For 24 years, David Suchet played Hercule Poirot, the famous Belgian private detective created by Agatha Christie. I have no idea what kind of contract Suchet was locked into, but he absolutely defined the role of Poirot, to the point where I can’t even believe anyone would ever try to recast the role for a new generation. Just watch the old Suchet-as-Poirot shows! They were more like movies-of-the-week and many of them are very good. Well, Suchet hung up his fake mustache in 2013, and now the BBC believes that they can reimagine Poirot for a new generation. They’ve cast a 33-year-old to play “young Poirot” in a sort of origin-story series about Poirot coming to England after World War I.
When it comes to Agatha Christie, we can’t seem to get enough of adaptations of her work. Hercule Poirot is one of the world’s favorites when it comes to crime solvers, and Edward Bluemel has just made history, cast as the youngest ever to take on the role.
The BBC is tackling the new project, with BritBox bringing it to screens in North America. The UK network has shared that it plans to run for three seasons, with the first season slated for release in 2027, and there will be six episodes.
The iconic detective, who once described himself as “the greatest detective in the world” in the Christie novel The Mystery of the Blue Train, will get its youngest iteration, with the BBC making it clear that the younger generation is who to turn to for successful TV shows.
It makes sense to land on Bluemel, who initially gained a following on A Discovery of Witches. That following continued when he plays Sean, Emma Mackay’s Maeve’s brother, on Sex Education and then Guildford Dudley on the abruptly and unfairly canceled My Lady Jane.
It makes sense to have the 33-year-old in the role, as the new series will follow Poirot’s earlier years. The idea is that it will be “an intimate study of Hercule,” looking at the character’s growth between the wars. With the time period, it means we’re getting a look at the sleuth before he became the well-known detective everyone turned to for help with solving crimes.
This reminds me of my own hissy fit over the reimagining of Inspector Lynley for a new generation. I ended up watching the new series – which is just called Lynley and bears little resemblance to the books or the old series – and it’s fine. I would even call it “good” and “enjoyable.” So while I find this Young Poirot concept insufferable, they might pull it off. The old David Suchet-led series only really alluded to Poirot’s backstory, and we never really got to see his first years living in England.
One nice thing I’ll say – he does look a bit like Suchet, and I think he’ll be able to pull off the mustache.
Edward Bluemel is indeed #Hercule… He stars as Agatha Christie’s iconic Belgian detective in a new drama, following Hercule Poirot’s first cases in London before he becomes the world’s most famous sleuth.
Learn more ➡️ https://t.co/RRxe5U5GMk pic.twitter.com/0kYzwdP5Dp
— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) June 8, 2026
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Edward Bluemel attends ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ World Premiere held at Leicester Square,Image: 718172146, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Mandatory Credit ©Mario Mitsis, Model Release: no , Credit line: Mario Mitsis/Avalon
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- Edward Bluemel at The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings of Power World Premiere at Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom.,Image: 718159858, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: To licence this image, email info@sidetrack.london for more information., Model Release: no , Credit line: Cat Morley/Avalon
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- Special screening of the British drama How to Have Sex at the Ham Yard Hotel. Featuring: Edward Bluemel Where: London, United Kingdom When: 03 Nov 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
to me, he was one of the best parts of a Discovery of Witches (well him and Lindsay Duncan. Matthew Goode was easy on the eyes but not his best role – but Dept Q is very good if anyone wants more of him.) So i’ll watch this. he’s charming and handsome on screen and I can see him embracing Poirot.
That’s where I recognized him from, thank you! You’re right he was really good.
There was a fantastic ‘early years’ version of Inspector Morse a little while back, so if the creative team behind it is solid, these things can work. Shaun Evans and Roger Allam were so good in that,
I really liked Endeavor!
I thought Matthew Goode was excellent as Matthew de Clermont. His scenes with Phillippe were heart breaking, Dept Q is an all around great show, but I find it funny they had to scruff him up so his looks wouldn’t be distracting.
He was so good in ADoW! We saw Born with Teeth in London last fall, which featured him and Ncuti Gatwa, and they were both incredible in it!
Couldn’t figure out where I’d seen him before. Then realized he’s vampire Marcus Whitmore (son of Michael Goode) in A Discovery of Witches. That series has absolutely the best Queen Elizabeth I portrayal I’ve ever seen – she’s awesome in those time-travel episodes.
Oops. Matthew Goode, not Michael 😞
Re: Dept Q is a good show — generally agree, but wonder if they’re putting me on a “wee” bit about the Scots lingo.
More importantly though, Dept Q really needs to back off from those lovingly elongated gazes at blood and gore scenes, e.g. where somebody gets their head bashed with a rock, or shot with a shotgun. I’ve clocked some of those lovingly elongated blood & gore glorification gazes at 20+ seconds. Well, actually the scene when the constable on Isle of Mohr meets his demise comes in <20 seconds, but still… They've already committed to S2, so they could still fix it with editing if they've already overdone it in production.
