Poirot (TV Series) The Third Floor Flat (1989) User Reviews

Unusual Format - Excellent Result

[spirit11 · 9/10 · 2 August 2010]

For fans of the Poirot series, this episode stands out. It adds to the typical, "Poirot has the answer when no one else does" format with two things -- a slower setup of the crime and a quicker resolution.

Usually the crime is revealed early in the episode and the Poirot's solution revealed with just moments to spare before the end credits roll. Not so this time. In this roughly 48 minute episode, the crime doesn't become apparent until 15 minutes into the show, and Poirot has revealed the culprit just 10 minutes later. With the wrongdoer identified I found myself wondering, "What will they do with the second half of the episode?" Not to worry.

Just because we know who committed the crime, doesn't mean the person has been apprehended--which takes further quick thinking and action on the part of Poirot, Hastings, and Inspector Japp. Then, once apprehended, Poirot must reveal both the clues, and his actions, that led to the person's capture. If you've watched a lot of the Poirot mysteries, this episode won't disappoint.

The writer framed this episode perfectly, and keeps you off balance throughout, wondering how everything will play out, even when you think you already know the ending.

You also get to see Poirot play a character outside of detective--matchmaker!

Hitting close to home

[gridoon · 7/10 · 6 December 2007]

Hercule Poirot doesn't feel too good this morning: a) he has a cold, and b) no new cases have come his way in the past few weeks. He even picks the wrong murderer in a theatrical murder mystery that his friend Captain Hastings takes him to (though he insists that the writer of the play cheated the audience). But all that is about to change when a real murder happens - in an apartment just 2 floors below his own, no less!

Featuring fluid camera-work that immediately establishes the setting (3rd floor: the murder victim, 4th floor: the people who find the body, 5th floor: Poirot), a typically clever script (when Poirot, back in form and obviously pleased with himself, says "And now, I know everything!", few viewers will be prepared for his revelations), fine acting, and even some suspense at the end AFTER the culprit has been revealed, this early entry into the Poirot series is a good solid whodunit. (***)

The proof that man flu and murder don't mix.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 27 October 2015]

Poirot is not in high spirits, a combination of man flu and no cases. To raise his spirits Hastings takes Poirot to the Theatre to watch a murder mystery. Whilst at the Theatre a murder occurs at Whitehaven Mansions, it's new resident Ernestine Grant, who's body is accidentally discovered by fellow Theatre goers Jimmy and Donovan, friends of Poirot's neighbour Miss Matthews. Fortnunately Poirot's grey cells are on hand to clear up the mystery.

It's an excellent episode, one of the best of the early ones. It is an ultra smart looking episodes, the Theatre scenes look wonderfully authentic, clothes and costumes throughout look super smart, it boasts a wonderful attention to detail. It's a very different episode, Poirot deduces the killer's identity swiftly, it's more about how to physically catch the killer then the solving of the crime.

Lots of fun too, I love Poirot's grumblings about his cold, it's a lighthearted start to the episode.

The acting is up to the usual high standard. I did enjoy the appearance, albeit brief one from Josie Lawrence, nice to see her cast in a different kind of role for her.

8/10

Poirot has a cold and is bored - not a fun combination

[Paularoc · 9/10 · 28 August 2012]

Poirot is having a bad day; he has a cold and is bored because he has not had a case in three weeks he fears his little gray cells will suffer from the lack of use. Hastings convinces him that what he needs is a night out at the theater. The play they're watching is a mystery melodrama and Poirot thinks the storyline is so simple that after the first act he bets Hastings that he knows who the murderer is. Hastings takes the bet but Poirot was wrong (in this case, the butler didn't do it). Of course, in Poirot's view the reason he was wrong was because the writer did not play fair with the audience and kept revealed from them critical clues. His good humor is restored when, upon returning home, it is discovered that a murder has been committed in his apartment building. The victim is a young woman who had just moved into to the complex earlier that day. I don't remember another Poirot story where the episode concludes many minutes after after Poirot has revealed who the murderer is. Interesting twist and in this case, quite effective. The attention to detail that this series is known for is also apparent in this episode. I enjoyed the scene where the two young women, as they are waiting for their suitors' to unlock the apartment door sing "Life is just a bowl of cherries." This was a very popular Depression Era song. The problem for me is that the refrain has become an ear worm - even when writing about this episode the tune keeps running through my head. At least it's a tune I like.

Yet another one of Poirot's best

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 1 May 2012]

I have been a fan of Agatha Christie and Poirot for nearly a decade now. The Third Floor Flat has everything I love about the series in the first place. It is classily made, with splendid photography and scenery, and the music as always is hauntingly beautiful. The script is both clever and witty, and the story is one of the more simpler, more suspenseful and more compelling story lines of the entire series with so much happening and solved in such a short running time. The acting is as great as ever, with the four leads superb especially the definitive Poirot of David Suchet.

