"At least he's not a bottom pincher, Mr. Poirot."
This episode decidedly departs from the norm- no Hastings, no Miss Lemon, and the whole thing is set entirely on location on what looks genuinely to be Rhodes- the locations are truly breathtaking.
These episodes are based on Agatha Christie's short stories. She's better known for her longer form whodunits, so these are bound ro be somewhat basic in comparison, This is no exception, being relatively simple despite some minor cleverness. But the murder mystery is not so much the draw here.
No; this is an amusing and fascinating glimpse of the English on holiday, with their '30s bathing costumes, evening dress and casual racism, in 1935 as the papers discuss Italy's invasion of Abyssinia. Indeed, Rhodes at this time was part of the Italian Aegean, and the Greek natives are ruled by an Italian bureaucracy. Poirot has to deal with a local inspector who is, alas, no Japp, and has a portrait of Il Duce (why not the King Vittorio Emmanuele?) above his desk.
This is no more than mildly diverting, and it's still likely that I'll not be returning tomPoirot for a while after this first series, but I was happy enough with this.
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