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BBC Radio 4 Poirot
Three Act Tragedy
Hercule Poirot is a guest at a weekend house party, given at the Cornish cliff top home of the celebrated actor Sir Charles Cartwright. The other visitors include keen amateur detective Mr. Satterthwaite and distinguished Harley Street nerve specialist Sir Bartholomew Strange. Death visits the house soon after Poirot's arrival, the victim an elderly clergyman who's only had a sip of dry martini. What else was in the glass? Are natural causes to blame. . . or murder? In Monte Carlo a short time later, Poirot and his acquaintances hear of another, similar death. Is this a mere coincidence—and can Poirot resist further investigation? Everyone concerned will be much relieved if he does. Meanwhile, a third tragedy is waiting in the wings. . .
George Cole, Michael Cochrane, and Clive Merrison are amongst the cast in this adaptation of Agatha Christie's intriguing mystery, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 8 July to 5 August 2002.
2 CDs. 2 hrs 15 mins.
George Cole, Michael Cochrane, and Clive Merrison are amongst the cast in this adaptation of Agatha Christie's intriguing mystery, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 8 July to 5 August 2002.
2 CDs. 2 hrs 15 mins.
3 pages, Audio CD
First published January 1, 2003
17 people want to read
About the author
Michael Bakewell
73 books6 followersMichael Bakewell (7 June 1931 – 11 July 2023) was a British radio and television producer and radio playwright.
His work included adapting The Lord of the Rings (with Brian Sibley) into a 1981 radio series for the BBC and a series of 27 adaptations of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories broadcast between 1985 and 2007 by BBC Radio 4.
He was born in Birmingham, England. After graduating from Cambridge in 1954, he was recruited by the BBC's Third Programme. He became the first Head of Plays at the BBC in the 1960s.
His work included adapting The Lord of the Rings (with Brian Sibley) into a 1981 radio series for the BBC and a series of 27 adaptations of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories broadcast between 1985 and 2007 by BBC Radio 4.
He was born in Birmingham, England. After graduating from Cambridge in 1954, he was recruited by the BBC's Third Programme. He became the first Head of Plays at the BBC in the 1960s.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 22, 2021
This BBC Radio 4 full cast dramatisation brings another enjoyable Hercule Poirot story to life.
George Cole gives a nicely judged performance as amateur detective Mr Satterthwaite, & Poirot (John Moffatt) is pretty much sidelined for half of the story. However, the little Belgian detective takes over matters for the second half & soon uses his little grey cells to find a murderer. It all buids up to a decent conclusion, leaving Poirot with a wonderful closing line.
George Cole gives a nicely judged performance as amateur detective Mr Satterthwaite, & Poirot (John Moffatt) is pretty much sidelined for half of the story. However, the little Belgian detective takes over matters for the second half & soon uses his little grey cells to find a murderer. It all buids up to a decent conclusion, leaving Poirot with a wonderful closing line.
June 28, 2013
This 5 episode radio drama was very well done, although it took me a while to adjust to someone other than David Suchet as Poirot's voice :) For some reason, this Christie had been left off in my GoodReads shelves but soon after starting, I did recognize the story. However, that didn't prevent my enjoying this production, which I actually listened to on air, and the episodic nature of the broadcast brought back happy childhood memories of listening to books on the radio during summer vacation.
February 9, 2023
Three murders, the same group of three people, all witnessed the acts that befell the victims of the crimes. Exquisite piece of writing with my favourite Hercule!
June 27, 2025
John Moffatt's plummy Poirot is a bit distracting in this witty and histrionic adventure. Christie's established twist at the end, in which Poirot seems to pull a rabbit out of his hat every time, is in this dramatisation a bit far fetched. But still an enjoyable romp. Moreso if one is familiar with the story. As with all Christies, they are listenable and watchable in any adaptation. But my recommendation is always to explore the primary source - the book itself.
December 31, 2025
I second and third all of the reviews which reminisced about hearng radio show mysteries; in my case AFN Berlin during the 60s. I’ve also seen this episode a handful of times on PBS, but always forget the reason for the murders. One gets caught up in the subplot distractions along the way. Listening to the story with separate voices imprinted the ending much more thoroughly. This was a treat!
