History Series / TheABCMurders

** Betty Barnard is mourned by her parents... and nobody else - the few scenes she appear in make the viewer glad that it is all but stated she is going to die. Even her fiancee is having tea with her mother shortly after the event, which Poirot thinks is a bit much. [[spoiler:Subverted in the final episode when Betty's mother and fiancee try to convince Betty's sister Megan to marry the fiancee, who had dumped Megan in the first place in favour of the more glamorous Betty, for their own very obviously selfish reasons. Megan later has a flashback of Betty telling her she did her a favour by stealing her boyfriend and that one day Megan will realise that. As Megan then packs her suitcase and sneaks out of the house using the same route Betty used to use it looks like she was right.]]

* AgeLift:
** Played with in Poirot's case. His age in the novels has been ambiguous due to a degree of ComicBookTime being applied to the series, however David Suchet was 46 when he portrayed the character in the original adaptation. In this version, he is portrayed by a 65 year old John Malkovich.
** The Clarke family - Sir Carmichael, Lady Hermione and Franklin - are all markedly younger than they were in the novel and original adaptation.

* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: In the novels and every other adaptation, Poirot [[spoiler: was a detective on the Brussels police force before he came to England as a refugee during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. In this series, while Poirot still claims to be a former policeman, his stated backstory is revealed to be a lie. Poirot was a priest in the Belgian countryside who watched all his parishioners burned to death by invading German troops. The guilt stemming from not being able to save their lives led him to renounce priesthood and reinvent himself as a detective when he came to England, so that he would be able to bring justice to other victims.]]

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This is the fourth in a series of five Christie adaptations adapted by Sarah Phelps for the BBC. The others: ''[[Series/AndThenThereWereNone2015 And Then There Were None]]'' (2015), ''Series/WitnessForTheProsecution'' (2016), ''Series/OrdealByInnocence'' (2018) and ''Literature/ThePaleHorse'' (2020).

This is the fourth in a series of five Christie adaptations adapted by Sarah Phelps for the BBC. The other series are: ''[[Series/AndThenThereWereNone2015 And Then There Were None]]'' (2015), ''Series/WitnessForTheProsecution'' (2016), ''Series/OrdealByInnocence'' (2018) and ''Literature/ThePaleHorse'' (2020).

This is the fourth in a series of five Christie adaptations adapted by Sarah Phelps for the BBC. The other series are: ''Series/AndThenThereWereNone'' (2015), ''Series/WitnessForTheProsecution'' (2016), ''Series/OrdealByInnocence'' (2018) and ''Literature/ThePaleHorse'' (2020).

''The ABC Murders'' is a 2018 miniseries adaptation of Creator/AgathaChristie's 1936 mystery novel of the same name. While the series adapts the plot of the novel faithfully, it also features a number of notable changes to the story and as well as a DarkerAndEdgier tone.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: This adaptation's Poirot is a tortured soul who's career is at a low point and who's faith is severely damaged, even going so far as to avoid confession out of a belief that he's unworthy of communion.

* EvilCounterpart: The ABC killer explicitly wants to be this to Poirot. [[spoiler: He dresses like Poirot, and commits murders in places that Poirot has previously visited - taking pleasure in watching Poirot try to catch him.]]

* {{Reconstruction}}: Poirot is eventually hired to investigate the case by a wealthy aristocrat, Franklin Clarke, just like in the "good old days". He gradually earns the trust and grudging respect of Inspector Crome and forms a new partnership with him, reminiscent of his old partnership with Inspector Japp. In fact, in the end [[spoiler: the murderer reveals that part of his motivation was to 'revive' and 'restore' Poirot to his former glory by being a WorthyOpponent to him.]]

* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: [[spoiler: In the novels and every other adaptation, Poirot was a detective on the Brussels police force before he came to England as a refugee during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. In this series, while Poirot still claims to be a former policeman, his stated backstory is revealed to be a lie. Poirot was a priest in the Belgian countryside who watched all his parishioners burned to death by invading German troops. The guilt stemming from not being able to save their lives led him to renounce priesthood and reinvent himself as a detective when he came to England, so that he would be able to bring justice to other victims.]]

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the classic Poirot story, and more generally, of the kind of CozyMystery that Agatha Christie and other 'Golden Age' writers were famous for. Malkovich's Poirot was indeed once a celebrated detective who hob-knobbed with the wealthy, much like the character in the novels - but he did so largely by being an entertainer and playing 'murder games' at their country house dinner parties. Anti-immigrant sentiment, coupled with resentment over his constant showing up of Scotland Yard, has led to him becoming persona non grata among the police, who have adopted an openly hostile attitude towards him. Even the media, and public opinion, has turned against him, and his detective practise has been running out of steam. Of course, some of this changes. See {{Reconstruction}} below.

* ChekhovsParty: Hermione mentions that Carmichael, her husband, always adored Poirot since they played a murder-mystery game at a party twenty years ago. This turns out to have been where the murderer, Franklin - Carmichael's brother - developed his obsession with Poirot.