The tone of the original stories was much lighter than that of other Agatha Christie novels and the playfulness & risque humor (which come across clearly in the dramatizations) came right from the characters in the books. Being familiar with the original novel 'The Secret Adversary' (which was made into a full-length TV feature after these) as well as the 'Partners in Crime' short stories I believe that those involved with this series captured the spirit the author intended very well indeed. I read a few other reviews, of this series, & felt like saying that they seemed to miss the point. Tremendous fun to watch, and fortunately available on DVD. Perhaps one wouldn't be allowed to create such characters in a modern hi tech TV series, but back then it seems they just had a lot of fun doing what they did. I trust times and people were more 'artistic' than they are nowadays, therefore I feel secure that they did take the right direction and succeeded remarkably well. The acting style might appear a bit theatrical for some tastes, but they have found the key to playing the protagonists the way actors did in the twenties and thirties. Annis and Warwick are so good that the characters might easily have been written especially for them. They didn't usually pay too much attention to period details in the early 80s, but this show is a refreshing change, even though a modern viewer might be distracted by the sometimes too obvious studio sets.

I even love the old video feel to it - feels almost like watching something 'live', not the edited scenes shot over several sessions.

The fact that it was made almost 25 years ago only adds a peculiar charm to the production.

Agatha and poirot partners in crime