Doctor Who Vs. Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express

Agatha Christie's sixteenth crime novel was

her most successful book to date - it remains

 Hercule Poirot's most renowned (and adapted)

case. The book was serialised in America as

Murder in the Calais Coach, then issued as

Murder on the Train in 1934.

The Queen of Crime's inspiration for the
mystery's setting was personal (in 1931, her

 own journey on the train was delayed by

flooding), whilst the background behind her

titular crime was based on the Lindbergh

kidnapping case of 1932. 

The acclaimed Oscar-winning adaptation of

the mystery was released in 1974, with
Poirot played by Albert Finney, then Kenneth

Branagh depicted the sleuth for Fox's version.

A repeat run of the twelfth and penultimate

season began on ITV3 last night with this case,

originally shown on Christmas Day 2010 - it featured David Suchet, and seven Doctor Who cast and connections:

• Toby [Edward Heslewood] Jones (Ratchett here; Mayhew in The Witness for the Prosecution; Gabriel for The Rose and the Yew Tree) was the Dream Lord in Amy's Choice, and voiced Kotris for Big Finish's Dark Eyes (2012)
• David Morrissey (Arbuthnot) was Jackson Lake in The Next Doctor
• Hugh [Richard] Bonneville [Williams] (Masterman here; DI Hewitt in The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side; Strange in Towards Zero; Ralston in The Mousetrap) was Captain Henry Avery in The Curse of the Black Spot (then briefly in A Good Man Goes to War and The Wedding of River Song), and voiced Tsar Nicholas I/Sir Sidney Herbert for The Angel of Scutari (2009)
• Samuel [Alexander Joseph] West (Dr. Constantine) was Cyrian in Dimensions in Time, then voiced the titular role for The Vengeance of Morbius (2008) and Dark Gallifrey (2024), Albert Tiermann for Audio- Go's A Shard of Ice (2010), Aristophanes for Mask of Tragedy (2014), Mr. Song for The Diary of River Song (2016), and the Mazzini Family for Serpent in the Silver Mask (2018)
• Stewart Scudamore (Concierge) voiced Danvers for Hounded (2016)
• Crispin Layfield was also stunt co-ordinator on sixty-eight stories (from Smith and Jones to Ascension of the Cybermen)
• stuntman Curtis Rivers doubled for John Barrowman in Utopia, The Sound of Drums and Torchwood