CHRISTMAS It’s as easy as ABC for Malkovich

Hollywood star John Malkovich has already created a buzz with his portrayal of iconic detective Hercule Poirot on Boxing Day...

SINCE the late 1920s, Agatha Christie’s fictional creation Hercule Poirot has been reimagined and depicted on stage, screen and radio by more than 35 actors. The assortment of performers who have portrayed the Belgian detective includes Hugh Laurie, Andrew Sachs, Albert Finney, Peter Ustinov, Alfred Molina, Kenneth Branagh and, of course, David Suchet.

Suchet was always going to be a tough act to follow after playing the iconic role in 70 TV dramas, but the BBC has landed a Hollywood heavyweight for a Boxing Day adaptation of Christie’s classic 1936 thriller.

John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich, In The Line Of Fire, Dangerous Liaisons) will lead the cast as Poirot – and his performance clearly impressed those who were fortunate to be on set with him.

In an interview with Radiotimes.com, Isobel Waller-bridge, sister of Fleabag and Killing Eve’s Phoebe, and the composer for The ABC Murders, described early footage of Malkovich in the role as “unbelievable”.

She said: “He’s got this very mysterious quality to him, and that feels to me that casting him as Poirot is a work of genius. He’s so expressive physically, and his face – he doesn’t need to do much to send a real shiver down your spine.”

Malkovich is joined in the adaptation by a supporting cast including Harry Potter’s Rupert Grint, Andrew Buchan (Broadchurch), Eamon Farren, Tara Fitzgerald and Shirley Henderson.

The three-part drama has been adapted by Bafta-nominated Sarah Phelps, the writer behind the BBC’S Christie adaptations The Witness For the Prosecution, And Then There Were None and Ordeal by Innocence.

The ABC Murders is set in 1933 and the plot chronicles the race against time to stop a serial killer travelling the length and breadth of Britain.

The criminal strikes first at Andover and then Bexhill, leaving only one, intriguing, clue at each crime scene: a copy of The ABC Railway Guide.

Phelps says: “Set in the seething, suspicious early 1930s, The ABC Murders is a brutal story of violence and lies, the long shadow of the past and the slaughter to come.

“At its centre is one of the most famous characters in crime fiction. We may all think we know Poirot, but do we really know Hercule?”

The ABC Murders is on BBC1 on Boxing Day.