so you know it's NOT that simple.

This is a very good episode. I thought it amusing that once again, the show portrays some Brits abroad as real xenophobes. But beyond that, the story is pretty interesting, though I wonder WHAT poison was in the poison dart, as Curare takes a long time to kill a human and few poisons (except on TV and in books) kill instantly. They never did say WHICH poison was used but even Cyanide might take at least 20-30 seconds to kill. This is NOT a complaint...just curiosity.

By the way, although IMDB points out that the episode must have occured in 1935, the DC-3 airplane they were on wasn't in service with any airline until 1936. This sort of error is no big deal, as very few airliners from the era are flightworthy today and only nuts like me would notice this minor mistake!

Wouldn't you just know it, there's a murder on the plane on which Poirot is traveling from Paris to London. One Madame Gisele is killed via poisoned dart. Madame Gisele was a moneylender to the upper crust and also a blackmailer. Poirot has seen her with the haughty Lady Horbury, but Lady Horbury claims never to have seen Madame Gisele before. Poirot is troubled. A wasp is found on the plane, killed by one of the passengers with his coffee cup. Poirot wonders what the wasp was doing there. And how did someone kill Madame Gisele with a dart in front of all the passengers? It's a knotty problem, which Poirot finally solves, but it's much more complicated than it appeared in the beginning with situations involving bigamy and fake identities.

Excellent mystery with Poirot and Japp working together, and Poirot enlisting the aide of the female flight steward as well. The usual high production values abound.

This whodunit, adapted from an Agatha Christie story, stars David Suchet as the fastidious Hercule Poirot. Like Poirot, everything about this production is subdued and mild-mannered, resulting in a "drama" that feels rather undramatic.

The solution to the crime hinges on a couple of apparently-inconsequential clues which Poirot ferrets out in a leisurely manner. The motive feels almost irrelevant. This is not one of Christie's best inventions, but it provides some enjoyable scenery and costuming.

Detective procedurals with more passion-if only a modicum or if seething below the surface-are more interesting.

A fine episode with all the usual cast of trope characters...the arrogant aristocrat; the frumpy ladies maid; the over fawning nice fellow; and on. The Murder setting on a plane from France to England is a nice change from the Mideast or Greek islands or whoever Poirot travels; which is odd in itself since he does not travel well. Death occurs as a result of a small poison dart. The cabin was also home to pesky wasps. What sticks out to me is the rather cool, even antagonistic back and forth between Poirot and Cheif Inspector Japp. In earlier episodes they are quite amiable; almost close friends. But here, they show no initial pleasant surprise on meeting and thereafter no real sign of any previous history. Strange.