David Suchet is the consummate Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's neat, rather prissy and definitely rotund Belgian detective.

At one stage in her life, Agatha Christie said she hated Poirot -- and it's absolutely clear why. He is anally retentive, smug, so fastidiously correct in every way -- the sort of character which, just like Dame Agatha, we all love to hate.

Poirot was, after all, the subject of the very first novel she wrote, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and she kept writing about him all through her very long and prolific life. She couldn't write him out of her system, and her readers could never get enough of this intensely irritating little fat man.

Sad Cypress is a very recent British television production, perfect in its period detail, so that if the story leaves a bit wanting, there's always something to beguile the eye in the meticulously careful settings, props and costumes. David Suchet is of course just perfect as Poirot. He has got himself so well under this character's skin that it's a wonder he can peel it off afterwards.

It's a fun diversion, as Poirot sets out to find for himself that convicted murderer, socialite Elinor Carlisle, is in fact innocent of the murder of her aunt Laura Welman,and her rival in love, Mary Gerrard. And it matters not one bit that if you apply just a bit of due diligence, you'll know well before the end whether Elinor dun it or not -- watching Poirot at work is much more satisfying than solving it yourself.

This anamorphic widescreen transfer gives us the period drama in ravishing quality, with dense colours, strong tonal contrasts and no image degradation of any kind.

The soundtrack is basic two-channel, but does its job well in getting across every word of dialogue with precision, as well as setting out perfectly some atmospheric music and mild effects.