Cat Among the Pigeons
- Original Airdate: 21 September 2008
Written by: Mark Gatiss
Directed by: James Kent
Recurring cast: n/a
Based on: Cat Among the Pigeons
Tropes
- Actor Allusion: This isn't the first time Katie Leung attends a British boarding school, though Meadowbank is in England, not in Scotland like Hogwarts.
- Adaptational Badass: Downplayed. Ann Shapland is already an infamous spy in the original novel, but in the adaptation she's also strong enough to throw a javelin through a fully grown woman.
- Adaptational Jerkass: In the novel, Miss Springer is a comparatively innocuous character; in the adaptation, she becomes a nasty sadist and an Asshole Victim.
- Adapted Out:
- Colonel Pikeway and his team are removed from the adaptation, leaving Adam Goodman as the sole agent infiltrating Meadowbank.
- Prince Ali's secret family is also unmentioned in the adaptation, as well as Mr Robinson's intervention on their behalf to take back the Ramat royal jewels.
- The subplot regarding Miss Blanche impersonating her sister is excised as well.
- Age Lift: In the original novel, Honoria Bulstrode is an old lady already reaching her retirement age. In the adaptation, she's still a relatively young woman who wants to retire early because she no longer felt the challenge and thrills of running a school.
- Artistic License – History: The Setting Update of the adaptation creates a bit of this. The original novel was published and set in the Fifties, during which the decolonization of the British Empire was in full swing, represented by Ramat falling to revolutionaries that served as the Framing Device for the book. The adaptation is set during the Genteel Interbellum Setting, during which Britain held a rather firm grip on its colonial possessions, which would have made the Ramat revolution rather anachronistic.
- Ascended Extra: In an odd fashion, Poirot himself. In the book, he's mostly a secondary character who doesn't become involved in the case until the final third of the story. In the TV adaptation, he's an old friend of Miss Bullstrode, whom the headmistress had invited in the beginning of the semester to help her choose a suitable successor for her.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Ann Shapland notes how apropos it is for Adam Goodman to be eating an apple as they have a picnic together.
- Bullying a Dragon: Miss Springer, who enjoyed tormenting people after learning their secrets, finally oversteps her bounds when she catches a rogue spy in the middle of retrieving stolen jewels.
- Composite Character: Miss Vansittart is combined with Miss Rich. As a result, Miss Rich becomes Miss Bulstrode's preferred successor who is attacked by a jealous Miss Chadwick. Unlike Vansittart, she survives.
- Dating Catwoman: Adam Goodman and Ann Shapland get involved with each other — and it's later revealed that Ann is not only the very same foreign agent Adam is looking for, but is also the killer.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation:
- In the novel, Miss Springer was shot to death. Here she is impaled by a spear.
- Miss Blanche is drowned rather than being bludgeoned with a sandbag.
- Do Not Go Gentle: In the prologue, during the Ramat revolution, Bob Rawlinson and Prince Ali Yusuf are being cornered in a shootout and wounded, and after locking themselves in the royal bedroom, the pair decide to go all-out in a blaze of glory. As soon as the rebels bust down the door, tragedy ensues.
- Dramatic Irony:
- When Ann Shapland asks why Poirot is snooping around Meadowbank, he tells her that he's there as a spy on behalf of the King of Belgium as cover for spying on the school's faculty. Of course, Ann Shapland is revealed to be a spy herself.
- When Ann Shapland discusses the flowers at the school with Adam, she assumes they're chrysanthemums, which Adam immediately corrects her on — they're angelicas. Ann is later revealed to be the foreign agent called "The Angel", which Adam didn't know until she was outed.
- Ethereal Choir: Happens at the beginning and end credits, as the soundtrack has a sort of Harry Potter feel to it.
- Femme Fatale Spy: Ann Shapland aka "The Angel". She is beautiful and ruthless, and unlike the novel she uses seduction as a tactic on both Bob Rawlinson and Adam Goodman.Ann: [to Adam] What, lover boy, you thought you've made a good catch? I've eaten better fellows than you for breakfast. It was just a big of fluff until the fuss died down and I could get away.
- Foil: Our two culprits. On one hand we have Ann Shapland, a ruthless spy who, in her own words finds murder "natural as breathing". On the other, Miss Chadwick, who is so horrified by her own spontaneous murder attempt that she immediately has a panic attack and later makes amends by saving her would-be victim.
- I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: Harriet Walter (Ms. Bulstrode) and Carol Macready (Matron Johnson) previously appeared together in the Lord Peter Wimsey episode Gaudy Night.
- Javelin Thrower: Ann Shapland kills Miss Springer by tossing a sports javelin through her chest. The second time we see the action, Springer spits out blood as she is impaled.
- Match Cut: Miss Bulstrode inspecting the lacrosse sticks is juxtaposed with rifles being taken from their racks as the revolution in Ramat is underway.
- Mundane Utility: Honoria Bulstrode asks her friend Poirot to use his excellent character judgment skills to help her pinpoint her successor as headmistress of Meadowbank.
- My God, What Have I Done?: It is revealed that Miss Chadwick, thinking that Miss Honoria Bulstrode preferred Miss Eileen Rich as a successor more than her, tried to kill Miss Rich with a sandbag, hoping that Miss Bulstrode would choose Chadwick as successor; but when she knocked Rich out unconscious, she realized the horror of what she had done and let out a terrifying scream. In the original novel, she instead did this to the Adapted Out character of Mrs Vansittart, with fatal results.
- Oh, Crap!: Miss Springer has an epic one right before she dies, going from smug to terrified when she realizes that her coworker is about to silence her for good.
- Redemption Equals Death: As Chadwick is dying in the hospital after Taking the Bullet for Poriot and Miss Rich, she feels that she could never forgive herself for attacking the latter, but Bulstrode tells her she's done the right thing.
- Sadist Teacher: Miss Springer is shown bullying Patricia Forbes about her weight during sports class to the point where the poor girl throws up in the middle of said class.
- Spared by the Adaptation:
- Miss Rich (who takes on Miss Vansittart's role of the second victim) does not die after being attacked from behind.
- Miss Chadwick's death after Taking the Bullet for Miss Bulstrode is much more ambiguous in this version.
- Taking the Bullet: Toward the end, after Ann Shapland is denounced as a murderer and the police arrive, she pulls out a gun and attempts to kill Miss Bulstrode and Poirot for finding her out. Miss Chadwick, however, goes out in front of both of them and takes the bullet in an attempt to atone for the wrong she has done in knocking Miss Rich out unconscious with a sandbag.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Patricia Forbes vomits at the gymnasium and has to be escorted out for health reasons.
- Voodoo Doll: We see separate shots of a voodoo doll being made in the likeness of Miss Springer and then played with a pin until it is stabbed through the chest. This foreshadows her eventual cause of death and becomes a clue later on.
