Cards on the Table
- Episode aired Mar 19, 2006
- TV-PG
- 1h 32m
The enigmatic, sinister Mr. Shaitana, one of London's richest men, invites 8 guests, 4 of them possible murderers and 4 'detectives' to his opulent apartment.The enigmatic, sinister Mr. Shaitana, one of London's richest men, invites 8 guests, 4 of them possible murderers and 4 'detectives' to his opulent apartment.The enigmatic, sinister Mr. Shaitana, one of London's richest men, invites 8 guests, 4 of them possible murderers and 4 'detectives' to his opulent apartment.
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Did you know
- TriviaThe novel "Cards on the Table" (1936) features a crossover between four recurring characters of Agatha Christie. 1) Hercule Poirot was introduced in "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" (1920) and was Christie's most frequently appearing protagonist. 2) Colonel Race, a secret agent of the MI5, was introduced in the novel "The Man in the Brown Suit" (1924). 3) Superintendent Battle of the Scotland Yard was previously among the main characters in the novels "The Secret of Chimneys" (1925) and "The Seven Dials Mystery" (1929). 4) Ariadne Oliver was introduced in the short story "The Case of the Discontented Soldier" (1932) as a freelance assistant to protagonist Parker Pyne. She had also appeared in the short story "The Case of the Rich Woman" (1932). Both of the stories were published in book form in the collection "Parker Pyne Investigates" (1934).
- GoofsDuring the party, Shaitana talks to a waiter and pushes him towards Poirot and Mrs. Oliver. When Shaitana pushes him, there is one cocktail glass on the tray carried by the waiter. When he approaches Poirot and Mrs. Oliver, there are two.
- Quotes
Hercule Poirot: The question is, can Hercule Poirot possibly by wrong?
Mrs. Lorrimer: No one can always be right.
Hercule Poirot: But I am! Always I am right. It is so invariable it startles me. And now it looks very much as though I may be wrong, and that upsets me. But I should not be upset, because I am right. I must be right because I am never wrong.
- ConnectionsVersion of Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie: Cartes sur table (2014)
I am not a purist when it comes to television adaptations. I understand that because television is an entirely different medium than literature, what works on the written page may not necessarily work on the screen. The producers of the Poirot television series have shown on plenty of occasions that they can update Christie's work successfully for the screen. "Five Little Pigs" was just about perfect; my personal favorite Christie, "Sad Cypress," was also excellent, without being slavishly faithful to the original material (i.e., making the wise decision to get Poirot into the story far earlier). The series has even, at times, improved upon Christie's weaker entries, as with "Cat Among the Pigeons." But when they screw up, they do so badly, and it's unfortunate that they've done so with one of Christie's best books. This is an adaptation that just can't leave well enough alone, one that makes too many unnecessary changes to the plot that do nothing to enhance the original material. The script swaps the personalities of two characters; introduces an unnecessary mother-daughter relationship; and changes Mr. Shaitana's reason for holding the fatal party. My biggest complaint has to do with the decision to make Colonel Hughes a suspect, which causes attention to wander away from the four bridge players. A big reason why this particular novel is one of Christie's most taut and exciting is that these players are the only four suspects. Attention in the adaptation should likewise have been kept exclusively on those four characters. Above all, the adaptation studiously ignores much of Poirot's psychological analysis of the bridge game and the scores to unravel the mystery. I suppose that was done to make the episode more comprehensible to viewers who don't play bridge, but with some careful work they could have retained much of Poirot's explanations without alienating the non-bridge-playing audience.
Casting-wise, the episode is a mixed bag. The producers made a major coup signing up Zoë Wanamaker for the recurring role of Mrs. Ariadne Oliver, a larger-than-life mystery novel writer whom Christie often used as her surrogate in her novels. Wanamaker is perfect for the role, capturing Mrs. Oliver's eccentricities without turning her into a grotesque or a caricature. She would go on to feature in a number of other episodes. Lesley Manville does a good job with the role of Mrs. Lorrimer, but Alexander Siddig, in the key role of Mr. Shaitana, seems to be sleepwalking through the entire episode in a completely phoned-in performance.
Overall, a disappointing watch.
- granola357
- Jul 12, 2016
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- Albert Memorial, Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London, England, UK(Poirot, Miss Oliver and Supt. Wheeler walk around the memorial discussing the case. Later on Poirot and Colonel Hughes do the same.)
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