Douglas Watkinson

The episode is considerably changed from the book's plot. It is, fortunately, in ways that organize events more lucidly. Poirot and Hastings arrive in a *completely* different part of England, the Lake District, and one of the characters is an old chum of Hastings' from the Army. Charles the Chum is *far* more interesting in the TV version! Some very of-its-time marital drama is also significantly less tedious in the adaptation, becoming a meaty matter of genuine and necessary relevance to the story instead of mealymouth whining. The murderer doesn't commit suicide. And dear me, didn't Bob just get a different ending! Instead of going home with Poirot (!!), he is rehomed with some deeply ditzy spiritualists whose presence in the story becomes thereby a matter more than convenient to the plot.

On the whole, I prefer the filmed version. Both have charms and both have flaws. I'll plump for the modern take on marriage every time.… (meer)