Being Poirot Page #2

Christie's family was crucial for me

before my life as Poirot began.

Today, I've come back to meet

her grandson, Mathew Prichard.'

Here we are in Devonshire,

where Poirot was actually born.

How do you think he came to be?

Well, of course it was long before

my time

but, erm...I'm told that a bus

drew up

in Union Square in Torquay.

And out of it trooped a whole

busload of Belgian refugees,

one of whom was a little man,

who, surprisingly enough, David,

looked a bit like you.

Do you fancy a pint of beer,

if there's any left?

Non, merci.

I cannot yet bring myself to enjoy

the English public house.

My grandmother must have seen him

and she must have thought,

"Well, there's my detective."

'Poirot was introduced to the world

in 1920

as a World War I Belgian refugee

in Agatha Christie's first book,

The Mysterious Affair At Styles.'

(READS) Poirot was an

extraordinary-looking little man.

He was hardly more than 5'4" but

carried himself with great dignity.

The neatness of his attire

was almost incredible.

Ah!

Voila!

(READS) As a detective, his flair

had been extraordinary

and he had achieved triumphs

by unravelling some of the most

baffling cases of the day.

The handwriting on this letter

shouts your guilt.

You are a heartless murderer.

'Agatha Christie could never have

guessed

that Poirot would become so famous,

appearing in over 50 short stories

and 33 novels.'

Oh, look. Now, is this a real one

that she used?

That is a real one. She would have

taken this to the Middle East.

She would have hammered out

Death On The Nile

somewhere near the pyramids

in Egypt.

Really?

On something like that.

The more I know about Agatha,

the more I learn about her,

that she was such a warm, generous,

lovely person.

I just hope she would have liked

what I did, that's all!

She was very honest.

Very candid indeed.

'Today, Agatha Christie is revered

in Torquay.

So I can't visit here

without loaning something

very special to the museum.'

Oh, I don't believe it.

I knew some things were coming here

but I didn't know what it was

and it's my flat!

MY flat! It's Poirot's flat!

Look. My desk.

Hello, Carl. Hello, David.

It's nice see you. Hello, Amy.

Very nice to see you as well.

Very nice to see you.

Voila.

Oh! Fantastic!

Take it out.

That is absolutely beautiful.

This is actually my prize possession.

I think I've probably held that

more than any other thing

I've ever held in my life!

That is absolutely incredible.

It's still warm as well.

It is still -

'But there's another reason

we're here.

I'm meeting John Curran,

an archivist who has found clues

about Poirot's creation

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes