Hercule Poirot is dining at a restaurant with his dentist. His curiosity is aroused when a waitress tells them that one of their regular customers, an elderly, reclusive painter called Henry Gasgoigne, suddenly ordered a meal that he never had before. Soon after Gasgoigne is found dead at his home as a result of his having fallen down the stairs and breaking his neck. Poirot remains intrigued by the man's sudden change in his diet after so many years so he makes enquiries. They lead him to discover that he had an estranged twin brother called Anthony to whom he hadn't spoken in twenty years. Poirot becomes convinced that he was murdered and Chief Inspector Japp orders a post-mortem. It reveals that Gasgoigne had not eaten such a meal that Poirot had seen him eating at the restaurant just prior to his death. An invitation to an art exhibition was found on his body so Poirot and Captain Hastings go as part of his enquiries. Here, they meet Gasgoigne's agent Markinson (played by Clifford Rose) who informs them that he could not sell any of the dead man's paintings, but since his death their value has increased substantially and anyone who possesses them could make a lot of money. Poirot goes to question the dead man's nephew, George Lorrimer (played by Richard Howard), a music hall manager, but he is told that he is in Brighton making funeral arrangements for the twin brother's funeral. Poirot is now convinced that the man he had seen at the restaurant was the elderly man's killer impersonating his victim. The wills of the twin brothers and which of them dies first provides Poirot with a vital clue to solving the mystery.
All in all, Four and Twenty Blackbirds is up to the high standards one associates with this series. The feeling for place and period is particularly strong here due to a combination of Mike Oxley's production design (we get to see the interior of a splendid old fashioned music hall), Peter Jessop's subdued, lifelike lighting and the costumes of Linda Mattock. The story features a plot device that is very Agatha Christie; in this case how a man's sudden change in eating habits at a restaurant he has frequented for many years arouses the curiosity of the astute Hercule Poirot. And how it leads him to solve a clever murder plot that would otherwise have never have been solved because no one else would have thought anything of it. As ever, the acting is good with Suchet on fine form as Poirot with fine support from Hugh Fraser as Captain Hastings, Philip Jackson as the Yard man Chief Inspector Japp and Pauline Moran as his loyal secretary Miss Lemon. Also noteworthy are Richard Howard as the murdered man's nephew and John Bardon, who would become a mainstay in the BBC's popular soap opera EastEnders, has an amusing cameo as a lavatory attendant.
All in all, Four and Twenty Blackbirds is up to the high standards one associates with this series. The feeling for place and period is particularly strong here due to a combination of Mike Oxley's production design (we get to see the interior of a splendid old fashioned music hall), Peter Jessop's subdued, lifelike lighting and the costumes of Linda Mattock. The story features a plot device that is very Agatha Christie; in this case how a man's sudden change in eating habits at a restaurant he has frequented for many years arouses the curiosity of the astute Hercule Poirot. And how it leads him to solve a clever murder plot that would otherwise have never have been solved because no one else would have thought anything of it. As ever, the acting is good with Suchet on fine form as Poirot with fine support from Hugh Fraser as Captain Hastings, Philip Jackson as the Yard man Chief Inspector Japp and Pauline Moran as his loyal secretary Miss Lemon. Also noteworthy are Richard Howard as the murdered man's nephew and John Bardon, who would become a mainstay in the BBC's popular soap opera EastEnders, has an amusing cameo as a lavatory attendant.