The Red Signal

The best episode of the series. Winks to Samuel Warren and Arthur Conan Doyle, friendly actors, and Agatha Christie who invents a kind of superhero before the Marvel. Dermot West is an ancient soldier who fought on the Mesopotamian front during the Great War and has a strange power: the red signal. The whole episode is bathed in mysticism, mysteries, all in the heart of the London fog. It's almost like a Harry Dickson adventure. This episode is well above the rest of the series. A delight.

"The Agatha Christie Hour" is a bit of potpourri of largely unclassifiable tales penned down by the greatest fiction-writer who ever lived; Agatha Christie (duh). None of the short films included in the TV-series feature her most famous protagonists, like Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot, and they aren't flamboyant murder-whodunits with surprise twists or red herrings. "The Red Signal" is half of an exception, as the plot eventually does turn into a more recognizable murder-mystery with a convoluted plot and a typical Christie finale. Therefore, it's arguably one of the better entries in the series.

A group of people gather for a dinner party with an unusual attraction at the end, namely a séance with a self-declared spiritual medium. There are already some tensions before the séance, and shortly after the event one of the guests - a respectable psychiatrist - is brutally murdered by a bullet in the head. The main suspect is the victim's nephew, who was also present at the dinner, as they ended the evening with a nasty discussion about the nephew's affection for a married woman. The first half of the film, including the séance, is extremely dull. The second half, however, is vintage Christie with a couple of ingenious moments, like the prime suspect impersonating his own butler to distract the police and buy some time to find out who framed him.

The title - "The Red Signal" - refers to a sort of inexplicable premonition the lead character receives to warn him about something bad that is about to happen. His vision literally turns blood-red for a second or two. Because of this, I had Billy Ocean's catchy and relevant song "Red Light Spells Danger" in my head throughout the entire running time (and long after).

The Red Signal is a traditional whodunnit by Agatha Christie in this series.

Dermot West is attending a dinner party with his friend Jack Trent, an old war buddy. In attendance is Dermot's uncle, Sir Alington West a well known psychiatrist as well as Claire Trent, Jack wife who seems to be distressed and might be suffering with some kind of madness.

During the dinner party they discuss the nature of madness and the supernatural. Dermot confides he saw a red signal, something he saw during the war which warned him of some impending doom. A seance is later held, the medium warns the guests not to go home.

Later after the dinner party has ended. Dermot and his uncle have an argument over Dermot having fallen in love with Claire Trent. Some moments later Sir Alington West is shot dead.

It is not too difficult working out the misdirection and figuring out the actual culprit. The episode ends abruptly which makes you wonder how did the police managed to be in attendance. I really did not think it was well directed.

Christie liked to throw you a loop, as does many a mystery writer. Alas, she did not always play fair, withholding info and dynamics crucial to the real perp until the end. But, who said mystery writers had to play fair?

Here, there's the clear insinuation that one is definitely "mad" (in other venues, the evil one), yet at the end it is turned about to reveal it is indeed the counterpart party. But, a well casted and produced account, which provides enjoyment as it goes along with class and style. We get to see the "evil one" forced to play his hand and the timeworn lovers finally united.