ITV Poirot’s Mystery of the blue train episode: the elaborate version of a short story
I recently watched ITV’s Poirot episode- Mystery of the Blue train (I haven’t read the book yet). I found it to be an extended version of a short story I’d read, and kept wondering why it felt like a similar chain of events. Then, it dawned on me, it was >!Plymouth express!!< with other entertaining side plots.
The core plot (and the names) are near identical-
>!Rich heiress (Florence/ Ruth) murdered- has a deadbeat titled husband (Rupert Carrington/ Derek Kettering) that the oil/ shipping/ mining tycoon father wants his daughter divorced from. There’s a lover- a French count (comte de la Roche/ comte de la rochefour). Carrying an exorbitantly expensive necklace/ jewels that the rich girl tells her papa she won’t be carrying but actually does.!<
Seems simple enough, but we have more!
>!The murderer+ accomplice are the supposed help who actually run burglary rings. When I first heard the name (Ada) Mason, I was half expecting to hear her be revealed as Grace Kidd by the end. Dresses up as her mistress and calls attention at a later time to confuse time of death- the newspaper boy recognising Florence by the blue dress/ dinner service being ordered in by Ruth.!<
It was one of the most chaotic episodes I’ve watched- whether it was meant to be that rushed due to the writing or as a creative choice, but the pace of it was certainly different from the rest. There was a shot in it (>!Poirot seeing Corky pass through the corridor!<) which was near identically present in Branagh’s MOTOE adaptation (yes I’m aware this is a train story too).
I found the valet as the maid’s accomplice rather underwhelming as a solution though, and had clocked the maid when she said she remembered Kettering as the man (similar to the short story). Katherine was a ‘cute’ entry point into the story, her side plot with the Tamplins (?) was rather interesting- though for a moment I hoped the lady tamplin was the killer, she had the energy! (Probably because I’d watched >!Halloween party!< sometime back, and the stereotype of the dominating (and annoying) lady of the house is in my head).
Thoughts?