Touching, insightful, humorous and fascinating, this series sees national treasure David Suchet take us around the world with the Queen of mystery, bringing the vast Agatha Christie fanbase, and many others, to a programme which does so much more than just revel in the past.
Before becoming the world’s best-selling author of all time, Agatha Christie embarked upon her own round-the-world “Grand Tour” in 1922, aged 31. Her ten-month itinerary of the then British Empire took her across South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Canada.
Every step of this monumental trip was captured forever in photographs taken on her camera, and in her own extensive and lively letters to her mother.
Now, 100 years on, David Suchet, the most famous actor to play her most famous character (Hercule Poirot), is going to get closer than ever to his literary hero, by following in Agatha Christie’s footsteps using her own words and photographs as his guide.
Across 5 episodes, David Suchet will explore the five destinations Agatha visited. With access to extraordinary archive material, he will endeavour to better understand the nation’s favourite author – Agatha’s daily letters to her mother act as a diary, detailing tales of motor trips and surfing, seasickness and sunburn, glamour and misery. Her collection of postcards, newspaper clippings and personal photographs lets us see the world through her eyes.
While David Suchet will certainly have a fun adventure, it won’t all be frivolous. Life was very different in 1922, and he will be comparing the attitudes of the British Empire at that time, with how those countries thrive in the present day, understanding the impact of colonialism and discovering the locals’ opinions of Britain one hundred years on.
This unique travelogue will also introduce the viewer and David to the young adventurous side of Agatha Christie and reveal how the adventures she embarked on would ultimately influence the exotic stories that made her the world’s biggest selling author of all time.