Cards on the Table (Agatha Christie's Poirot episode)

Cards on the Table is the second episode of series ten of Agatha Christie's Poirot. It was broadcast on 19 March 2006. The screenplay was written by Nick Dear, and the episode was directed by Sarah Harding. It is a feature-length adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name.

Synopsis
The mysterious Mr Shaitana invites eight guests to a dinner party. Four of them may possibly be murderers; the other four are detectives of various sorts. During an after-dinner game of bridge, Mr Shaitana himself is stabbed through the heart. Everyone has an alibi. No-one witnessed the murder. Poirot must lead the detectives in questioning the suspects, and unravelling the gruesome events.

Cast

 * David Suchet as Hercule Poirot
 * James Alper as Shaitana's Butler
 * Philip Bowen as Mr Luxmore
 * Cordelia Bugeja as Mrs Lily Luxmore
 * Zigi Ellison as Mrs Dorothy Craddock
 * Tristan Gemmill as Major Despard
 * Alex Jennings as Dr John Roberts
 * Lucy Liemann as Miss Burgess
 * Lesley Manville as Mrs Lorrimer
 * Lyndsey Marshal as Anne Meredith
 * Jenny Ogilvie as Millie
 * Robert Pugh as Colonel Hughes
 * Douglas Reith as Serge Mureau
 * Alexander Siddig as Mr Shaitana
 * Zoë Wanamaker as Ariadne Oliver
 * Honeysuckle Weeks as Rhoda Dawes
 * David Westhead as Superintendent Jim Wheeler
 * Philip Wright as Sergeant O'Connor
 * Elizabeth Ford as Woman in Art Gallery (uncredited)
 * Laurence Richardson as Guest at Exhibition (uncredited)
 * Uncredited actress as Mrs Benson

Mentioned but not seen on screen

 * Charles Craddock

Comparison with Original Novel
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) The portrayal strayed from the source material in the following respects:


 * Superintendent Battle (in the novel) is replaced by Superintendent Wheeler, and Colonel Race by Colonel Hughes. Most of the minor characters are omitted.
 * The basic premise of the original novel is retained. Shaitana invites to dinner four individuals whom he suspects have killed before and have so far gotten away with it. In addition four "sleuths" are invited. Bridge is played after dinner, and then Shaitana is found killed. The solution relies partly on reconstructing the bridge game played by the four suspects.
 * In this adaptation, Shaitana says he has a surprising announcement after bridge. This is to set up a sense of urgency for the killing. In the book he doesn't make such an announcement. It is assumed that the killer thought that Shaitana intended to make revelations about a past crime and thus is spurred to kill Shaitana.
 * The backstory of how Major Despard killed Mr Luxmore is slightly different. In the adaptation, Mrs Luxmore is not interviewed.
 * In the book, Rhoda Dawes' aunt is Mrs Deering. Anne worked for Mrs Benson and then Mrs Deering. Mrs Benson caught Anne stealing and then she died after drinking hat paint. Everyone accepted that this was an accident until Superintendent Battle started asking questions about the case after Shaitana's death. In the adaptation, the dynamics are changed. Rhoda is now the niece of Mrs Benson. Poirot surmises that she is the one who killed Mrs Benson but made Anne continue to think she caused the death by putting the silver polish in the syrup of fig bottle. Rhoda did this because Mrs Benson had caught Anne stealing, and did not want Mrs Benson to dismiss Anne.
 * When in this adaptation, Anne wants to marry Major Despard, Rhoda causes a rowing accident to try to drown Anne. Major Despard rescues Anne but Rhoda herself drowns. In the book, it is the other way round. Anne causes a rowing accident to kill Rhoda to prevent her from telling about Mrs Benson. Rhoda is rescued by Major Despard and Anne drowns. Major Despard pairs off with Rhoda in the original but in the adaptation he pairs off with Anne.
 * In this adaptation, Mrs Lorrimer is revealed to be Anne's mother and confesses to killing Shaitana in order to protect Anne but Poirot sees through it. In the original Mrs Lorrimer does confess to the killing to protect Anne but Anne is not her daughter. She did it because of a feeling of kinship. Poirot also sees through it.
 * Dr Roberts kills Mrs Lorrimer in the original. In this adaptation, this sideplot is omitted.
 * In the book Dr Roberts kills Shaitana becauses Mr Craddock because he was threatening to have him struck off the medical register. Later, he also has to kill Mrs Craddock because he thought she knew. In the adaptation, Roberts has a different motive. Here Roberts is gay and having an affair with Mr Craddock. Mrs Craddock found out and threatened to expose it so Roberts kills her. The same mechanism is used to kill her in both cases: using an infected needle to inoculate her for her trip to Egypt.
 * Mr Shaitana was a drug-user and tired of life. He knew he would be killed by one of his guests so he took sleeping pills to fall asleep and feel nothing when being killed. In the original he did not drug himself.
 * One of the sleuths, Superintendent Wheeler himself, has a shady secret in the adaptation.
 * Photography is a major trope in this adaptation. After murder, there is a burglary at Shaitana's house. Poirot establishes that this was to retrieve certain photographs, apparently incriminating photographs of Superintendent Wheeler, who is gay.

Tropes and themes

 * Art Deco 1930s - not exactly Art Deco, the Peacock House (Shaitana's House) is an example of "Arts and Crafts" style architecture.

Filming Locations

 * Neal and Palmer, Piccadilly Arcade - stocking shop
 * Spring Cottage, Cliveden House, Berkshire - Rhoda and Anne's cottage
 * Albert Memorial, Kensington - consultations between the sleuths
 * Ham House, Twickenham, Richmond-upon-Thames - interview with Despard
 * The Peacock House, Holland Park, London - Shaitana's House
 * Alexandra Court, 171-175, Queen's Gate, South Kensington, London - home of Ariadne Oliver