Saturday 31 August 2013

David Suchet's 'Poirot and Me' now available for pre-order on Amazon


I've mentioned this project before on the blog, but now's the time to give it a full blog post. Back in October 2012 (just as production began on the final series), it was announced that Headline Publishing had acquired the rights in Poirot and Me, a book by written by David Suchet in collaboration with Geoffrey Wansell. It was to be published in autumn 2013.

At the time, Headline's Emma Tait stated: 'I am so excited to be publishing this book, which offers a unique opportunity in television publishing. Rather than an outsider's overview, it is the story of an iconic role told by the actor himself and it is fantastic to be working so closely with David and Geoffrey. I believe it will be a very special book and a wonderful way for David to bid farewell to his old friend Hercule Poirot.' David Suchet and Geoffrey Wansell released a joint statement: 'We are thrilled to be given this chance by Headline to bring his portrayal of Hercule Poirot to life for his millions of fans around the world. It's a wonderful – and rare – opportunity for a character actor to be able to explain his life and craft and exactly how he brought such a famous character to television audiences in more than eighty countries.'

Now Amazon.co.uk have made the book available for pre-order. The book will be released November 7, 2013. Se also Headline's page on the release. Reportedly, this is Suchet's personal story of how he researched and 'became' the iconic character (over 320 pages). The book is said to contain lots of his personal photos from the sets over the years. This should be a very interesting read and a perfect companion to the series!

P.S. Judging by this article from the Independent, the final four episodes are set to be shown in November, which means the book's release will coincide with the broadcast of Series Thirteen (and that makes sense, doesn't it?)

4 comments:

  1. I'll read it, that for sure ! Thank you for posting on it !

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  2. I suppose I should give a spoiler alert here?

    There is a "Jekyll and Hyde" theme running through the book Poirot and Me, as Suchet admits to (among other things):

    - catching whatever illness Poirot was supposed to have, including catching cold while filming Hunter's Lodge
    - "feeling lines between [himself and Poirot] blurring, particularly when Poirot is being dramatic and actor-like when making his denouements.
    - not knowing whether he was himself or Poirot while greeting visitors while filming Folly
    - collapsing from heat while filming Egyptian Tomb (granted, Poirot didn't collapse in that one, but it seems in keeping with Poirot's physical sensitivities to the elements and such)
    - arguing with directors and producers when they wanted him to do or wear something he felt sure Poirot would never do or wear, and then making statements like, "I felt bad about interfering with a wonderful director, but I could not let Poirot down," or "I had to stand up for Poirot."

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  3. There's a funny story - which I've also seen Suchet tell in interviews - about a time he walked off the set, just to take a break - but was still in costume. And a tourist addressed him as Poirot, even asking if there had been a murder! He talks in the book about he felt undecided about whether to answer her as himself or Poirot - but yes, he went with Poirot. It's easy to laugh at the tourist, but the thing is HE could have made a different choice there.

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About Me

I'm a passionate fan of Poirot, Agatha Christie and the ITV series. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or requests, please e-mail me at poirotchronology@gmail.com, post a comment on one of my blogs, or get in touch on Twitter @pchronology. (I used to call myself HickoryDickory)