Agatha Christie's Poirot

Five Little Pigs

Season 9, Episode 1, Aired 12/14/03

Episode Summary

Sixteen years before the action opens, Caroline Crale was charged with killing her husband, Amyas Crale, and no one doubted her guilt. She was duly tried and convicted, and died in prison while serving life, so the case was looked on as closed. But then, in the present day, Caroline's daughter Lucy Crale (who has been living overseas) receives a letter her mother wrote her before her death, claiming to be innocent. Anxious to know the truth, Lucy hires Poirot to solve the murder of her father sixteen years before, and Poirot finds a number of possible suspects who are still alive. The late lamented Amyas was well-known for having affairs with his models. Does Elsa Greer, his lover at the time of his death, hold the key to unravelling the case?moreless

9.2

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Cast & Crew

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David Suchet

Hercule Poirot
Richard Teverson

Hollinghurst
Lottie Unwin

Young Caroline

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

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I love the way this episode is set up.

9.2

"Superb"

By avi01, Jan 30, 2008 Report Abuse

This episode was yet another highly entertaining Poirot story. The way this whole episode was set up is pure brilliance. 5 versions of the story by 5 different persons, all those versions are so different but yet very similar. Different by the perfective of what are the feelings of the person telling the story towards the other characters and similar because it`s all the same plot....this is brilliant dynamic to a story.
During the episode, I was fearing the ending could be disappointing but how wrong I was.
I came to suspect Caroline`s sister to be guilty and did seem to go that way at a very moment but bang, Poirot strikes again and we get yet another brilliant end to this very captivating story.moreless

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Excellent insight into characters' thoughts and emotions. If only the camera movements didn't make you feel seasick!

7.5

"Good"

By mysteryfan427, Feb 09, 2006 Report Abuse

Five Little Pigs always struck me as a Poirot novel that would be very hard to adapt. Poirot is not very active, and a good portion of the story is him reading long narratives from the five suspects. Luckily, the film is a faithful adaptation that does the tricky job fairly well. The actors are all excellent, particularly Rachel Stirling and Gemma Jones. The only actor I did not like was Aimee Mullins, who played Lucy Crale in a very dull and uninteresting way. But the main problem with the film is the flashbacks. Apparently the director really wanted us to understand that these were flashbacks, and he found it necessary to jerk and bump the camera around as much as possible. After viewing these scenes, you want to throw up! This cinematography is not flattering to the storyline. And that storyline itself, I must confess, get a little stale in some moments. Not to mention that I wish Poirot had a bigger role. However, if you overlook these flaws, you will find yourself enjoying this mystery and its great characters.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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Notes
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- This episode is based on Agatha Christie's book Five Little Pigs (1942). It is also sometimes called Murder in Retrospect. Edit
- In the book, Caroline Crale's daughter was called Carla. For this production, the daughter's name was changed to Lucy. Japp and Miss Lemon do not appear. Edit
- Five Little Pigs has a length of ninety minutes. Edit
Quotes
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- Poirot: It is surprising, is it not, how soon in life the die is cast? Edit
- Lucy Crale: Secrets and lies, monsieur. The past keeps on dragging me back. Edit
Allusions
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- The title of this episode is another of Agatha Christie's nursery rhyme allusions - "This little pig went to market, This little pig stayed at home. This little pig had roast beef, This little pig had none. This little pig cried Wee, wee, wee, wee! All the way home." There was also a children's book called Five Little Pigs, published in 1903 and written and illustrated by W.W. Denslow. Edit