Hercule Poirot agrees to investigate a series of petty thefts from a London students hostel on behalf of his secretary's sister, Mrs Hubbard, who is employed as the housekeeper there. The culprit is quickly identified as the shy chemistry student Celia Austin who pretended to be a kleptomaniac in order to attract the attentions of psychology student Colin McNabb whom she fancies. Yet, while Miss Lemon and her sister are relieved that it is all over, Poirot fears that something far more sinister is about to unravel. And his fears are proven when Celia is murdered by someone who switched her sleeping draught for a lethal dose of morphine. Chief Inspector Japp arrests McNabb after a phial containing morphine is found in his room, but after two more murders occur, Poirot links the case to a diamond smuggling operation in which the hostel acts as a legitimate front and a well respected Labour politician, Sir Arthur Stanley, who recently died from ill health and, several years before, Japp suspected him of poisoning his wife. Are one of the students behind the smuggling ring and is he or she connected to Sir Arthur in some way that they felt the need to kill in order to keep that connection a secret?The film makers' decision to switch the setting of Agatha Christie's classic novel from the 1950's to the 30's is something of a disappointment, but apart from that this is yet another winner from ITV's celebrated series. It was by far the best ever adaptations of Christie's works to be put on the screen (it was a pity it never made it on to the big screen - it wasn't as if they were short of suitable material) and David Suchet made the part of the eccentric, but highly intelligent Belgian detective with the egg-shaped head Hercule Poirot his own. His performances were the highlights of each episode, but there were many others including first rate dramatization, rich period detail, excellent supporting casts and intriguing and absorbing storylines. Director Andrew Grieve succeeds in creating a spooky atmosphere in the murder scenes. For instance, there is a clever play on the old Hickory Dickory Dock nursery rhyme in which a mouse literally runs up the grandfather clock in the hall of the hostel as it strikes the midnight hour accompanied by a deathly sounding orchestra and choir chanting "Hickory Dickory". The said mouse also appears as a "dumb witness" in every murder scene too and it startles Poirot's audience of suspects as he presents the solution to the case enabling the killer to attempt a getaway. There is some amusing chemisty and light comedy here between Suchet's Poirot and Philip Jackson's Chief Inspector Japp in which the latter is home alone as a result of his wife being away on holiday. Poirot invites him to stay with him at his flat and, while the two men are very close friends, Japp cannot adapt to Poirot's lifestyle which is rather eccentric to say the least. Anthony Horowitz's dramatization is first class and his attention to period detail is brilliant. He relocates the story to the time of the Jarrow march (an important time in the labour movement's calendar), which adds both interest and a hint of realism to the story. Although I would liked to have seen Poirot in the fifties (check out the original novel for that), what the film makers do to justify their change of setting to the thirties makes that decision forgivable. All in all, and I repeatedly say this about most of the Poirot episodes - so, please forgive me if I sound a little repetitive - Hickory Dickory Dock is another top notch entry in the series and fans of high quality TV drama and rattlingly good whodunits should by no accounts miss it.

There is a great sense of style to this episode, and I particularly enjoyed the use of the nursery rhyme as incidental music (even if it is a bit heavy at times). Likewise the use of the mouse is quite good, although again it could have been used more sparingly for better effect (did he really need to be at the scene of every murder and in the 'reveal' sequence as well?). So these fun little add-ons I quite liked. One could extend that too, to include the throwaway comedy material about Japp being home alone and with rather simple tastes in food, décor and heating. All of these things I quite liked, but at the same time have to consider if they are not also part of the weakness with this episode too.The thing is, so far I have not really mentioned the actual story and that is probably because it is not particularly strong. It starts well, with the return of Miss Lemon and a link to a very odd series of minor thefts which is curious and had my interest from the start. Unfortunately the development of the mystery is not particularly well done; partly I think because the episode is so often the episode is more interested in the asides or the manner of delivery rather than the meat and potatoes business of delivering a good narrative in an effective manner (another irony since the joke is made of Japp's much, much simpler tastes – which include said foods). The mystery has enough force in the delivery to make it just about work in terms of the structure and style we are used to, but it didn't really hold me as it should have done, and I did think it rush to make up lost ground at the end, mainly so it could tie everything together in the usual final scene.The cast play with this the best they can, but again the best work seems to be reserved for Suchet and Jackson having comedic moments together. I liked this (despite the knock-on effects) although like the previous episode it did make me miss Hastings, where such interplay complimented the episode rather than distracting from it. Moran's return was nice and seemed more than just a plot device to link to the mystery, while the support cast are mostly interesting and well played (including a young Damien Lewis (although depressing to think of him looking almost as young 20 years later hanging around in Homeland).There are good aspects to this episode, but it must be said that they do tend to be on the sides and in the main body the narrative/mystery is not well delivered, with too much focus on the style and the supporting comedic material, rather than getting the mystery right and then building off and around this foundation. I enjoyed it for what I liked, but there was a lot here that really wasn't as well done as it needed to be.

This story was never among my favourites in Christie's works so I was pleasantly surprised to quite enjoy this adaptation. The mouse motif was effective if a little overdone, the bones of the story are there although more emphasis is placed on the 'crime in the past' subplot. The students were all pretty much as I imagined them although its a pity they weren't a more cosmopolitan bunch - perhaps the revised thirties setting didn't allow for that! I thought some very daring risks were taken with the filming; perhaps its because I've not long re-read the book but it seemed pretty obvious to me who the murderer was from their appearance in some reveal shots quite early on.Humour was much more prevalent in these early Poirots. Sometimes it works but I found a lot of it rather heavy handed in this episode (though I did smile at the 'Lemon sole' throwaway line). Altogether though, a solid entry in the series though not one of the best.

It all begins with a series of thefts of seemingly unrelated objects in a hostel for students on Hickory Road, London. Concerned for her sister, who is the housekeeper there, Miss Lemon asks Hercule Poirot to look into the matter. He agrees, but soon the stakes get higher when a girl, who had admitted that she was responsible for most (not all) of the thefts, is found murdered."Hickory Dickory Dock" is a solid brain exercise, without being as mind-numbingly complicated as "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe". Murder, theft and diamond smuggling are the crimes involved, and the final twist that ties everything together is revealed only in the last 2 minutes! The characters are interesting, particularly the psychology student Colin McNabb and the mysterious American girl Sally Finch, Inspector Japp has his funny moments (in perhaps the closest this series has come to "toilet humor"), and Miss Lemon gets a more integral part to the story than usual. (***)