All in all, one of the best Poirots as well one of the better short story adaptations(third only perhaps to Wasp's Nest and The Chocolate Box). 9/10 Bethany Cox

"It is well known that Poirot scorns all but the gravest afflictions"

[bensonmum2 · 7/10 · 9 July 2015]

Plot summary from IMDb: "Poirot investigates a murder that hits close to home after the new occupant of a flat two floors below his is found shot."

Overall, The Third Floor Flat is a very interesting and entertaining Poirot episode. Interesting because that, in a number of ways, it's structured differently from most of the other episodes I've seen. First, The Third Floor Flat is almost halfway over before a murder is committed. Second, Poirot actually takes the time to explain his methods and way of thinking to one of the other characters. And, third, Poirot arrives with and announces the murder's solution far from the end of the episode. The final ten or so minutes are taken up with trying to catch the guilty party.

As for entertaining, The Third Floor Flat is highly enjoyable. Suchet and Co. are once again in fine form. Poirot's cold provides an opportunity for some amusing moments. The supporting cast is good, with more characters than usual in one of the 50 minute episodes. The mystery itself is well written and easy to follow along. Sets, costumes, lighting . . . all up to the Poirot high standards. And most of all, when all these components are put together, it's all fun.

Murder close at home breaks Poirot's three-week dry spell

[SimonJack · 9/10 · 3 March 2018]

"The Third Floor Flat" is one of the more intriguing Hercule Poirot mysteries. For this episode of the BBC and PBS television series, Agatha Christie's super sleuth doesn't need to go far from home. The crime occurs right in his digs - the Whitehaven Mansions.

This episode has more than the usual build-up, and Poirot solves the murder very quickly - although he doesn't let on to others right away. This talk also is an excellent one to trace back the clues to discover how Poirot became suspicious of the culprit. It's all there plain as day, but as always, with Poirot so interested in every detail, only his little grey cells are capable of arranging the pertinent details for the conclusions.

All of Poirot's company are present - Captain Hastings, Miss Lemon and Chief Inspector Japp. Japp comments to his Bobbies when they arrive at the apartment building to be extra careful because they are on the home grounds of the sharp detective, Hercule Poirot.

And, the story has some humor, as we come to expect. Here are some favorite lines.

Miss Lemon, "It's only been tree weeks since your last case." Hercule Poirot, "Three weeks is an eternity to a brain like mine. Without the constant stimulation, my little grey cells will starve to death. Already you can see I am suffering the effects."

Captain Hastings pulls up in his convertible and honks the horn. Hastings, "How's the cold, old boy?" Hercule Poirot, "... I wouldn't be surprised if riding in tat care was responsible for my present malady." Hastings, "She's much too much of a lady to give anyone a cold. She's running like a bird since I fitted the hew gaskets" Poirot, "Birds do not run, Hastings. When you were little you should have paid more attention to your lessons in biology."

Captain Hastings, "You're really in a bad way, aren't you?" Poirot, "Well, my friend, as one approaches the end, one begins to see life as it truly is."

Hercule Poirot, "You see, Hastings? I am still a force to be calculated."(sic)

Hercule Poirot, "Hasting, my friend. Poirot is as magnanimous in defeat as he is modest in victory." Chief Inspector Japp, "Oh, yes." Poirot, "In view of the fact that you are going to need every penny you can get to restore this beautiful machine to health, I have decided to pay up and be content."

Stay Out of Dumb Waiters.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 14 May 2014]

Poirot is stricken with a cold but Hastings manages to drag him out to a mystery play at which Poirot guesses the murderer incorrectly. Now he owes Hastings money because they'd bet on Poirot's solving the mystery. The detective is willing to pay but indignant over the fact that the play's author -- "an imbecile" -- has withheld an important fact until the very end.

In this story, Christie commits the same crime. A secret marriage emerges from nowhere at the last moment and explains everything.

It's well acted, as usual. By this time the performers had a firm grip on their roles. The period decor is stunningly accurate. Well, not entirely. Nobody is ever dirty. The characters are impeccably dressed, mostly in evening clothes. Every nook is clean and tidy except for an occasional dead body with two bullet holes through her chest. Even the basement, with its coal-fired furnace, is cleaner than my place right now. A villain can ride up and down in the dumb waiter while holding on to the cables and his hands and clothing are greaseless.

In this and other respects the Poirot stories differ considerably from the norms established by Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes series, which took us into the ruck. Not to mention the BBC's adaptations of Dickens and his Mudlarks.

It's a divertimento and it's entertaining, as they all more or less are.

A murder in Poirot's own building!

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 18 January 2014]

To take Poirot's mind off the fact that he has no case and his little grey cells are atrophying, Hastings takes him to the theater to see a mystery play. Poirot guesses the wrong murderer and then complains the audience wasn't given all the facts.

When they arrive home, they find out that there has been a murder two floors down, of a young woman who just moved in. The two women who lived in the same apartment line did not have their keys, and their dates go down the fire escape, but climb in the wrong window and find the body.

Strangely, the woman had left a note for one of the women in the other apartment wanting to speak with her.

