blanche-2
I gave this an 8 because it does keep you guessing.While investigating a spy ring for MI6, Lieutenant Colin Race is walking on a street when a young woman races out of house and starts screaming that there is a dead man in the house. Race enters to investigate.The typist is Sheila Webb. She was asked by her boss to go to this particular home and assist the woman living there. She lets herself in as instructed, and finds a dead man on the floor. There are four clocks in the room, all of which say 4:13. When the owner of the home, a Miss Pebmarsh, comes home, she says she doesn't know the man and never asked for a typist. Sheila becomes a suspect.Poirot, working with the local investigators and a friend of Colin's, comes in to investigate. He thinks one of the neighbors had a secret worth a murder, and that Miss Webb was set up.I thought this was good episode if filled with some bizarre coincidences. Poirot as played by David Suchet is perfection, and Poirot himself was very funny as he annoyed the chief inspector with what the inspector considered really dumb questions. Of course, they weren't at all.Enjoyable, set in a time when England was on the brink of war with Germany.
Iain-215
Adapted by Stewart Harcourt from a late Poirot novel (and not one of Christie's best) 'The Clocks' turned out to be unexpectedly good. Harcourt gives the whole thing a 'pre war spy thriller' twist and the whole thing moves at a brisk but never confusing pace. The seaside setting of Dover made a nice change and the casting was generally very good indeed.Tom Burke is engaging as Poirot's sidekick Lt Race and I very much enjoyed Phil Daniels as Insp Hardcastle - a perfect counterpoint to Poirot. Anna Massey and Jaime Winstone are excellent in the largest supporting roles but I also loved Lesley Sharp as a glacial, ne'er do well Miss Martindale, Frances Barber (always terrific) as the strident Merlina Rival and (probably best of all) Beatie Edney as the eccentric 'catwoman' Mrs Hemmings.I really enjoyed this production and hats off to Harcourt and his team for turning one of Christie's weaker plots into something really good!
Anastasia Kharlamova
The Clocks is one of my favorite Poirot mysteries, so I decided to watch this adaptation - despite the mixed opinions of the viewers.Well, I liked it very much. Sheila, Colin, and of course the great detective himself are portrayed perfectly, the plot is generally faithful to the book.Though, some story changes seemed pointless to me - for example, why change Edna Brent's name?And I think that the additions on the spy subplot were completely unnecessary - they only confused everything and didn't play a big role in the solution. Casting suspicion on the Waterhouses (and making them German-born refugees), for example.So, I give the movie 8 out of 10. Minus one for the useless plot alterations, and minus one for making Inspector Hardcastle way too dull - in my opinion, too dull even for the classical "stupid policeman" of the detective stories.
Neil Doyle
This has to be the most disappointing of all the Agatha Christie stories brought to the TV screen by Masterpiece Theater and starring David SUCHET as the mastermind detective Hercule Poirot.The story is so far-fetched in concept and cluttered with such a lot of nonsense about a spy plot and the sinister group of people involved, with every facet of the story straining credibility from the start. And this, despite a fine central performance by ANNA MASSEY as a blind receptionist who finds a murdered man behind her sofa and is unable to explain either his identity or the circumstances of his death.As usual, the production values are excellent and the acting by all concerned is on a high level of expertise. But the story seems so absurd and is hard to follow once the various details come to light, making it appear that even Poirot will be unable to unwind the tangled mess of events.Very disappointing and certainly not one of Agatha Christie's more credible mysteries.
