Original Airdate: 11 February 1996 Written by: Anthony Horowitz Directed by: Andrew Grieve Recurring cast: Captain Hastings Based on:The Murder on the Links
Tropes:
Adaptational Angst Downgrade: Jack Renauld. In the books, the boy goes through a lot of emotional stress in dealing with his father's death – which he partially felt responsible for – going through arrest and trial, then being disowned by his mother. This final blow sent him to a nervous breakdown, causing him to fall ill for several days. The TV version is not as affected by the ordeal, and is, in fact, enjoying a celebration when his mother delivers the ultimatum.
Since the Duveen sisters are merged into one character, it's Stonor who ends up killing Marthe while defending Madame Renauld.
Instead of betting each other 500 francs on who gets to solve the case first, Giraud bets his famous pipe while Poirot bets his famous mustache. After Giraud arrives in the denouement to surrender his pipe, however, Poirot decides to be a magnanimous winner and lets his rival keep his pipe, on the condition that he think of Poirot every time he smoked it.
Adaptational Jerkass: Jack Renauld is much more selfish than in the book. In the novel, Jack loves both of his parents, including his father, despite having frequent rows with the latter; in the adaptation, he outright states that he dislikes Paul. In the novel, when Bella arrives at his trial to confess to the crime, he is distraught that his Heroic Sacrifice for her was all for nothing, and sends Stonor to stay for her trial to help her defence; in the adaptation, he happily goes on to celebrate his acquittal with Marthe, apparently forgetting about Bella.
Adaptational Wimp: The Duveen sisters are skilled acrobats in the book, which allows Dulcie to perform a Big Damn Heroes rescue of Madame Renauld and subdue Marthe. Here, Bella is just a singer and takes no part in any action.
Adapted Out: Jeanne Beroldy's rich lover Mr Hiram is omitted. She manipulated George Conneau into murdering her husband to claim his inheritance, whereas in the book she wanted to be "freed" so she could marry Hiram.
Beach Kiss: In the final scene, Hastings walks off toward the beach at sunset, pining over Bella. At the same time, Poirot leads Bella toward the beach where Hastings is. Once they reunite, Poirot gives off a smile and drives off as both Hastings and Bella kiss as sunset silhouettes.
Bound and Gagged: Eloise Renauld is discovered tied up and gagged in bed, which is later revealed to be a part of her husband's plan. Notice that he kisses her on her forehead after tying her up.
Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends: A likely reason for Jack Renauld's adaptational jerkassery. Because the character of Bella Duveen, Jack's girlfriend, is merged with Hastings's Love Interest, her twin sister Dulcie, the story needs to give the audience some more plausible explanation as to why Bella would choose Hastings over Jack. Poirot lampshades this by saying that Jack doesn't deserve Bella's love in the film's final scene (in the books, it was the opposite – Jack feels that he doesn't deserve Bella because he tried to leave her for Marthe, but Poirot assures him that his willingness to die for Bella proves that he is worthy of her).
Composite Character: The Duveen sisters Bella, Jack Renauld's girlfriend, and Dulcie, Hastings's eventual wife, are merged into a single character Bella Duveen, who is Jack's ex-girlfriend but ends up falling in love with Hastings.
Cry into Chest: Madame Eloise Renauld hears of the death of her husband Paul and cries onto a person's shoulder.
Faint in Shock: When Eloise Renauld sees her husband's body in the morgue, she gives off loud "No"s before fainting.
French Accordion: The episode, which is set in France, features accordions playing the series' main theme in several parts.
Graceful Loser: Giraud in the end turns out to be one. He acknowledges his defeat to Poirot by giving up his trademark pipe to uphold his end of the bargain; Poirot allows him to keep it. The two detectives then part ways on good terms.
I Wished You Were Dead: Jack Renauld angrily tells his stepfather Paul "Sometimes, I wish you were dead, and then I could do whatever I want!" Later that night, Jack returns to find his stepfather dead in the grave, murdered by Marthe Daubreuil, and thinks he has himself to blame for his stepfather's death.
Karma Houdini Warranty: Unlike her book counterpart Madame Daubreuil doesn't get away in the show, instead being arrested for being an accomplice to Paul Renauld's murder.
Love at First Note: Bella comes to perform a song at Hastings and Poirot's hotel, and Hastings is entranced from the moment she begins singing.
Named by the Adaptation: Madame Daubreuil's first name, never revealed in the original novel, is "Bernadette" in the adaptation. This is done so that the love letter found in Paul Renauld's pocket (signed by a B. D.) could possibly be attributed to her.
Promoted to Love Interest: Downplayed. Madame Renauld shares a lot of tender scenes with Stonor, which did not exist in the original book. Whether those moments are intended to be Ship Tease is not clear, however.
Related Differently in the Adaptation: Jack Renauld is Paul Renauld's stepson who was adopted by him and took his surname when his mother Eloise married Paul, rather than his biological son. Their relationship is way, way colder than in the book.
Same Language Dub: Inspector Giraud is completely dubbed over, which is especially jarring because the episode used audio recorded on set for all the other characters he speaks to.
Setting Update: The TV adaptation moves the setting from Merlinville-sur-Mer in the 1920s to Deauville, still in France, and also changes the year to 1936, same as most of the TV series' episodes.
Title Drop: Hastings and Bella mention "the murder on the links" in their conversation.
