I was watching Episode 1 of the new The Seven Dials Mystery adaptation. I found myself comparing the book and how the drama was unfolding on the screen. Familiar characters, familiar mystery — yet somehow different.
What emerged was a scene set in Whitehaven Mansions, where Poirot, Hastings, and Miss Lemon sit down to discuss The Seven Dials Mystery — both the novel and its modern Netflix adaptation. What follows is a review delivered by Christie's creations.
Parlor of 15B Whitehaven Mansions. Hercule Poirot sits by the fire, sipping a steaming tisane. Captain Hastings leans forward in his chair, gripping a newspaper, while Miss Lemon stands by her desk, methodically aligning a stack of index cards. The filing system hums with quiet precision.
Miss Lemon: "I have prepared the report as you requested, Monsieur Poirot. The Seven Dials Mystery. The records indicate not one, but two murders. First, Mr. Gerald Wade, found in his bed at Chimneys with seven alarm clocks. A joke gone very wrong. Second, Mr. Ronny Devereux, shot after trying to convey a warning.
In the 1929 novel, the motive is industrial espionage — the theft of a secret steel formula. In the 2026 Netflix series, the motive becomes the economic desperation of a family burdened by the costs of the Great War. While the killers remain the same in both versions, the mastermind behind them has been entirely reimagined.
I've detailed the departures from the original text in Appendix B. It is rather untidy, I must say.
Monsieur Poirot, it's also one of those rare novels where a setting — Chimneys — and several characters return from an earlier book. That made it feel like more than a one-off mystery, wouldn't you say? Quite rare for our creator to do so. Apart from us, of course.
Captain Hastings, remember that feeling you had after watching Bridgerton? As if it got a facelift for an international audience? Totally unnecessary, in my opinion.
They went and did the same with this Netflix adaptation. One wonders why. The light-hearted efficiency — as written by our creator Dame Christie — was perfect as it was."
Captain Hastings: "I say, have you seen it, Miss Lemon?
Lady Caterham lives, Miss Havisham-like, in a house where a bucket catches the drops of water from a leaky roof. You wouldn't enjoy it, Poirot.
But I say, old man, Bonham Carter is doing a marvelous job."
Miss Lemon: "I thought it had a Wodehouse-like charm. Some of the characters reminded me of the Bertie fellow. And Bundle — well, she would be a bit like Nancy Drew, wouldn't she? Nothing like you at all, Monsieur Poirot."
Captain Hastings: "I say, Poirot, it's a bit of a muddle!
The book is a cracking adventure. You've got Bundle Brent — a girl with real spirit — taking on a mysterious society that meets in a basement in the Seven Dials district. It's all about secret formulas and international crooks.
But this new series! They've made it so… heavy. They've gone and added a Mastermind behind the scenes — someone from the very heart of the family, who wasn't a villain in the book at all!
It's like finding out your own aunt is a member of the Mafia!"
Hercule Poirot (eyes closed, fingertips pressed together): "Mon ami, do not let your emotions cloud the logic. You see two murders and you see adventure. I see a study in misdirection.
In the book, Dame Christie, she created the 'Seven Dials' society as the greatest trick of all. The reader, he is led to believe they are the villains. But non, they are the hunters.
The true killer, he appears oh so charming and helpless. The one who uses the alarm clocks to create this theater of the absurd. The motive, it is simple: the greed for money.
Now, my friend, what do we see in this 2026 adaptation? The producers, they sought a deeper betrayal. They kept the original killers — those two young people who did the dirty work.
But mon ami, they have added a shadowy figure at the top. This new villain, they are driven not by greed, but by the ghosts of the war, and the survival of the estate.
The 'Seven Dials' are still there, my friend. But they are fighting an enemy much closer to home.
It is no mere industrial spy, Hastings."
Captain Hastings: "But Poirot, if the killers are the same… doesn't that make the whole thing a bit redundant, old chap?"
Hercule Poirot (a sharp glint in his eyes): "Au contraire, Hastings! It changes the psychology of the house party, no?
In the book, the evil — it comes from the outside. We have, how you call it, opportunists seeking a fortune.
In the series, the evil, it is domestic. It is a tragedy of the bloodline.
Bundle Brent, our young detective — she is not just hunting a murderer. She, mon ami, is hunting her own history.
Miss Lemon, she has correctly identified it. The novel, it is a game of 'Bright Young Things' outwitting a thief.
The series, my friend? It is a cold reckoning with the past.
To solve both, one must ignore the ticking of the seven clocks. The gray cells, Hastings. One must exercise them, mon ami, and look instead at the one who stands to gain the most from the silence that follows."
Miss Lemon: "If I may, Monsieur — the 2026 version ends with a rather loud train sequence. Most untidy."
Captain Hastings: "Well, Poirot — are you going to tell us who the mastermind is?"
Hercule Poirot (with a small, enigmatic smile): "Non, Hastings. To reveal the face behind the mask before the final chapter… that would be a crime against the fair play you English love so much, no?"
Miss Lemon (without looking up from her notes): "Then I shall file the report under 'Pending', shall I?"
I say, have you read the novel? Cracking stuff, really!
Or perhaps you've seen that new Netflix adaptation? Bit of a departure, if you ask me — but jolly well-acted.
Anyway, I'd be dashed interested to know what you thought. Drop me a line, won't you?
Always good to compare notes — just don't ask me to explain the alarm clocks.