The Disappearance of the Prime Minister (Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple)

The Disappearance of the Prime Minister (総理大臣の失踪 - Sōridaijin no Shissō) was a Japanese anime television story produced by Oriental Light and Magic for NHK television. The story was broadcast in two parts and formed Episodes 9 and 10 of NHK's anime series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple. The adaptation was written by Hiroshi Shimokawa, directed chiefly by Naohito Takahashi and first broadcast on 5 September 2004 and 12 September 2004. It was an adaptation of the Agatha Christie's The Kidnapped Prime Minister.

Production Details
The story arc is narrated and broadcast in 2 episodes as follows:

Synopsis
Lord Estair, the Home Secretary asks Poirot to help find the prime minister who has been kidnapped. However he is not used to Poirot's methods.

Comparison with Original Story
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) This is one of the few, if not the only, story in the series where the plot deviates significantly from the original. It is not clear why this is so. It could be that the original had a lot of description and very little action which could best be exploited with the anime format. Certainly, action scenes feature very strongly in the adaptation.

Hastings, Mabel, Miss Lemon and Poirot are at Whitehaven mansions listening to a radio announcement about the attempted shooting of the prime minister. Inspector Sharpe turns up and asks Poirot to come there is an urgent mission for him. He takes Poirot to a waiting car where Lord Estair briefs him on the events: how the prime minister had been shot at on the way to Windsor. That had passed but then the prime minister had crossed the Channel to Boulogne, gotten into a car and then disappeared. The case is urgent--there's only about 24 hours before the Prime Minister is due to appear at a conference in Paris. This Lord Estair is portrayed different than in the original where he knew Poirot and regarded him highly. Here he doesn't know Poirot. He is arrogant and is surprised to learn that he is Belgian.

Sharpe had earlier told Hastings and Mabel that they cannot come along but the two refuse to be left out and so jump into a car and follow Poirot's car all the way to Dover. They watch Poirot go on board a destroyer and sneak on board also.

There is no discussion of the case on board. In this adaptation, Sharpe is the one who teaches Poirot some exercises to deal with seasickness and they do not resemble the Method of Laverguier as described in the original. Hastings and Mabel are caught by the troops on board. Lord Estair allows them to remain with Poirot.

At Boulogne, they learn that Captain Daniels has been found. They interview him but don't learn much. Poirot is also shown a photo taken by a journalist of the Prime Minister all bandaged up, getting into what turned out to be a fake car. There's a report that they have also found the car. Estair wants to go and look at the car but Poirot declines--he wants to dine!

Halfway through the meal, Sharpe turns up and says they seem to have located the kidnap gang holed up in a wooden hut. Sharpe takes Poirot there. Troops under Major Norman have surrounded the hut and are ready to storm it. But Poirot says they have to be careful and he simply walks up to the door and enters. As he expected, the hut is empty. The supposed gang has escaped!

Estair, Norman and Daniels plan a massive search operation in the surrounding area for the gang and the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, Poirot tells Estair he wants to go back to England. Estair is highly hostile. He is losing his patience with Poirot's methods. Estair tells Poirot he can go if he wishes, but Boulogne port has been sealed off and no ships are allowed to leave. He wishes him good luck.

Poirot, Hastings and Mabel return to Boulogne and consider stealing a rowing boat to get back to England. Then Sharpe turns up. He says he has worked with Poirot enough to trust him so he will help him get back to England. He has arranged a small tug boat. They start steaming out but the British destroyer spots them. It has orders not to allow any ship to leave so they open fire! Poirot, Hastings and Mabel try to dodge the bullets while Sharpe tries to steer out of harm's way.

Back in England, Poirot sends Sharpe off on an errand (it is never explained what this is). Meanwhile, he, Hastings and Mabel head for Windsor. They spot an estate agent and Poirot has an idea. From the estate agent, Poirot gets a list of nearby cottage hospitals and then he sends Hastings and Mabel off to make enquiries at each of them. Meanwhile, Poirot asks the estate agent for a list of large houses with gardens in the area which had been rented recently. There are eight, seven by regular customers and only one by a first time customer, one "Trebarline". Poirot calls Miss Lemon to check Who's Who and decides that is the right house.

Poirot meets up with Sharpe and a large squad of policemen. They storm the house and find ... nothing. The maid insists no one else is in the house. But Poirot spots a newly built fireplace. He looks around into it and spots a hatch which opens to an underground cellar. There they find the kidnapped Prime Minister and O'Murphy.

The Prime Minister is flown to Paris for his conference. Meanwhile, Sharpe, Poirot and the others fly to Boulogne where they tell Estair the good news and denounce Daniels. Poirot tells Daniels the maid who is a German spy Frau Eberthal has made a full confession. Poirot then reconstructs the crime in a series of flashbacks. He tells Daniels he became suspicious ever since he saw the photo of the bandaged Prime Minister getting into the car. Daniels had said that the Prime Minister was just nicked by the bullet. There was no reason to be highly bandaged up. Face with the evidence, Daniels confesses that he is a German spy and is taken away.

On the ship back to England, Lord Estair is ungracious about Poirot's success. He tells them to treat the whole matter as a secret. It had never happened! They return to Whitehaven Mansions and are pleasantly surprised to see a bouquet of flowers. There's a card from the Prime Minister telling Poirot he was on time and offering his thanks.

Characters/Voice Talents
Note not every voice talent is credited. It is also possible that some of the voice talents supplied the voice of more than one character
 * Masako Jô as Oliver
 * Fumiko Orikasa as Mabel
 * Hirofumi Nojima as Hastings
 * Kôtarô Satomi as Hercule Poirot
 * Atsuko Tanaka as Miss Lemon
 * Hiroki Matsukata as Lord Estair
 * Yûsaku Yara as Inspector Sharpe
 * Frau Eberthal
 * Mr David MacAdam
 * Captain Daniels
 * O'Murphy
 * Major Norman