Original Airdate: 21 January 1990 Written by: Michael Baker and David Renwick Directed by: Edward Bennett Recurring cast: Captain Hastings, Inspector Japp, Miss Lemon
Tropes
Adaptational Nationality: Charles Lester, who was a British bank clerk in the original, is now an American stock broker.
Artistic License – History: Downplayed. The episode is shown to take place in 1935 through the hotel register, but the Monopoly game Poirot and Hastings play was released in 1936.
Chekhov's Gag: A subplot throughout the episode involves Poirot and Hastings having a rather animated game of Monopoly. The killer is unveiled when he assumes the Monopoly rules pamphlet Poirot gave him is something that he shouldn't have known.
Impersonation-Exclusive Character: The Mr. Wu Ling we see in the introductory scene turns out to be an imposter, with the real one later turning up dead.
Mission Control: Japp coordinates a fleet of police cars to help apprehend a suspect.
Named In The Adaptation: The character named Dyer receives the first name Reginald in the adaptation.
One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Played for Laughs. Lord Pearson arrives at Poirot's place to ask for assistance in the murder of his associate Mr. Wu Ling, while Poirot assumes Lord Pearson (who happens to manage the bank Poirot patronizes) is visiting to apologize for the errors in his bank account. It takes a while before Poirot is disabused of the notion.
Spotting the Thread: When bank security presents a man of East Asian descent to Lord Pearson as Wu Ling, he berates them for getting the wrong man, but when he and Poirot are sent to identify the dead Wu Ling, Lord Pearson confides that he can't tell the dead man from Adam. This makes Poirot suspicious of him.
Take That!: One at Americans that later becomes a plot point:
Poirot: The Americans always put the month before the day, Hastings.
