tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post5047014671984854130..comments2024-03-28T10:08:52.537+01:00Comments on Investigating Agatha Christie's Poirot: Episode-by-episode: Hickory Dickory DockEirikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06440717274193966716noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-43485375521375497322023-10-02T19:29:28.867+02:002023-10-02T19:29:28.867+02:00PrecisementPrecisementAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-91805254855081754542023-10-02T19:23:42.513+02:002023-10-02T19:23:42.513+02:00PrecisementPrecisementAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-43949394313544873482022-05-26T00:37:36.224+02:002022-05-26T00:37:36.224+02:00The accusations of homophobic humour by some comme...The accusations of homophobic humour by some commenters are just woke hysteria. Japp was made to serve faggots because they are an obscurely named regional dish involving chooped liver that Poirot was guaranteed not to have encountered before and to find disgusting. Poirot's claim to have a phobia of faggots is funny principally because it is such an unconvincing pretext, born of desperation to avoid eating the awful food. The word faggot in the sense of a gay man was not current in England in the 1930s, so it is anachronistic nonsense to suggest that's how Poirot meant it. The pun on "homophobia" is the screenwriter's little nudge and wink to the modern audience: harmless wordplay to which the only legitimate objection is that it breaks the fourth wall. Lighten up, snowflakes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-1095635124447030282020-06-14T05:20:03.183+02:002020-06-14T05:20:03.183+02:00It was certainly stupid, and needless. As it was ...It was certainly stupid, and needless. As it was 25 years ago, I'm choosing to let it go.<br />PS the film was over with that scene, anyway.JGregV in L.A.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08334794062246735330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-18524575139361336772020-06-14T05:18:13.092+02:002020-06-14T05:18:13.092+02:00Well, they certainly were naughty words in 1995 wh...Well, they certainly were naughty words in 1995 when this was filmed, and they knew exactly what they were doing. I wasn't as hugely offended as Mr. L-C below was, but moderately surprised that they'd engage in such cheap humor; it was entirely frivolous. There was way too much of the mouse; I was waiting for it to hit a trap when the clock struck, it was so un-subtle. The coincidence of the photo album was too damn much, sorry.JGregV in L.A.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08334794062246735330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-17894769026685022472020-03-29T21:32:46.905+02:002020-03-29T21:32:46.905+02:00I hope that by "too much" you mean to sa...I hope that by "too much" you mean to say that the homophobic humour is disgustingly cruel to gay men. As a 22 year old gay male myself it made watching the rest of the episode impossible. Horowitz and Suchet should apologize. <br />- Griff Llewelyn-Cook Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11544662696451152436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-77065746817186832952020-01-22T14:40:55.864+01:002020-01-22T14:40:55.864+01:00It's been a while since the last message, but ...It's been a while since the last message, but i always come to this site when i watch a Poirot. Firstly, i love the Japp-Poirot comedy, they may be naughty words to us, but they weren't then. Also, i like how Japp's appearance becomes more and more bedraggled while he is away from Emily. Secondly, the hickory dickory theme was a bit tenuous. Thirdly, i don't think it was that obvious. It was clearly a man and they did a fair fist of accusing every man in the house. Finally, having read the book (not one that translates best to contemporary mores), i think they did a fine job of thirty-ising it. <br />sprytehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10408879295443447055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-60430601272918942702018-12-29T05:49:33.051+01:002018-12-29T05:49:33.051+01:00Yes how disappointing to see the murderer revealed...Yes how disappointing to see the murderer revealed in several scenes : the rucksack torn...the staircase scene shot from above....and his face easy to recognise on the photograph.... funny choice to set the action in 1930s.... but i vuess thus has to do with time considerations (poirot and the added Japp wd have to look 20 yrs okder...). I quite liked the comic relief scenes between those two. Thanks for your webpage!A.Labellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14454921104354172009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-72095621893641025992018-11-30T13:52:27.063+01:002018-11-30T13:52:27.063+01:00That seems a bit excessive, especially since the S...<i>That seems a bit excessive, especially since the Series Five episode I mentioned (set at about the same time) covers the difficulty facing female students at universities.</i><br /><br />That was very much an Oxbridge thing rather than English universities in general. Although Oxford had allowed women to be full members from 1920 (though some parts of the university still resisted - e.g. the Oxford Union), Cambridge didn't do this until 1948 (and to this day graduation ceremonies occasionally include women, now in their 90s, being formally admitted to a degree for their studies a lifetime ago).<br /><br />However other universities had already moved on this in earlier years, with the developments at the University of London (whose colleges are the natural places the students would be at) having come in the 19th century.Tim Roll-Pickeringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12589024696145675963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-3338800841702959422016-05-25T09:02:11.254+02:002016-05-25T09:02:11.254+02:00what's the jazzy background music in the scene...what's the jazzy background music in the scene where Poirot, Japp and Miss Lemon visit Valerie Hothouse? