Appointment With Death

BBC Radio 4 Poirot

by Michael Bakewell (Adapter), Agatha Christie, John Moffat (Narrator)

"You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed? It's the only solution."

Even when on holiday in Jerusalem—the so-called City of Peace—Hercule Poirot can't seem to escape the strains of death and murder. His first evening at the King Solomon Hotel finds the above phrase floating into his room from outside. What does it mean? Who is the speaker, and just how seriously should it be considered? While Poirot struggles to resist the lure of a fresh mystery, he cannot suppress the foreboding in his heart. Also in residence at the hotel are the Boyntons, a nervous American family held tightly in the grip of their matriarch. Then there is the young medic Sarah King, plus Dr. Theodore Gerard, an expert in the subject of schizophrenia. These and other guests are thrown together on an organized trip to the ancient city of Petra. Whilst love apparently blossoms for Miss King, death visits another member of the party. It is clearly murder, and there are a number of likely suspects. Only one man has the skill to distinguish between them: Hercule Poirot.

Agatha Christie's exotic mystery is dramatized with a full cast including Jill Balcon and Miriam Karlin. It was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 25 August 2001.

2 CDs. 1 hr 30 mins.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Fiction, Agatha Christie, Crime, Murder Mystery, Classics

2 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Michael Bakewell (7 June 1931 – 11 July 2023) was a British radio and television producer and radio playwright.

His work included adapting The Lord of the Rings (with Brian Sibley) into a 1981 radio series for the BBC and a series of 27 adaptations of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories broadcast between 1985 and 2007 by BBC Radio 4.

He was born in Birmingham, England. After graduating from Cambridge in 1954, he was recruited by the BBC's Third Programme. He became the first Head of Plays at the BBC in the 1960s.

Reviews

[Alyson Walton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic BBC dramatisation of a classic Christie. This gives Murder on the Nile vibes due to its geographical position and doesn't disappoint.

[writer... · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb mystery set in foreign locales, beginning in Jerusalem, travelling to Petra where an American family individually faces their dysfunction. Poirot's insights and observances play a vital role in the solving of the murder, to the chagrin of certain of the family members. Another example of the brilliance of our Belgian investigator.

Excellent character sketching by the full BBC cast adds colour to plot and settings.

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irgendwann nach dem ersten Weltkrieg in Jerusalem belauscht Poirot in seinem Hotel eine Unterhaltung, die mit den Worten "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?" endet. Er wird hellhörig, weiß aber nicht, wer diese Worte gesagt hat und reist weiter nach Jordanien in die Nähe von Petra. Dort macht die amerikanische Familie Boynton im selben Hotel Urlaub wie Poirot. Mrs. Boynton ist eine ehemalige Gefängniswärterin und nun, da sie verwitwet ist, sind ihre teils erwachsenen (Stief-)Kinder ihre Gefangene und werden auch so behandelt. Poirot erkennt in Raymond Boynton denjenigen wieder, der in Jerusalem diese schicksalshaften Worte ausrief, schicksalshaft daher, weil Mrs. Boynton auf einem Ausflug nach Petra stirbt: Überdosis ihres Herzmittels Digitalis, ein Einstich im Handgelenk. Alle sind verdächtig, jeder hatte ein Motiv und dennoch, kann man ihnen verdenken, dass sie endlich frei sein wollten?

