Taken at the Flood

BBC Radio 4 Poirot

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

In 1940s London, Hercule Poirot is cornered by the club bore and learns of a mysterious death - one which sets him off on one of his most intriguing cases. When Gordon Cloade is killed in a London air raid his vast fortune passes to his young wife Rosaleen. Cloade's relatives are desperate to get their hands on his money, and Rosaleen begins to fear for her life. The prospects for the Cloade relatives improve when they discover that Rosaleen had a previous husband who had perished mysteriously in Africa. Then a mysterious stranger appears in the village, saying that he has something to communicate to her, but the following morning he is found dead. Was the murdered man in fact Rosalind's first husband? Who murdered him - and why?

This dramatisation by Michael Bakewell for BBC Radio 4 features John Moffatt as Hercule Poirot with Robert Lang, Fritha Goodey, Virginia McKenna and Ifan Meredith. It was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 13 October to 10 November 2003.

2 CDs. 2 hrs 10 mins.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Agatha Christie, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adult

3 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 2003

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

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have never before said this of a Christie mystery: I am exceedingly glad it was short! I listened to the BBC production on an evening where I was disinclined to concentrate on the printed page, or I might not have finished the story at all. I found it most unbelievable and even rather offensive. That M. Poirot would interrupt a crime in progress without really attempting to stop it was bad enough, but then Christie had the audacity to have the wronged woman proceed with her marriage plans to the offender! It leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.

Add to that the poor French accent of the actor playing Poirot. I found that quite distracting. He often reverted to an English accent, quite unlike David Suchet, who portrayed Poirot with such skill and consistency.

I knew intellectually that Dame Agatha had written some stinkers, but this is my first encounter with one. As I said, thank goodness for brevity.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast moving enjoyable adaptation with Poirot at the centre. Characters are well defined, if a bit histrionic. Bakewell's adaptation is, as always, enriched with much plot summary by various characters, but the direction by Enyd Williams keeps the pace quick and engaging. The plummy voices of Derek Waring and Robert Lang contrast well with those of Ifan Meredith and Susannah Corbett, which makes the characters well defined and the plot easier to follow than some other BBC productions. Well done.

[Rowan's Bookshelf (Carleigh) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hercule Poirot is amazing, and casually walking in "I hope I'm not interrupting" a woman getting strangled is iconic. But The guy strangling her should definitely still get arrested for accidentally killing a man, idc if he was a victim of an "evil irish swindler"

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 4 out of 5]

London während des zweiten Weltkriegs. Bomben fallen auf die Hauptstadt, während Hercule Poirot angespannt in seinem Klub sitzt. Alles ist ihm recht, um sich abzulenken, auch die Geschichte, die ein geschwätziges Mitglied erzählt, über einen Mann, der in Afrika gestorben ist und dessen Witwe wieder geheiratet hat. Er witzelt, dass man in Afrika da nie sicher sein könnte, vielleicht würde er ja noch leben und die angebliche Witwe eine fiese Überraschung erleben, wenn er, wie Enoch Arden irgendwann wieder auf der Matte steht. Poirot kann diese Geschichte auch nach Ende des Krieges nicht vergessen.
Als der Krieg vorbei ist, und Lynn Marchmont nach ihrem Dienst in der Royal Navy wieder nach Hause zurückkehrt, ist nichts mehr wie es einmal war. Ihr reicher Onkel Gordon Cloades, der bisher seine ärmeren Verwandten irgendwie mit durchfütterte ist bei einem Bombenangriff in London ums Leben gekommen, den nur seine einer junge Frau Rosaleen, die damals noch keiner kannte überlebte. Ihr hat er alles vermacht, die Familie ist leer ausgegangen und steht vor dem finanziellen Ruin. Um aber an die Kohle des Onkels zu kommen, muss man erst am Bruder der Witwe vorbei, der seine nervöse Schwester abschirmt. Nur sie steht zwischen der Familie des verstorbenen Gatten und er macht sich Sorgen um ihre Sicherheit.
Als dann plötzlich ein gewisser Enoch Arden im Dorf auftaucht und behauptet, er wüsste etwas über den Verbleib von Rosaleens erstem Mann sind alle verständlicherweise aufgeregt. Denn das würde bedeuten, dass die Ehe von Rosaleen mit Cloade Bigamie und ungültig wäre und das Erbe somit wieder an die Familie fallen würde. Als Enoch Arden ermordet in seinem Hotelzimmer gefunden wird, bittet rowley cloade, Lynn Marchmont Verlobter und Cousin Hercule Poirot um Hilfe. Er soll herausfinden, wer Enoch Arden wirklich war.

Ein extrem verwickelter Fall mit sehr vielen verschiedenen Personen. Die Rollen sind jedoch mit so unterschiedlichen Stimmen besetzt, dass es recht gut gelingt, die verschiedenen Figuren auseinander zu halten. Die Verwandschaftsbeziehungen sind anstrengend und verwickelt und die verschiedenen miteinander verwobenen Intrigen erfordern die volle Aufmerksamkeit des Zuhörers, sind aber gut nachzuvollziehen. Punktabzug jedoch gibt es, weil Agatha Christie, den Hauthinweis, der alles erklärt, bis zur Auflösung verschweigt, man hat kaum eine Chance selbst auf die Lösung zu kommen, das ist kein guter Stil.
Ich weiß nicht, wie chaotisch es nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg war, in England muss es ziemlich chaotisch gewesen sein, dass man so was durchziehen konnte und viele Unterlagen müssen verschollen oder verbrannt sein.
Insgesamt wie immer ein hochqualitatives BBC Hörspiel mit ausgezeichneter Besetzung und Sprecherriege.

[Isabella ⸙ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Shakespearean" is definitely the right word for this! I do think I'm getting a bit of "messed-up family" fatigue when it comes to Agatha Christie's mysteries lately, but this was still pretty good - and the solution was just bone-chilling in the best way🤌

(What was up with that South African accent though? 😂 I don't think he knew if he was English or Afrikaans, from the Cape or Australia. Although, if my understanding is correct: Maybe her cousin was just pretending to be South African as part of the ploy? In which case, it may have been intentional, but I have my doubts...)

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot is very convoluted. The Cloade family is not very likeable, although I did feel a tad bit sorry for each of them under the circumstances while also recognizing that in their 'misery' they were still far better off than most of the country. (As a side note, can I say that even with all these British mysteries I've read/heard, I still don't understand how these high society people lived - allowances and 'life interests' and so on.) Also, i feel like the first third to half kind of dragged - I wonder if that is also true in the full book, or just a sign of a weaker adaptation?

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was all set to give this 5 stars until I reach the last few minutes of the story! Like other reviewers I
was shocked by Poirot's attitude which I felt was completely out of character. Putting that aside it was a good mystery with a surprising outcome.

[Stephanie Ricker · Rating 3 out of 5]

So happy to have John Moffatt back as Hercule Poirot in this one! The story itself is perhaps a little disappointing, but the narrative performances were so good that I enjoyed it anyway.

[Mae Leveson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this story because I felt it had a weak plot and relied on coincidence. It certainly wasn’t very challenging to Poriot’s little grey cells.

[Tamar · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!!