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The fifth episode of Agatha Christie’s Poirot (English TV Serial, which was aired in Briton), is titled as The Third Floor Flat.
| TV Serial | : | Agatha Christie’s Poirot |
| Season | : | Season 1 |
| Episode # | : | 5 |
| Episode Title | : | The Third Floor Flat |
| Originally Aired | : | 05 Feb 1989 |
| Starring | : |
David Suchet (Hercule Poirot), Hugh Fraser (Captain Arthur Hastings), Philip Jackson (Inspector James Japp), Pauline Moran (Miss Felicity Lemon), Suzanne Burden (Patricia Matthews), Josie Lawrence (Ernestine Grant), John Golightly (Removal Man), Gillian Bailey (Mrs Sadler), Norman Lumsden (Vicar), Robert Hines (Jimmy Faulkener), Amanda Elwes (Mildred Hope), Nicholas Pritchard (Donovan Bailey),James Aiden (Major Sadler), Peter Aubrey (Removal man), Jona Jones (Constable), George Little (Dicker), Helena McCarthy (Coffee Stall Owner), Alan Partington (Inspector), Susan Porrett (Trotter), and others… |
| Purchase Link(s) | : |
 
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This episode is quite special as the case Poirot resolves this time is connected to his apartment! In fact the murder took place at the third floor of the building where Poirot lives on the fifth floor. It is a joy seeing David Suchet playing Hurcule Poirot in the starting scenes where he is feeling cold and not in good mood! The reasons? Well, quite obvious, no interesting case is coming to his way and his “little grey cells” are having no exercise to do! And he is out of work since… 3 weeks! David is very convincing here. We see some stuffs happening in the 3rd and 4th floor flats along with (flat #36B and #46B to be precise). The editing of scenes here, is first rate.
As Poirot is running out of spirit, to cheer him up, his buddy Captain Hastings takes him to a theater where a play based on a murder mystery was running. The dialogs and expressions of both David and Hugh are first rate in these scenes. Poirot joyously writes the name of the murderer in the interval and gives Hastings the note, and asks him to not to open it till the end. Though at the end, the murderer Poirot guess was not the culprit!!! Poirot blames writer for not bringing some of the facts to viewer’s attention at right time! You will enjoy these scenes of course.
Incidently Poirot had seen a lady living in his building in the flat below his to came watch the play with her friends. It was a group of 4 people two ladies and two gentlemen. When Poirot and Hastings were back in their flat and Poirot was writing the cheque of the winning amount of the bet (which he had regarding resolving the murder mystery in the play) to Hastings; they here some strange sounds. They decide to look over to the same and they found, from the area where the flat owners pass their dustbins there were two men trying to enter into a flat! Hastings thoughts about burglars, but Poirot refuse the idea based on their dressing.
They then find that two ladies were sitting on the stairs and singing a philosophical songs. The viewers know that these are the same 4 people Poirot had seen at the theater. Actually the lady was unable to find her key of flat and hence the men decided to enter into the flat from the dustbin passage and open the door from inside. They were the same men Poirot and Hastings overlooked. We see that mistakenly they enter to the flat on floor #3 rather than floor #4 and they found a dead body there!!! There was a lady who was found dead in that flat!
Now they call police and the hunt for the murderer begin.
Philip is all convincing as an authority, as he play inspector Japp. His voice, his gestures, all fall in the right place. Hugh Fraser is competitive as well. Pauline have comparatively very less things to do in this episode. It is David Suchet who is the scene stealer of course. He is completely convincing. His gestures, dialog delivery and timings are really up to the mark. The two men look charming. One of the ladies look very pretty and other is little less, but all they 4 act convincingly.
The writer is in full form in terms of dialog and screenplay. And the background music is really convincing. You can see how small details are taken care with attention. The siren in the police car, the policeman on patrolling (while Hastings was inviting Poirot to the play), the amazing health recovery of Poirot in just a few minutes as soon as he has the case to solve, the wardrobe of all the characters, everything is taken care. The TV serial becomes more and more gripping with each episode. The dialogs are simple and shorter and hence even more effective.
Overall it is a nice watch for all murder mystery lovers.
The remastered DVDs came up with good sound and picture qualities, and you can expect the same quality at Amazon Prime as well. So seeing all the positive aspects, if murder mysteries and thrillers are your choice, than you may not like to miss this one.
Did you read the reviews for the first episode of this TV Serial? Also what you think for this episode? Do share your feelings via comments below. If you find this review helpful to make you a buying/watching decision, do not forget to share with your friends and family 🙂
