Among the best-known films featuring the brilliant private detective Hercule Poirot are the following:

     Death on the Nile (1978) starring Sir Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot and Bette Davis, David Niven, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury and Jane Birkin in other roles.

     Evil Under the Sun (1982) starring Sir Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot and Jane Birkin, Guy Hamilton, Cole Porter and Colin Blakely in other roles.

     Appointment with Death (1988) starring Sir Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot and Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher and David Soul in other roles.

The popularity achieved in Germany by these three adaptations of the Hercule Poirot novels by author Agatha Christie is mostly due to the fact that Sir Peter Ustinov was already famous, and, of course, the fact that re-runs of these three films are still being broadcast. The movie Murder on the Orient Express (1974), in which Albert Finney portrays Hercule Poirot, is at least as well-known.

Finney chose a very loyal portrayal to the literary depiction of the author and was rewarded for his wonderful work with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Unfortunately, Albert Finney played the role of Hercule Poirot only once. Neither Poirot’s friend, Captain Hastings, nor Mrs. Oliver, with whom he has carried out several investigations, appear in any of the three adaptations.

Rosalind Hicks, Agatha Christie's daughter, started the preparations for adapting all cases of the Belgian detective as early as the mid-1980’s together with producer Brian Eastman.

The choice to play the role of Poirot fell on actor David Suchet and, once a contract was signed in 1987, the British television channel LWT (London Weekend Television) began filming the series, now consisting of over sixty parts. Like Albert Finney, David Suchet's portrayal is also very loyal to the literary depiction.

Special emphasis was placed on using authentic equipment. This resulted in the historical cars and coaches and the authentic interior decoration of houses. In addition, roads, bridges, railway stations and other public facilities were transformed with much attention to detail so that they would suit the epoch in which the series was to take place.

Also because of this attention to detail, but essentially thanks to the portrayal of the Belgian detective, which was kept very loyal to the book, the series achieved great success. The short stories starring Hercule Poirot were divided in episodes of 50 minutes for the silver screen. The film adaptations of novels, however, had a playing time of 100 minutes.

Starting from 2004, the Japanese television station NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai) produced a nearly four-part anime series entitled Agatha Christie's Detectives Poirot and Marple, showing some of the most famous stories about Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.