May 19, 2022
3.5 stars rounded up.
Another Agatha Christie to tick off the list. I am very much enjoying the BBC dramatisations.
This one in particular I didn’t like the characters as much. However I never am able to guess the plot twist which of course is good.
Another Agatha Christie to tick off the list. I am very much enjoying the BBC dramatisations.
This one in particular I didn’t like the characters as much. However I never am able to guess the plot twist which of course is good.
February 24, 2025
52 Book Club 2025 Reading Challenge- Prompt 31: Audiobook has Multiple Narrators
January 2, 2013
1/5 The Belgian sleuth is attending a party when a clergyman dies sipping a cocktail.
2/5 The Belgian sleuth is in Monte Carlo, but death appears to follow.
3/5 The Belgian sleuth re-enters the investigation much to the relief of all involved.
4/5 As the murder suspects are investigated, the Belgian sleuth issues an invitation.
5/5 Just as the Belgian sleuth looks set to solve the mystery, there's a fresh death.
Sir Charles Cartwright, ein pensionierter Schauspieler, gibt in seinem Haus eine Dinnerparty, einer seiner Gäste ist Hercule Poirot. Noch vor der Party witzeln einige der Gäste, das Poirot die Morde regelrecht anzieht, wo er auftaucht, sterben Menschen eines unnatürlichen Todes. So ist es auch nur mäßig erstaunlich, dass während des Dinners der alte Pfarrer tot zusammenbricht. Ursache: Nikotinvergiftung. Da der Pfarrer starker Raucher war, denkt man sich zunächst nicht allzu viel dabei. Poirot reist ab und auch Sir Charles Cartwright dreht aus persönlichen (Herzens-)Gründen England den Rücken.
Als sich einige Zeit später ein ähnlicher Fall auf Sir Bartholomew Stranges Landgut ereignet, bei dem fast alle Anwesenden dieselben sind, wie auf Sir Charles Cartwrights Party und erneut ein Gast auf die gleiche Weise an einer Nikotinvergiftung stirb, ist Poirots und auch die Neugier einiger der Gäste geweckt. Sie setzten ihren Ehrgeiz daran, den Mörder und den Grund für diese Tat zu ermitteln, oder doch eher zu vertuschen?
Ein spannender, verwickelter Fall, in dem keine Fakten verschwiegen werden. Alles wird erwähnt, man kann durchaus seine eigenen Rückschlüsse ziehen, nur eine wichtige Information wird zurückbehalten, die letztendlich der Schlüssel zum Fall ist. Aber das ist verzeihlich, denn auch Poirot erhält diesen Hinweis erst gegen Schluss. Erneut spricht der mittlerweile verstorbene John Moffatt Hercule Poirot und auch die übrigen Rollen sind, wie beim BBC üblich, hochkarätig besetzt. Keine unangenehmen Ausfälle sind zu hören, nicht einmal in kleinen Nebenrollen. Es gibt keinen musikalischen Soundtrack, die Geräuschkulisse ist sparsam und stimmig und insgesamt ist es ein sehr dialogbasiertes Hörspiel, wie alle Folgen dieser Reihe. Der Fall entwickelt sich im Kopf, nur durch die Dialoge und das, was die Protagonisten durchsprechen.
2/5 The Belgian sleuth is in Monte Carlo, but death appears to follow.
3/5 The Belgian sleuth re-enters the investigation much to the relief of all involved.
4/5 As the murder suspects are investigated, the Belgian sleuth issues an invitation.
5/5 Just as the Belgian sleuth looks set to solve the mystery, there's a fresh death.
Sir Charles Cartwright, ein pensionierter Schauspieler, gibt in seinem Haus eine Dinnerparty, einer seiner Gäste ist Hercule Poirot. Noch vor der Party witzeln einige der Gäste, das Poirot die Morde regelrecht anzieht, wo er auftaucht, sterben Menschen eines unnatürlichen Todes. So ist es auch nur mäßig erstaunlich, dass während des Dinners der alte Pfarrer tot zusammenbricht. Ursache: Nikotinvergiftung. Da der Pfarrer starker Raucher war, denkt man sich zunächst nicht allzu viel dabei. Poirot reist ab und auch Sir Charles Cartwright dreht aus persönlichen (Herzens-)Gründen England den Rücken.
