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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Storyline
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)
Shaitana is a wealthy but mysterious man in London. His hobbies include photography, art and an interest in crime, especially those that have gotten away with it.
At a lavish dinner party Mr Shaitana sets up two groups of four people to play cards in different rooms. One group contains Poirot as well as a superintendent, a crime writer and a colonel. The sleuths as they call themselves.
It leads to a question of where that leaves the other group of four who might be more unsavoury despite being outwardly respectable. Mr Shaitana is found stabbed in his chair in the room where the more unsavoury lot were playing who immediately become suspects.
Something that Mr Shaitana said that evening at the party must have triggered the crime like some of the people in attendance had something in their past to hide. Poirot suspects the victim had something more elaborate in his mind.
This episode has an intriguing build up and despite a small pool of suspects it initially keeps up the suspense but then it goes off the boil. It becomes entertaining but more in a ridiculous manner.
I believe that the adaptation diverts rather a lot from the book, the denouement is rather left field as to the murderer's motives.
- Prismark10
- Sep 5, 2018
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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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