Henry Bonnington

In the short story Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Henry Bonnington was a friend of Hercule Poirot. He enjoyed good food and took Poirot to a dinner at the Gallant Endeavour restaurant at King's Road, Chelsea. There were, he told Poirot, "no foreign kickshaws" there, only good traditional English food. During the course of the dinner they met one of the waitresses Molly, who told them about one of her regular customers. He always came on Tuesdays and Thursdays and always ordered the same food. Just the last week, he had turned up on a Monday, to everyone's surprise, and order something completely different.

Poirot met Bonnington again three weeks later on a train on the Piccadilly Line. There Bonnington gave him the news that the regular customer Molly had told them about has died. Curious about the facts, Poirot decided to investigate.

Portrayals
Henry Bonnington also appears in the film adaptation of the story which was episode 4 of Series 1 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot drama series. In the film, Bonnington was played by Denys Hawthorne. Bonnington's occupation was not stated in the original story but in the film, he became Poirot's dentist. Like in the original, Bonnington like good traditional English food but he and Poirot dined not at the Gallant Endeavour but at the Bishop's Chophouse. Their second meeting was not on a train but in a dental clinic. There Bonnington is working on one of Poirot's "bicuspids" while telling him about the death of the regular customer in the restaurant.