Original Airdate: 10 March 1991 Written by: T. R. Bowen Directed by: Renny Rye Recurring cast: Captain Hastings, Inspector Japp
Tropes
Adaptation Expansion: To fit the hour-long format of the show, several characters are added and the story is fleshed out further.
Adaptational Early Appearance: Both Poirot and Hastings appear at Hunter's Lodge earlier than in the original story. In the original Poirot is consulted by Roger Havering after Harrington Pace's murder, but here they are all part of a hunting party.
Adaptational Jerkass: In the original story very little is mentioned about the victim Harrington Pace's character, only that he had a fraught relationship with his brothers. In the show the fraught family dynamic is largely his fault, controlling his illegitimate brother Jack Stoddard by withholding his money and treating his nephews with ill regard.
Adaptational Karma: The murderers are arrested rather than them successfully escaping then dying in a plane crash.
Adaptational Location Change: Downplayed. While the crime still occurs at Hunter's Lodge as in the story, in the adaptation Poirot does his investigation there and stays at a local hotel. In the story Poirot solves the case from London with Hastings as his "man at the scene".
Asshole Victim: Harrington Pace's controlling personality and rude behavior means that he makes more than his fair share of enemies.
Canon Foreigner: Several new characters are added to flesh out the story, including Archie Havering, a second nephew of Harrington Pace and Jack Stoddard, a gamekeeper who is also Pace's illegitimate half-brother.
I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: Archie Havering's reckless gun handling means he accidentally shoots his uncle. Pace is only lightly wounded, but it doesn't stop him from haranguing Archie as payback.
Impersonation-Exclusive Character: Subverted. In the original story Mrs Middleton was merely a disguise for Zoe Havering to provide her and her husband an alibi, but in the adaptation a real Mrs Middleton exists and was kept away from the lodge since she would have weakened said alibis.
Just Train Wrong: The adaptation features a train announced as being bound for Kings Cross Station - on the London, Midland, and Scottish Railway, which ran into Euston and St Pancras.
Mistaken for Dying: Poirot comes down with a cold, calls it a "deadly fever" and feels like he's "a corpse that's waiting to die". However, when he is given food, like blackberry tea offered to him by Mr. Anstruther, for instance, he and his "little grey cells" feel rejuvenated, and he gets back on the case.
Obfuscating Disability: Poirot plays up his sickness to the point of appearing completely feeble.
Sick Episode: For Poirot. Interestingly enough, the sickness was also in the original story, unlike other instances where a main character falls ill.
They Have the Scent!: Jack Stoddard uses one of the dogs to sniff what appears to be Mrs. Middleton's dress; the dog runs off, sniffing any trace it can find, until it tracks down to the real murderer: Zoe Havering herself.
Ungrateful Bastard: Mr. Anstruther, the railroad man whose bike had been stolen by the perpetrator is rather unimpressed by the fact that Poirot and company took effort to return his admittedly dirty, dinged-up bike at the end of the episode. This leads to a rather philosophical discussion between Poirot and Japp about the gratitude of people towards detectives.
Villain Stole My Bike: A bearded man (who is actually a disguised Zoe Havering) steals Mr. Anstruther's bike and rides away from the train station. Havering then goes to a field and buries the bike along with the beard disguise so that she can enter Hunter's Lodge as Mrs. Middleton and kill her uncle Harrington Pace for the money. Poirot, Hastings and Japp return the bike to Mr. Anstruther at the end of the episode, but because it's covered in mud and damaged from the way Zoe treated it, he's less than enthusiastic about getting it back in its current state, causing Poirot to ask in frustration whether Mr. Anstruther wants it or not: he reluctantly agrees to take it back and says he's going to ask someone to take a look at it, with the episode ending as Poirot grumbles about how ungrateful people are nowadays to Hastings and Japp.
Wham Shot: The police summon Mrs Middleton for questioning... and when she exits the car it's clearly someone different from the Mrs Middleton we've been following.
