Joan Hickson was great in the part. McEwan had a little more edge is all. Rutherford played the buffoon and put me off as a died in the wool Christie fan. Kind of like Ustinov’s Poirot.
It seemed to me that whoever directed the Miss Marples with McEwan added some liberal values in the stories, but maybe I’m just one of those paranoid conservatives you always hear about. ;-)
I agree that Ustinov was a terrible Poirot! I enjoyed Rutherford’s movies for her acting, the comedy, and the story line. I tend to view her character as someone other than Miss Marple.
I liked David Suchet as Poirot in tv series at least - can imagine him, all around, as much more of a Beligan Detective, much better portrayal of Poirot’s character per Christie’s novels about him. Ustinov wasn’t the right actor for this - he would’ve done better were Poirot a Russian Bear, lol.