LOL. Yes. Saw the face, didn’t recognize his ntame. I’m like, that’s Marcus from A Discovery of Witches! Loved the books & series. He was really good in it too. Bluemel (now that I know his name), can totally carry off a young Poirot. I’ve read most of the AG Hercule Poirot series and watched the shows,
I love this choice. If it brings younger viewers into the marvels of Agatha Christie, I’m all for it.
Having read all of the Discovery of Witches books, hope they netflix/stream the last book
Bluemel absolutely can pull off the character of young Poirot.
MY LADY JANE IS CANCELLED??!!!!???
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
It’s been pretty clear for a while they weren’t going to continue with My Lady Jane. It’s just as well; IMO following seasons are often not as good as the initial series, especially for a specialty project like this, with so much clever tongue in cheek dialog. Too much pressure to get succeeding seasons up and running and overall quality suffers. At least they gave the season they did produce a reasonable conclusion, even if the hope was to continue the project.
He is too handsome to portray the preening Belgian detective with the egg shaped head…. Jeremy Brett is the definitive Sherlock Holmes, Joan Hickson is the definitive Miss Marple and David Suchet is the definitive Hercule Poirot. I will die on that hill. If you dig you can find episodes of all 3 series streaming for free. David has said in interviews that he never had a long term contract with the BBC for the Poirot series that aired from 1989 to 2013 for a total of 13 seasons. The BBC would just call him up for a new series and eventually every major Agatha Christie Poirot work was adapted, including all the novels and most of the short stories. The production quality was stellar. The early seasons focused on the short stories and were under an hour long. Later series focused on adapting the books and were longer. The casts include soooo many actors just starting out that are still prominent today. It is fun watching the old episodes just for the casting. I dread this. I was really disappointed with the latter seasons of Sherlock. (The series finale was just terrible). Every generation deserves their version of the classics, but BBC series starring David Suchet was just so fabulous. Producers seem incapable of careful plotting without manufactured nonsense not true to the source material. That said the Christie estate has allowed modern writers to continue her works. I think I would rather see some of her plays adapted or Tommy/Tuppance get another shot at a series though.
A few years back we realised we kept opting for ITV3 because they were always showing Poirot and agreed that we’d buy ourselves the DVD box set for Christmas. We still have a DVD player and they still get watched! Between David as Poirot and the production quality you mention they’re wonderful, particularly some of the short stories where they get to fill them out a bit rather than cutting a book back to make it work as a tv episode or film.
I think Christie herself commented that she messed up a bit with Poirot as originally she had him retired from the Belgian police force when he came to England as a refugee in WW1 (reuniting with Hastings in The Mysterious Affair at Styles) then he proved so popular she had to keep writing about him into the 1960s!
I’m game for a different take on part of his life that hasn’t featured before (apart from the one story he tells Hastings about failing to catch a murdered back in his days in Belgium I think) rather than trying to re-make what we already have but I hope they do his quirks and foibles justice rather than just giving us a watered down version because he’s younger.
You would think they’d go for another Tommy/Tuppence series if they were looking for younger audiences.
Didn’t Christie admit she hated Poirot and wished she’d never invented him?
While I am not surprised BBC didn’t include it in their announcement, as Netflix is a rival, Edward Bluemel has already been in one Agatha Christie story – Seven Dials. He was quite good in that as well.
THANK YOU! I couldn’t figure out what I knew him from! (Never saw Witches etc.)
Yes!! Seven Dials was very good as well.
I loved him in Killing Eve! Collateral damage to Eve/Villanelle, but so handsome and charming.
Those last two paragraphs from parade are a dog’s breakfast. It makes sense, it makes sense… why, exactly?
He surely is too good-looking to be poirit. And as previously mentioned poirot was retired. I own all the Agatha books and have copies of all the British series going back a long way so I might watch it. It’ll probably annoy me though.
The worst remake recently was Bergerac. Bares little to no resemblance to the original – which i have copies of . There was no point in calling it Bergerac apart from legacy.
I think the recent Maigret series was terrible.
Edward Bluemel is brilliant in everything I’ve seen him in.. Discovery of Witches, Lady Jane, Seven Dials etc.
He has great screen presence, and is gorgeous in an off-beat, sexy kind of way.
My only hope is they have him as a pre-moustache Poirot so don’t spoil his lovely looks! 😜
I may watch and find out. I was crazy about the original Montalbano series, but the series made of his younger years wasn’t great. Flip side, Endeavour was an enjoyable prequel to Inspector Morse.
If you have MHZChoice, you can watch the original BBC Maigret series (along with loads of other great shows).
🤷♀️. I was skeptical about the re-imagining of Morse & yet Endeavor turned out to be a terrific show. I’ll give this a watch.
TN Democrat, I agree with all your assessments of the “perfect” actors to play those legendary roles. I would still watch this kid play Poirot though, bc every actor brings something new to the role. I also liked Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes, but of course, Jeremy Brett was extraordinary.
I didn’t realize until fairly recently that Jeremy Brett also played the very dashing Freddie Eynsford Hill in the movie version of My Fair Lady. Apparently, he also had quite a good singing voice, but like Audrey Hepburn, was dubbed, in the end.
Poirot was already old when he emigrated, as a refugee, to Britain, following World War I.