The Million Dollar Bond Robbery

A fair part of this sublime episode takes place on the maiden voyage of the RMS Queen Mary sailing from Southampton to New York, leaving on May 27th 1936.

At the end of day two of the voyage, before seeing some of the men playing cards, we see the wake of the ship and further away the sun setting. The ship is evidently sailing away from the sunset, so the direction must be due east - not the straight route to New York...!

• No wonder the speed record wasn't broken at this occasion ;^)

(Actually IRL the ship made a "pit stop" in Cherbourg-Octeville, France just south of Southampton but that will not explain going due east).

In this episode, as in a few others of the series, Poirot has been on the scene of the crime as it took place, instead of trying to solve it after it happened, as happens in the original story. In this particular case, there is no harm done by this particular change, since the screenwriters decided to set the crime on the Queen Mary (I assume they traveled to California to get those shots, since the ship is no longer seaworthy). The scenes on board ship are the only ones that save this episode from having a lower rating.

Once again we have an episode that suffers somewhat for the details that the screenwriter added to the original story. In the original story there was no gambling addiction, no attempted murder, and definitely no accomplice. The gambling addiction and the attempted murder I find to be rather silly but not too unreasonable, but I couldn't get past the addition of the accomplice. Not only was it evident that this extra person was going to play a crucial role from this person's first appearance on screen, and every subsequent appearance as well, but the explanation given at the end just did not work for me. Why did there even need to be an accomplice in the first place? Wasn't it enough that the criminal would have gained a million dollars by being successful? It just left me with a sour taste in my mouth, that no amount of creme de menthe would remove. Ugh.

Poirot has to solve a seemingly impossible case, an impossible theft.

It is a visually stunning episode, the style and direction are fabulous, it looks so incredibly well made, sets and costumes all on point.

There is a great mix of humour and drama, some wonderful laughs throughout, it's a great episode for Hastings, but what makes this so special is the mystery itself, and the breathtaking transformation scene at the end, I certainly never saw that one coming.

Suchet and team are incredibly good as ever, but praise to the guest cast, a special mention to Lizzy McInnerny, who is wonderful.

It's well paced, imaginative, and boasts a terrific conclusion. An episode of quality. 9/10

The London & Scottish Bank needs to transfer one million dollars' worth of Liberty Bonds from England to America via ship (on "Queen Mary"'s maiden voyage), but when someone attempts (twice) to murder the man assigned to the job, the assignment goes to another bank employer - a younger man with gambling problems. The bank's manager asks Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings to accompany him on the trip, but despite their presence the bonds do get stolen and only the young employer had a key to the case....

An exceptional episode of the "Poirot" series. The mix of newsreel b&w footage from the 30's and new footage featuring the actors is creative, the pace is breathless, the acting from all the key players is perfect and the moment of revelation is truly stunning - I challenge anyone to say he or she had figured this one out. There are some laugh-out-loud comedic moments as well - it's amazing how a 50-minute episode of a mystery series can make you laugh more than entire 2-hour supposed comedies. A must-see. (***)

That is alongside the likes of Wasp's Nest, The Chocolate Box, Adventure of the Italian Nobleman, The Third Floor Flat and Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb. I may be biased as I love the series and hate to criticise it, but this was really an exceptional episode. The episode could have been longer perhaps, but the final solution at least did feel satisfying in the way episodes like King of Clubs and The Double Clue underwhelmed on first viewing and improved I think on the (if my memory serves correct) on the somewhat abrupt ending of the short story. When I watch Poirot I look forward to classy production values, great music, funny moments, intelligent, compelling story telling and solid-at-least acting. All of those are here in The Million Dollar Bond Robbery. It looks elegant and is beautifully shot, and right from the iconic theme tune to the haunting undertones of the background music the music is typically great. I always look for clever dialogue and funny moments(mostly with Hastings' naivety or Poirot's sarcasm), and The Million Dollar Bond Robbery has that too, as well as a story that grabs you right in and never lets go. The acting I can't fault, David Suchet continues to be the definitive Poirot, and everybody supports him to the very best of their ability. Nobody is bad, and I also have very little bad to say about the episode, it is one of my favourites of the short story adaptations and also one of the better ones of the entire series. 9/10 Bethany Cox