Als sich einige Zeit später ein ähnlicher Fall auf Sir Bartholomew Stranges Landgut ereignet, bei dem fast alle Anwesenden dieselben sind, wie auf Sir Charles Cartwrights Party und erneut ein Gast auf die gleiche Weise an einer Nikotinvergiftung stirb, ist Poirots und auch die Neugier einiger der Gäste geweckt. Sie setzten ihren Ehrgeiz daran, den Mörder und den Grund für diese Tat zu ermitteln, oder doch eher zu vertuschen?
Ein spannender, verwickelter Fall, in dem keine Fakten verschwiegen werden. Alles wird erwähnt, man kann durchaus seine eigenen Rückschlüsse ziehen, nur eine wichtige Information wird zurückbehalten, die letztendlich der Schlüssel zum Fall ist. Aber das ist verzeihlich, denn auch Poirot erhält diesen Hinweis erst gegen Schluss. Erneut spricht der mittlerweile verstorbene John Moffatt Hercule Poirot und auch die übrigen Rollen sind, wie beim BBC üblich, hochkarätig besetzt. Keine unangenehmen Ausfälle sind zu hören, nicht einmal in kleinen Nebenrollen. Es gibt keinen musikalischen Soundtrack, die Geräuschkulisse ist sparsam und stimmig und insgesamt ist es ein sehr dialogbasiertes Hörspiel, wie alle Folgen dieser Reihe. Der Fall entwickelt sich im Kopf, nur durch die Dialoge und das, was die Protagonisten durchsprechen.
October 17, 2017
Hercule Poirot is a guest at a weekend house party, given at the Cornish cliff top home of the celebrated actor Sir Charles Cartwright. One of the guests dies after drinking a cocktail but the cause of death is ruled natural causes. He was a reverend with no enemies. But weeks later, almost the same group of people attend another dinner party, and this time the dead man is the host, Dr Bartholomew Strange. Nicotine as poison.
And the prime suspect is … the butler. Dun dun dun.
***
[Sadly I associate the voice of Michael Cochrane - who plays Sir Charles, with the evil Sir Henry Simmerson in Sharpe. I HATED him in that.]
Poirot is meant to be retired (again) so he takes a back seat. He is also aware that the scene hogging Sir Charles wants to play detective and impress the young Miss Egg, so he relies on observations made by Sir Charles and his friend Satterthwaite.
Oooh this one has one of my favourite Christie quotes:
Indeed.
Poirot still finds time to matchmake again. And to make card castles.
4 stars
And the prime suspect is … the butler. Dun dun dun.
***
[Sadly I associate the voice of Michael Cochrane - who plays Sir Charles, with the evil Sir Henry Simmerson in Sharpe. I HATED him in that.]
Poirot is meant to be retired (again) so he takes a back seat. He is also aware that the scene hogging Sir Charles wants to play detective and impress the young Miss Egg, so he relies on observations made by Sir Charles and his friend Satterthwaite.
Oooh this one has one of my favourite Christie quotes:
"That events come to people -- not people to events. Why do some people have exciting lives and other people dull ones? Because of their surroundings? Not at all. One man may travel to the ends of the earth and nothing will happen to him. There will be a massacre a week before he arrives, and an earthquake the day after he leaves, and the boat that he nearly took will be shipwrecked, And another man may live at Baltham and travel to the city every day, and things will happen to him. He will be mixed up with blackmailing gangs and beautiful girls and motor bandits."
Indeed.
Poirot still finds time to matchmake again. And to make card castles.
4 stars
September 30, 2021
It has been such fun to explore some of the many stories of Agatha Christie and her famous Belgian detective. This was a story that was unfamiliar to me and listening to it over a couple of evenings, I was reminded of that golden age of detective fiction when I would probably have been enjoying it on the wireless. The full-cast dramatisations bring Christie’s stories to life. I will definitely be on the look-out for more of the same.
January 25, 2018
Gods help me, but I love how sassy Poirot is. And I think this may be one of the better-plotted, or at least less-outlandish, ones I've heard.
February 24, 2019
I love full cast radio dramatizations.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews