The King of Clubs

.. When the story begins, a nasty studio head is about to get punched in the face...but his security guards arrive and escort the punchee out of the place. You soon realize this studio chief is a real piece of work...a man not above blackmail or other dirty tricks. So, when he appears to have been bludgeoned to death, the question is more like 'who DIDN'T have a reason to kill him?'.

What I love about this episode is that since Poirot is NOT a member of any police department, he doesn't have to tell anyone what he finds if he doesn't want to. In this case, after exhaustive work, he realizes that the dead man isn't worth his time...and it might have been an accident anyways. Very clever and enjoyable...and all highly dependent on one strange clue...a missing playing card.

How many times have you seen this story? We see a man at his place of business. Clearly not a pleasant man. He orders one of his employees to be fired, and we see the employee come to the man's office and launch an angry attack on the man before being escorted away. We see the employee mutter "I'll show him" before staggering away to get drunk. Later we see the man at his home. A woman comes to his home, taking care not to be seen by a visitor who is just leaving. Then we see the woman entering another house nearby, and the lady of the house is calling the police, apparently to report an incident at the house next door. The detective is called in because the unpleasant man has been found dead in his home. Who is responsible? The woman who was apparently sneaking in? The disgruntled employee? One of the gypsies making camp just down the street? This could be an episode from any detective series made in the last 50 years. The fact that it features David Suchet as Poirot makes it bearable, but it's missing all the extra touches that make this series so entertaining. The writing and acting are not particularly memorable, the clues that lead to the solution have nothing to do with the actual crime, and the solution itself can be predicted from the relationship that the characters have to each other. Nothing wrong with it. Just not very interesting, I'm afraid.

Film stars and Royalty combine for murder, with Poirot having to solve a possible murder of an odious bully.

It's a lavish production, it has some gorgeous buildings and sets on show, the set of Paul's bedroom is sumptuous. The room in which Mr Reedburn is discovered is also rather special, lots of glass and marble.

It's very well acted as usual, the main cast are on great form, Niamh Cusack is excellent as beautiful young actress Valerie, and the fiendishly handsome Jack Klaff is also very good as Paul.

It's not one of my favourite episodes to be honest, but I find it watchable enough, its not a mystery I feel you'd solve quickly, it does have a few twists and turns.

A pretty interesting, but visually appealing episode. 7/10

Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings visit the stage set of a film. Later that evening the head of that studio, Harry Readburn, is found dead in his house. A young actress was apparently seen running from the house around the time of his death, and she is the prime suspect. Chief Inspector Japp thinks it is an open-and-shut case, but Poirot knows otherwise. His biggest clue is a missing card from a game of bridge...

Reasonably interesting. The set up was engaging and the mystery was intriguing. Some of the usual amusing off-topic banter from Hastings (though I still have no idea why Poirot keeps him around - he is quite clueless).

The conclusion is a bit of a damp squib though. The reveal is quite subdued and Poirot's actions after that are quite odd.

Right from the start of this story you know the man who must die ... a movie director who seems intent on bullying, demeaning, and generally making an ass of himself to everyone on the set and in the production.

With the complication of a Prince engaged to the female lead and a leading man who can't remember his lines and is being fired, you know it can't take long.

Poirot and Hastings just happen to be visiting the set when the death occurs. There is a bit of a kerfluffle over witnesses who can't be witnesses and a card game that couldn't have been played.

And there is a dead body that wasn't killed in the traditional ways of murder. And that's about it. I enjoy most of these shows but this one just seemed to spin its wheels without ever getting anywhere.