David Suchet Stole the Show in Agatha Christie’s Thirteen at Dinner

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As a huge Agatha Christie fan, I think most of us immediately think of David Suchet as Hercule Poirot – he truly defined that role for a generation in the British series. He captured Poirot so perfectly, bringing this famous detective to life in a way few others had. But what’s fascinating, and a lot of people don’t realize, is that before becoming Poirot, Suchet actually played another one of Christie’s memorable characters!

The 1985 TV movie Thirteen at Dinner is based on Agatha Christie’s novel Lord Edgware Dies. Peter Ustinov, who famously portrayed Hercule Poirot in several adaptations between the late 1970s and early 1980s, stars as the detective. Interestingly, David Suchet also appears in this version, but not as Poirot—he plays Inspector Japp instead.

Thirteen at Dinner Adapts One of Poirot’s Most Underrated Novels

I’m a huge Agatha Christie fan, and everyone knows her famous detective, Hercule Poirot! He’s the star of over thirty novels and tons of short stories. While lots of people have read classics like Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, I sometimes wonder if some of her other great books, like Lord Edgware Dies, get a little overlooked.

Published in 1933, Lord Edgware Dies is the seventh novel in the series featuring the famous Belgian detective. The story, also known as Thirteen at Dinner, centers around the murder of Lord Edgware, who is found stabbed at his home. While his wife, Jane Wilkinson, quickly becomes the prime suspect, she appears to have a strong alibi.

Inspector Japp was about to arrest Jane, believing she was the main suspect, but she quickly proved she had an alibi. She’d been at a dinner with twelve other people when Lord Edgware died. With so many witnesses, and even a newspaper report about the dinner, Japp had to shift his focus and look for another suspect. Right from the beginning, it seemed like things were intentionally misleading.

The situation is incredibly puzzling. Both Lord Edgware’s butler and his secretary claim they saw Jane Wilkinson visiting him the night he died. Since Jane had previously asked Poirot to help convince Lord Edgware to grant her a divorce, Poirot begins an investigation. A new suspect quickly emerges: Lord Edgware’s nephew, Ronald Marsh.

Ronald used to receive a large sum of money from Lord Edgware, but this stopped three months before Edgware died. Another important piece of the puzzle involves Carlotta Adams, a skilled actress known for her ability to mimic others – she was particularly good at imitating Jane Wilkinson. However, Carlotta herself died shortly after Edgware, apparently from a drug overdose.

Inspector Japp believes that Ronald, Edgware’s nephew, paid Carlotta to pretend to be Jane and visit Edgware that night. A letter Carlotta wrote to her sister, mentioning a large, mysterious payment for a job, seems to support this idea. Based on this evidence, Inspector Japp arrests Ronald Marsh, believing him to be the culprit.

Ronald insists he’s innocent of Lord Edgware’s murder, and Poirot believes there are still clues to uncover. He finally figures out the missing piece and calls everyone together to reveal the truth: Jane Wilkinson was the murderer. She had cleverly arranged for Carlotta Adams to pretend to be her at dinner, providing Jane with an alibi.

Jane murdered Carlotta to prevent her from revealing what happened at the dinner. Although Lord Edgware was willing to divorce Jane, she desired to marry a religious man who wouldn’t marry a divorced woman. He would marry a widow, though, which gave Jane a chilling solution to get the marriage she wanted. This complex plot creates a brilliant mystery that readers will adore.

David Suchet Played Inspector Japp in the Made-for-TV Thirteen at Dinner

As a big mystery fan, I always enjoy seeing different takes on classic detectives. In the 1985 TV movie Thirteen at Dinner, David Suchet took on the role of Inspector Japp, working alongside Peter Ustinov’s Hercule Poirot. Japp is a character who shows up a lot in Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels – he’s often helping Poirot solve cases, even if the two of them don’t always see eye-to-eye. It’s interesting to know that Christie actually based Japp on Inspector Lestrade from the Sherlock Holmes stories – a nod to another great detective pairing!

