Poirot "The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly" #1.3 (1989) (TV)

"If there was to be any rough stuff, I don't know as Mr. Poirot'd be the first person I'd think of.", 4 July 2015

Poirot is hired to stop a kidnapping. Even though the exact time of the kidnapping is known in advance, the combined force of Poirot, Japp, Hastings, and a host of officers proves ineffective.

I know these comments will receive more negative votes than positive, but I've got to be honest about these things. There are a few episodes of Poirot that I still haven't seen - most are the ones with run-times under an hour. But I simply cannot imagine myself enjoying any of these unseen episodes less than this one. The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly is easily the worst I've seen so far. The mystery is too easy to solve (as Poirot himself says, the solution is obvious), the acting is below par (Geoffrey Bateman may be a decent enough actor, but here he gets his part all wrong), and the runtime feels padded even at only 51 minutes (scenes like the ones with Poirot ordering eggs or Hastings running out of gas are examples). Overall, I can't recommend The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly. A 3/10 is the best I can do.

3/10