The Veiled Lady (Agatha Christie's Poirot episode)

The Veiled Lady is the second episode of series 2 of the ITV British television drama series Agatha Christie's Poirot featuring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot, first broadcast on 14 January 1990 in the UK. The episode is an adaptation of the Agatha Christie short story of the same name and was directed by Edward Bennett with dramatisation by Clive Exton.

Synopsis
Poirot is approached by a heavily veiled woman, Lady Millicent Castle Vaughan. She asks him to discreetly help deal with a blackmailer who has stolen her love letters that could imperil her engagement to the Duke of Southshire.

The adaptation is fairly faithful to the original story with some embellishments for drama and humour.

Comparison with Original Story
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) This adaptation is highly faithful to the original story, with only a few minor additions and embellishments:
 * Lady Millicent meets Poirot and Hastings not in their house but at the Athena Hotel
 * In the original, Poirot tells Hastings that he had earlier gone to Lavington's house ostensibly to install locks and had sawn through the window latch. In the adaptation this is dramatized entirel. Poirot cycles to Lavington's house disguised as a Swiss electrician and spends the day "installing" the locks.
 * In the process he meets Mrs Godber (additional character), Lavington's housekeeper. She is suspicious of foreigners. She tricks Poirot by saying she doesn't live in but goes back to Streaham for the night. Later when Poirot and Hastings breaks into the house, she's in the house and hears them. She goes out and summons a policeman. Poirot ends up being arrested!
 * Hastings calls Japp to get Poirot released. Lots of humour here. Japp tells the policeman no one knows the name of the housebreaker. He's called "the Mad Dog".
 * The clue about Gertie's scruffy shoes is not used. When Japp springs Poirot from jail, he tells him that Lavington was the man who had been found dead in Holland the previous week. This gives Poirot the inkling that something is amiss.
 * Gertie's final meeting with Poirot takes place not at his house as in the original, but at the Natural History Museum.
 * After Gertie is arrested by Japp, she gives an explanation as to how she had gotten involved with Lavington. This is to tie up a loose end in the original story. Jewel theft and blackmail don't normally mix. Gertie explains that Lavington had forced his way into their plans.

Cast

 * David Suchet as Hercule Poirot
 * Hugh Fraser as Captain Hastings
 * Philip Jackson as Chief Inspector Japp
 * Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon
 * Frances Barber as Lady Millicent (see also Gertie)
 * Terence Harvey as Lavington (see also Joey Weatherly)
 * Carole Hayman as Mrs Godber
 * Tony Stephens as Sergeant
 * Don Williams as Constable
 * Lloyd McGuire as Museum Guard
 * Peter Geddis as Museum Guard

Tropes and Themes

 * The Art Deco 1930s - Senate House, University of London, used as the Athena Hotel
 * Lavish scenes
 * Burlington Arcade
 * Rendezvous with Lady Millicent in the Natural History Museum
 * The chase sequence - chase through the exhibits of the Natural History Museum
 * Hasting's hobbies
 * Sailing boat in Hyde Park

Filming Locations

 * Senate House, Unviversity of London - used as the Athena Hotel
 * Burlington Arcade
 * Natural History Museum
 * Hyde Park
 * Ailsa Road, Twickenham - Poirot cycles past an Art Deco house on his way to the Lavington's residence