Nigel Guest

Nigel Guest is a non-canonical character who was created for the film adaptation of Jane in Search of a Job, the ninth episode of the Thames Television series The Agatha Christie Hour. He is the equivalent of an unnamed young man, the son of a bootmaker and an aspiring painter. At the bazaar he notices something unusual about Jane, follows her and subsequently intervenes.

In this adaptation, this young man is given a name and has a more detailed but different backstory. He is a fellow tenant of Jane Cleveland at the boarding house run by Miss Northwood. At the beginning of the show he is a prospective police cadet, about to start training at the police college at Hendon in a week's time. Unlike the original story where Jane keeps her new job to herself (she had instructions to be discreet), here Jane tells Nigel all about the job and the charity bazaar she had to attend the next day. She also treats Nigel to some champagne bought with the advance she had received. Nigel is suspicious about the job and concerned about the danger.

The next day when Jane sets off on her job, Nigel follows on a motorcycle. When he spots Jane (now dressed as the Grand Duchess Pauline of Ostrava leaving in a car, he continues to tail it, finally ending up at a farmhouse where the robbery gang intends to hold her. Nigel reports the events to the police and speaks to a superintendent. He then returns to the farmhouse to look for Jane but ends up being knocked out by a gang member Manfred. After he wakes up he rushes off to fetch the police.

Towards the end of the show, the police superintendent tells Nigel that he had taken up Nigel's suggestion and allowed the gang members through the police road blocks so that they would lead them to the rest of the gang. He compliments Nigel on his detective skills and says that he would do well at Hendon College.

Like the unnamed man in the original story, Nigel also had a father in the boot trade, "the king of boots inn Northampton." His father wanted him to follow in the trade but he always wanted to be a policeman. The unnamed man in the original story wanted to be an artist. Like the unnamed man, Nigel's background in footwear enabled him to spot the switch between Jane and the Grand Duchess because Jane wore high heels while the Grand Duchess low. In the show Nigel does not precisely propose to Jane although it is hinted and they end up kissing.