The Crackler (Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime episode)

The Crackler is the tenth and final episode of the television series Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime. The transmission date was 14 January 1984, and the writer was Gerald Savory. The director was Christopher Hodson. It is an adaptation of the Agatha Christie short story of the same name.

Synopsis
Inspector Marriott asks the Beresfords to track down a gang of currency counterfeiters.

Comparison with the original story
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read)
 * The adaptation is fairly faithful to the original with only a few minor changes and one side plot.
 * Unlike many other episdoes where the parody references to other detectives are dropped, here the references to Edgar Wallace are retained., presumably because, like Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown, he was more familiar to TV audiences in the 1980s than some of the other detectives and their methods as featured in the original collection.
 * Jimmy Faulkener has a slightly larger role. Here he is a cousin of Tommy's and he is the one who helps Tommy and Tuppence gain membership of the Python Club. The St. Vincents who had such a role in the original story are not mentioned.
 * There is a small scene where Tuppence tries to chat up Major Laidlaw without much success.
 * There is one additional side plot where Albert Batt is assigned to follow Laidlaw and Héroulade to the Ascot races to see if forged notes are changing hands. Coming back from the mission, he reports that he did observe cash changing hands, and that coming back from Ascot, Laidlaw and Heroulade headed straight for the club and this seems to reinforce Tommy and Tuppence's suspicions. But then Albert adds that Laidlaw is blind and that's why Heroulard always accompanies him.
 * The manner in which Tommy marks his location for the police using valerian to attract stray cats is retained. Here, however, Albert also goes and getches Tuppence who are both present at the denouement.

Cast

 * Francesca Annis as Tuppence Beresford
 * James Warwick as Tommy Beresford
 * Reece Dinsdale as Albert Batt
 * Carolle Rousseau as Marguerite Laidlaw
 * David Quilter as Major Laidlaw
 * Shane Rimmer as Hank Ryder
 * Arthur Cox as Detective Inspector Marriott
 * Christopher Scoular as Captain James "Fruity" Faulkener
 * Peter Godfrey as Maybrick
 * Lawrence Davidson as Monsieur Héroulade
 * Terence Hillyer as Chauffeur
 * Stan Pretty as Harry the Barman