The BBC has announced a fresh TV adaptation of Agatha Christie’s moustachioed detective Hercule Poirot.
The six-part series will star Edward Bluemel as the internationally famous crime-solver, who was immortalised on ITV screens by David Suchet for decades.
Poirot was a staple of British TV through the 1990s and into the 2010s, before the Belgian private investigator was emotionally killed off in 2013.
Bluemel, 33, will be best known to fans of the prematurely cancelled fantasy period drama My Lady Jane, in which he co-starred, as well as Killing Eve and Netflix’s own Christie adaptation Seven Dials.
Titled Hercule, the new show has been described as ‘an intimate study of Hercule the man and an epic portrait of Britain between the wars’ in an official announcement from the broadcaster.
The series will ‘take a magnifying glass to three of Christie’s most celebrated stories while also charting Hercule’s burgeoning friendship with Captain Arthur Hastings, his early encounters with Scotland Yard’s James Japp and introducing him to one particular nemesis…’
Bluemel said in the announcement: ‘I feel very lucky to have been trusted with such an iconic character who has been played by so many great actors. I can’t wait to continue Hercule’s legacy.’
Christie’s great-grandson James Prichard will come on board as an executive producer. In his statement he noted that his father worked with Suchet on the long-running ITV show.
He added: ‘I now have the good fortune of being able to share my great-grandmother’s brilliant stories with a new generation of viewers.
‘Edward Bluemel is an extremely talented performer and will make a great addition to the long line of actors that have played this celebrated character, aided and abetted by Benji Walters’ thoughtful scripts. I cannot wait to see Edward on screen as Hercule Poirot.’
The series, which begins filming in Liverpool this summer, will be written by Benji Walters, who penned the ITV crime drama Code of Silence. Jonny Campbell, whose credits include Dracula and Doctor Who, will be directing the first two episodes.
Rebecca Durbin and Damien Timmer, executive producers for production company Mammoth Screen, said: ‘Edward Bluemel and Benji Walters are both extraordinary talents, and it is a joy to see them take on this beloved character and make him their own.
‘Hercule is both a love letter to Agatha Christie and a fascinating new perspective on an iconic figure – we hope viewers will find it as arresting as we do!’
Will you be tuning into Hercule?
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Definitely
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I’m less sure
Hercule will premiere on BBC iPlayer and BBC One. The show will air on BritBox in North America.
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