Einerseits ein spannender Fall, denn wie Dr. House so schön sagt: alle lügen. So auch in diesem Fall. Alle Lügen auf die eine oder andere Art um sich oder andere zu schützen. Doch anhand der Lügen kommt Poirot dem Täter dennoch auf die Spur, denn es ist immer noch genug Wahrheit enthalten, die ihm genügt. Leider hat man selber keine Chance auf die Lösung zu kommen, man kann sich durchaus denken, was das Motiv war und welche Personen es sein konnten, aber die Hauptinformationen werden bis zum Showdown verschwiegen, das mag ich gar nicht.
Es gibt einen kleinen Bezug zu „Mord im Orient Express“, als sich die Verdächtigen darauf berufen, dass Poirot bereits einmal lieber die offizielle Version unterstützt hat und die Täter ungeschoren davonkommen ließ, ansonsten gibt es keine Bezüge zu alten Fällen und dieser Fall ist wie alle anderen Fälle in sich abgeschlossen.
Erneut spricht John Moffat Hercule Poirot und auch die anderen Rollen sind sehr gut besetzt. Bei BBC Hörspielen sind mir bisher auch noch nie schlechte oder amateurhafte Sprecher aufgefallen, wie das bei deutschen Produktionen häufiger passiert. Die Stimmen der Sprecher sind teilweise recht ähnlich, da aber die Figuren recht übersichtlich sind, hat man kaum Probleme, der Handlung und den Konstellationen zu folgen, nur einige der weiblichen Rollen können durchaus mal verwechselt werden.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good classic murder mystery and a nice way to jump back into Agatha Christie. This mystery didn't give me the opportunity to try to put the clues and facts together to make an educated guess as to who the killer was. There were so many characters with good motives, but then the murderer ended up a peripheral character whom we didn't know enough about to come to the same conclusion Poirot did. I'm also curious if this dramatization was abridged, considering its 1.5-hour length.

[Joe Bliven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well adapted and cast but a stinker of a story. The characters and their interactions were captivating and intriguing but the crime and especially the reveal were extremely lack luster. I was easily invested in the mystery at first but quickly let down. My favorite part of this radio play by far was the amazing performance of Mrs. Boynton. Her voice was so unbelievably spine tingling and utterly creepy it added a real fire to the play which was quickly snuffed by the garbage that followed and surrounded her death.

[Tuti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read the book several times, so I knew who did it. Actually I didn't realize this was a short dramatization instead of a regular audio book. Oh well. I suppose the story was more or less like the original book.

[OishM · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

[Richard Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent radio drama of one of the lesser Poirot mysteries, overshadowed by Death on the Nile. Moffat is a superb Poirot

[Camila · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun!! I love Agatha Christie’s way of telling mystery’s and especially her character, Hercules Poirot. 😄 This BBC radio reenactment is also top-notch! I love it!

[Lamadia · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this version is a highly abridged radio play. I got it accidentally from the library when trying to get the actual book on audio. I realized after a little into it that it must be abridged since it seemed to be moving quickly, and I checked the length which turned out to only be an hour and a half. So I stopped and purchased and downloaded the actual book while at the airport. I did go ahead and listen to the radio play after listening to the book. It's alright, but it's impossible to keep the characters straight since so much character development is cut out. Also, a lot of the detective work and reasoning at the end is cut out and it's almost magical how Poirot figures it out. The atmosphere is also almost completely lost in the radio play. There really wasn't a reason to abridge it this much.

[ReadKnitHoard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't feel like reading in the car so I listened to AWD. It was nice enough, I guess, but I have to say that the David Suchet Poirot series has spoiled all other Poirots for me. Moffat was just too…British for a proper Poirot.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize when I started reading this book that it was a dramatization. I thought that I had seen the movie, or something similar to it, and wanted to read the entire book after finishing this one. The dramatization was done well, but lots of information had to be left out to cut it down.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

These full-cast audio dramatizations of Agatha Christie's books are a lot of fun! (A LOT shorter than full audiobooks, though. Which I guess is a pro or a con depending on who you are.)

[Stephanie Ricker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, well done! Mrs. Boynton sends a shiver up my spine because I've known people entirely too much like her. Great setting and cast of characters!

[Belle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marking as spoiler just in case - the reveal/twist was fairly similar to “A Caribbean Mystery”. Might just be that I’ve read them fairly close together.

Good mystery though, liked the setting.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and visual dramatization of Poirot's inadvertent overhearing of a threat, then by chance being involved in the solving of a murder. A competent whodunit.

[Olivia Simmonds · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not an essential Agatha Christie read.