David Suchet like a “yo yo” on verge of final Poirot episode

Actor David Suchet said his emotions were like a “yo yo” today as he prepared to watch his final appearance as Hercule Poirot after almost a quarter of a century of sleuthing.

The star, whose father is Jewish, will draw his career as the wily Belgian to a close in Curtain: Poirot’s Final Case tonight and he is preparing to watch the last moments when they are screened on ITV with wife Sheila Ferris.

During an interview on ITV’s This Morning, he said: “Its a big day for me and tonight I will be sitting down with my wife and we will watch the end.

“And my emotions today are extraordinary, they really are like a yo yo going up and down.

“It’s an odd thing because I didn’t expect it, so I didn’t know how to prepare for it.”

Audiences first saw Suchet’s version of the dapper detective on screen in 1989 in The Adventure Of The Clapham Cook and since then he has starred in 70 adaptations of the Agatha Christie stories with only one tale, a little known play called Black Coffee, left untold.

Asked about his marathon stint playing Poirot, Suchet recently compared the feat to climbing a mountain and said: “I tell you exactly what it feels like.

“You suddenly realise, although you never knew it, that you’ve reached Everest.

“And having suddenly stood on the top of Everest, that you never expected to climb, there is a complete strange mixture of, ‘Oh, I now have to say goodbye because I’ve done it’, and then euphoria, for the same reason – ‘I’ve done it’.

“The predominant emotion is celebration, that actually it is time.

“And what a thing to leave behind.”

The show has been a huge hit for ITV and is broadcast in more than 200 countries around the world and has legions of devoted fans.

None more so than Suchet himself, who has even confessed to keeping a few props as souvenirs.

He said: “I was allowed to take, for my own possession, everything there was a double of.

“I have his ring, his studs, I’ve been given a moustache, I’ve got his chair, with Poirot written on it.

“And I believe that I will be presented with my number one cane, and if that happens that will be my very prize possession, because I’ve held that for 25 years.”

The 67-year-old, who is the brother of TV newsreader John, said it was “extraordinary” preparing for the end of the series and said the last day’s filming was “one of the hardest days of my whole acting career”.

He said: “Not a pleasant thing to do.

“And that’s not me being theatrical.

“I’ve lived with this man for 25 years and so it’s difficult to say goodbye to a dear, dear friend, who’s been part of my life for a quarter of a century.”

The actor said he did not think he would reprise the role for the new Poirot novel, which will be written by Sophie Hannah, but admitted there could be one more performance to come.

He said: “I don’t see how I can revive myself for a story that is not Agatha Christie.

“However, I’d love to do a remake of one of the stories for movie.

“I would love to do The ABC Murders, which is my favourite. There’s nothing to stop me reprising the story for cinema, because I’ve never done a cinema Poirot.”

Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case airs at 8pm on 13 November on ITV