Poirot works with Inspector Japp to attempt to figure out who killed this woman, and why.

Delightful mystery, with Poirot and Hastings in good form and interacting with people in the building, which one doesn't see much. Poirot also shows a lack of detachment when it comes to one of the neighbors -- he finds her lovely, and picks up that one of the men is in love with her, although she's engaged to someone else. Sweet as well as touching.

Very entertaining, and a good mystery.

Better than average

[kaberi-893-642316 · 8/10 · 5 September 2015]

Once again the episode is distinguished by the "padding": the various extra touches added by the writers to fill out the structure of the original story. And a clever story it is: Poirot finds that the charming young lady who lives directly below him has lost the key to her apartment. Her boyfriend and his buddy decide to break in via the small elevator used to deliver coal to the kitchen. But they accidentally enter the wrong kitchen and discover a dead body. Can Poirot and Hastings figure out who killed the woman who lived in the third floor flat? The short answer, not surprisingly, is yes, and in very quick order too. But beyond that are the clever little touches: the fact that Poirot, having caught a cold, is being more petulant than usual, the wager he makes with Hastings over the solution to a murder mystery play, and Hastings' distress over the very unfortunate result when the murderer tries to make his escape. Best line of the evening: "He'll need a whole new front end." Ce pauvre Hastings!

Too simple

[grantss · 5/10 · 22 July 2016]

Hercule is bored - no cases for the little grey cells. Furthermore he is sick with a cold, and this is making him cranky. He becomes even more cranky after watching a murder-mystery play, and finding the plot sub-par. On returning from the play, however, he discovers that his newly-arrived upstairs neighbour has been murdered. Poirot quickly sets to work in solving who did it.

Overly simple, making this one of the worst Poirot episodes. The murderer is revealed in double-quick time, leaving the remainder of the episode an action drama rather than a murder mystery. Very basic plot, and the murderer is fairly obvious.

There are one or two sub-plots which do add some colour to what would otherwise be a fairly dull affair: Hastings and his car, Poirot and his cold. Not enough to save the episode, however.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

[jamesraeburn2003 · 8/10 · 4 September 2023]

Hercule Poirot investigates a murder in his own apartment block, Whitehaven Mansions, that of one Mrs Grant (played by Josie Lawrence). Her body was discovered by two young men, Jimmy (played by Robert Hines) and Donovan Bailey (played by Neil Pritchard) after returning from a night out. Their companion, Patricia Matthews (played by Suzanne Burden), has mislaid her key so they attempted to gain entry via the service lift. In doing so, they accidentally found themselves in Mrs Grant's flat. Chief Inspector Japp believes it is a straightforward case since a handkerchief with the initials 'JF' and a letter signed 'Frazer' were found on the body. His assumption is that once he has traced this person he will have his killer. Poirot, however, is curious as to why the body had been moved in a bid to conceal it behind some packing cases. Japp allows him to examine the flat and after he had done so tells Jimmy that the case is solved and he knows who Mrs Grant's murderer is. Poirot deliberately scares the perpetrator into doing a runner, but Captain Hastings' beloved Lagonda sports car is wrecked in the process.

Another thoroughly enjoyable episode featuring some great humour like when Hastings takes Poirot to the theatre to watch 'The Deadly Shroud', a whodunit and bets him £10.00 that he won't be able to solve it. At the interval Poirot hands him a folded slip of paper with the murderer's name on it telling him not to open it until the show has finished. When the killer turns out not to be who Poirot deduced it was, his reaction is priceless. Nevertheless, he still insists on honouring the bet and goes to write Hastings a cheque. But, this is interrupted by the discovery of Mrs Grant's murder. Performances are good all round with Nicholas Pritchard and Suzanne Burden being of particular note. David Suchet is as good as ever as Poirot. In this story he is nursing a heavy cold that he puts down to fatigue since he hasn't had a case to solve for several weeks. Then when he begins investigating Mrs Grant's murder, he springs back into vigour. He was called in by the young people who had discovered the crime and the way he inspires them gives him pride and it is a joy to watch. There is also a moving scene at the climax where he brings a young man and woman together. The able direction is by Edward Bennett who did several episodes in this series.

The Third Floor Flat

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 23 June 2017]

Poirot is feeling low with the effects of flu. To cheer him up Hastings takes him to the theatre to watch a murder mystery play. Of course Poirot works out the murderer very easily and has a wager with Hastings.

Maybe Agatha Christie planted an in-joke here, as Poirot is startled that the actual murderer and their motive is not only different from what he thought it would be but it also defied logic.

Poirot spots several residents of Whitehaven Mansions at the play and when they return back to their apartments a body of a new resident is discovered. Poirot is hand to gets his little grey cells working despite his ailments.

The mystery takes time to unravel as it is some time when we actually see a dead body and then the murderer is revealed rather swiftly, with the rest of the episode being a chase as the murderer makes their getaway.

The police, Japp and Poirot actually come across as incompetent running around looking for the murderer as they try to make their escape. Poor Hastings, his car is wrecked in the process.