Review of Cards on the Table

Cards on The Table, while not Agatha Christie's best, is a very well crafted book, and quite complex and entirely involving. The adaptation starts off so well, and had such good promise- the episode is beautifully shot throughout with lavish costumes, and I had little problem with the performances. David Suchet is impeccable as always as Poirot, and Zoe Wannamaker is fine as Ariadne Oliver. The supporting performers Lyndsey Marshall, Lesley Manville, Alex Jennings, Tristan Gemill, Honeysuckle Weeks and Robert Pugh have little fault. In fact, my biggest problem with the adaptation was the plot changes(beware of spoilers)- I don't know why they changed Battle's name to Wheeler, likewise with Race with Hughes, why they made Rhoda a murderess, why they made Dr Roberts a homosexual, and why Mrs Lorrimer wasn't killed off. Though, almost every Poirot adaptation in existence take liberties with the books, both Murder in Mesopotamia and Murder of Roger Ackroyd had a first person narrative, not in the adaptations, and in Cat Among the Pigeons one of the victims was killed with a javelin, in the book she was shot, and the character of Mrs Vansittart was left out completely. Despite Alexander Siddig's excellent performance, I felt that the character of Mr Shaitana was underdeveloped, and some of the dialogue, especially Wheeler and Poirot's exchange was rather un-Agatha Christie. Overall, it is one of the weaker Poirot adaptations, but it is well made and well performed, so it wasn't a complete disaster. 7/10 Bethany Cox