Inspector Japp appears in seven of Agatha Christie’s 33 novels. He usually has a small part, often chatting with Poirot after Poirot has already solved a key part of the mystery. However, in Lord Edgware Dies, Japp plays a more significant role and actively works with Poirot to uncover the truth.

David Suchet recently admitted he wasn’t happy with his performance as Inspector Japp in the ITV show Poirot and Me. However, most fans would disagree, especially when looking at his performance in Thirteen at Dinner. In fact, that role helped launch his career and ultimately led to him being cast as the iconic Hercule Poirot.

Peter Ustinov Told Suchet He Should Play Poirot

Peter Ustinov first portrayed Hercule Poirot in the 1978 film Death on the Nile, which featured a remarkable cast including Jane Birkin, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Olivia Hussey, and Angela Lansbury. He reprised the role in 1982’s Evil Under the Sun, and later appeared as Poirot in Thirteen at Dinner.

In his memoir, “Poirot and Me,” David Suchet shares a story about filming Thirteen at Dinner with Peter Ustinov. Ustinov offered Suchet some encouragement, but Suchet didn’t fully appreciate it at the time. He later remembered the conversation when he was offered the role of Poirot.

While filming, Peter and I discussed the character of Poirot. He enjoyed the role because he found humor in it, but he recognized he couldn’t portray Poirot as Agatha Christie originally wrote him. He felt his own strong personality and physical presence were too much for the part, and he used the accent to enhance his comedic performance. However, during a break in filming, Peter surprisingly told me that I could play Poirot, and that I’d be quite good at it.

David Suchet shares in both an ITV documentary and his memoir, both titled “Poirot and Me,” that he was the Agatha Christie estate’s first choice to play the detective. They clearly had a strong idea of how he could bring the character to life, and it’s widely agreed that his portrayal of Poirot is beloved by fans.

The producers had a very specific request for David Suchet: they didn’t want Poirot to become a comical figure, someone the audience would laugh at. While Poirot can certainly be amusing, they emphasized the humor should come from a place of warmth and understanding – laughing with him, not at his expense.

David Suchet Went on to Play Poirot in 70 Episodes

What began as a plan for just three hour-long programs unexpectedly grew into a full series of thirteen seasons, totaling seventy episodes, all featuring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot. The reason is clear: Suchet perfectly captured everything fans loved about Poirot. He embraced the character’s quirks, but always portrayed him with the seriousness he deserved, avoiding any comedic exaggeration.

The series adapted every novel and many short stories featuring Agatha Christie’s detective, Hercule Poirot. The final Poirot mystery was particularly upsetting for viewers, both because of the story itself and because fans were heartbroken to see David Suchet’s performance as the character come to an end.

As a big mystery fan, I’ve seen a lot of Agatha Christie adaptations over the years – so many actors have played Hercule Poirot! He’s popped up in movies, TV shows, even on the radio and stage. But Kenneth Branagh really stood out to me with his take on the detective in the 2017 film, Murder on the Orient Express.

Over the years, many actors have taken on the role of Hercule Poirot. Austin Trevor was the first, appearing as Poirot in the film Alibi. Other notable actors who’ve played the detective include Tony Randall, Albert Finney, Alfred Molina, Hugh Laurie, and John Malkovich.

Many actors have played Poirot, each bringing their own interpretation to the character and the original stories. However, David Suchet’s performance is widely considered the most iconic and impactful. While his role as Inspector Japp in Thirteen at Dinner didn’t receive as much attention as his Poirot, it was equally significant.

Playing Inspector Japp in the television film Thirteen at Dinner was Suchet’s first role in the Poirot universe, and it was during this production that Peter Ustinov suggested he would be perfect to play Poirot himself. Ustinov’s intuition proved correct – Suchet was a gifted actor who also naturally resembled Poirot, ultimately leading to what many consider the definitive portrayal of the character.

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2026-04-30 22:40