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-88130724259329791012015-11-30T19:26:26.780+01:002015-11-30T19:26:26.780+01:00several points about your post and some of the com...several points about your post and some of the comments.<br />actually there were lots of students from empire in england pre war. everybody who can afford went there. oxford and cambridge for instance, were full of them. in addition to histories and biographies of lots of people in countries of empire, there are references in literature (brideshead revisited for one). i don't think they were excluded in episode because they cannot be justified in 1930s. if you read novel, it is clear enough why they were excluded. enough said.<br />also higher education for women was widely available in 30s. exceptions were some elitist places with traditions. it is a mistake to generalize from exceptions. as noted by others here, even in christie, it was the 'missing will' that was exceptional in this regard. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />sittingnuthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08409176960405641998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-27919657024992794572015-09-29T01:49:01.317+02:002015-09-29T01:49:01.317+02:00If the murderer switched the poison with the borac...If the murderer switched the poison with the boracic powder, why was the morphine tartrate still in its labeled bottle when Japp found it under the floorboards rather than in the boracic powder box?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-56943365328012757972015-07-26T01:12:31.142+02:002015-07-26T01:12:31.142+02:00I was just shocked to find in the end credits that...I was just shocked to find in the end credits that the ginger bloke was Damian Lewis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-4837193601815857112015-05-09T20:34:47.013+02:002015-05-09T20:34:47.013+02:00Not only is the murderer revealed early on, but th...Not only is the murderer revealed early on, but the thief is clearly shown in the first scene. We also get to see her watching the jewels being removed from the rucksack and then we see them handed over to Mrs Nicoletis. That's a lot of crucial information given away far too early. And the thefts have already begun before the destruction of the rucksack, when in the book the whole point of the thefts was to make the rucksack look like just one theft among many.<br /><br />The attempts to make the nursery rhyme relevant (ie the constant shots of the mouse) are heavy-handed and a bit silly.<br /><br />While I realise it would have been difficult to justify their presence in the 1930s, it's a shame that when Christie tries (only partly successfully) to clean up her act on so-called ethnic minorities, the adaptation chooses to omit all but one (and has Miss Lemon make a racist remark about her).<br /><br />I'll add my voice to the chorus of approval for Sarah Badel though.Stuart Farquharnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-29553231561452849452015-01-01T03:27:37.288+01:002015-01-01T03:27:37.288+01:00With the exception of Missing Will Christie rarely...With the exception of Missing Will Christie rarely made a plot point of developing education and career opportunities for women. There are actually many educated women, working women, even women in scientific or financial fields scattered throughout Christie. While they're not the norm, necessarily, and while some characters (in the books, sometimes including Poirot) will express disapproval or scepticism, or perhaps pity (that they "have to") work, they also seem to not be a big deal - at least, not as big a deal as you would expect for the era. Difficulties being accepted in their fields (or the question of whether they can still be attractive) are rarely plot points. Many end up dead (Patricia and Celia) or turn out to be criminals (Alice Cunningham of the original Labours) though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-75161934306283809722014-11-03T19:34:26.564+01:002014-11-03T19:34:26.564+01:00I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought ...I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought Sarah Badel really did look like she was related to Pauline Moran! And I enjoy Miss Lemon enjoying herself getting Poirot involved in this case and helping him out.<br /><br />The end exchange between Poirot and Japp was just...eew. It felt like two men coming up with excuses to use naughty words, if I may be so blunt. <br /><br />I can't believe you didn't comment on the use of the literal mouse, and its role in triggering the chase scene.<br /><br />As far as the female students, I have been struck throughout this series by how the younger characters feel almost like they would fit into today's society or something close to it. That was even true of the characters in Christie's books, albeit to a lesser extent than in the series - as far as how often young women showed up who were in scientific or financial careers, the younger people's being fairly blase about divorce and sex scandals and such. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-45816429721622366992014-09-18T20:25:02.465+02:002014-09-18T20:25:02.465+02:00I found this adaptation rather disappointing. And...I found this adaptation rather disappointing. And the changes - aside from the addition of Japp and the expansion of Miss Lemon's role - did not really help the story.The Rush Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13667282586023023623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8555477445321605035.post-38030980942374129572014-07-21T23:18:18.057+02:002014-07-21T23:18:18.057+02:00It's Carter Lane where the YHA is, not Cartis....It's Carter Lane where the YHA is, not Cartis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com