Sir David Suchet is best-known to frock flickers for his many years portraying Agatha Christie’s detective Hercule Poirot. But he began as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1973 and has had a successful career on stage. His theater chops have served him well in a variety of roles onscreen too, where he’s played complicated characters, often serious, yet sometimes with a sly wit. Let’s take a look through his career in historical costume!
John Barsad in A Tale of Two Cities (1980)
Edward Teller in Oppenheimer (1980)
Clopin Trouillefou in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982)
Corbett in The Missionary (1982)
Beria in Red Monarch (1983)
Inspector Tsientsin in Reilly: Ace of Spies, “Prelude to War” (1983)
Buller in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
Dr. Sigmund Freud in Freud (1984)
Herman Glogauer in Once in a Life Time (1988)
Alfred Verloc in The Secret Agent (1992)
Ruben Roberts in Cruel Train (1995)
Aaron in Moses (1995)
Joab in Solomon (1997)
Hercule Poirot in Poirot (1989-2013)
Louis B. Mayer in RKO 281 (1999)
Napoleon in Sabotage! (2000)
Stockmar in Victoria and Albert (2001)
Augustus Melmotte in The Way We Live Now (2001)
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in Henry VIII (2003)
General Hallholland in A Bear Named Winnie (2004)
Abraham Van Helsing in Dracula (2006)
Reacher Gilt in Going Postal (2010)
Jaggers in Great Expectations (2011)
Joe Keller in All My Sons (2011)
Duke of York in The Hollow Crown, “Richard II” (2012)
Mr. Ruskin in Effie Gray (2014)
Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest (2015)
Dr. Fagan in Decline and Fall (2017)
Salvador Dali in Urban Myths, “The Dali and the Cooper” (2018)
What’s your favorite historical costume movie or TV role of David Suchet’s? Bonus points if it’s something other than Poirot!
![Portrait of a lady said to be Jeanne de Valois, comtesse de la Motte [I would be shocked if this was accurate] by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, c. 1780 [I'd say post-1783], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/frockflicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Jeanne_lamotte_valois.jpg?fit=300%2C175&ssl=1)
I have no memory of Suchet being in The Missionary. I shall have to re-watch it.
Technically, Blott on the Landscape probably ought to be included, even though it mainly takes place in the 1980s, since there are flashbacks of Blott from the 1950s and 60s.
Suchet and Jeremy Brett will always be Poirot and Holmes for me. Along with the Hickson Miss Marple series and Francesca Annis in Partners in Crime, we were spoiled with beautifully-done period mysteries for a good long time there.
He was riveting as Melmotte. But now I want to see his Lady Bracknell and Napoleon.
Truly, the power of Mr Suchet as Poirot is very great to allow me to shake off my instinctive dislike and mistrust of all things Freudian to the point where one can bellow “Cher Hercule! Mon vieux!” at the very sight of that dear, familiar little moustache man.
Also BOB! All respect to the murderer’s row of current and future acting talent assembled for the series, the finest special guest star in the history of it’s run (With Ms Eleanor Tomlinson a close third behind Ms Zoe Wanamaker as the ever welcome Mrs Ariadne Oliver – to this day I remain deeply sorry ‘The Labours of Hercules’ was not the finale of this show).
He was excellent in The Way we Live Now! Great miniseries!
Even though it’s not historical, I adored his performance and his look in Going Postal.
Looks like his future cohort Zoe Wanamaker in the Once In A Life Time pic.
I’ve only seen a few of these beyond all of his performances as Poirot. He is the best actor in that role IMHO.
The only two of note were Lady Bracknell (hilarious!) and the The Way We Live Now (cunning).
A fun fact; to get the Belgian detective’s proper mincing gate, Mr Suchet would walk with a penny between his butt cheeks. It worked!!
The quintessential Poirot! I like some other versions (not Branagh’s, alas) but the sheer amount of dedication, years of craft, and love Suchet gave to the role will always impress me.
It’s amusing to see a role as Napoleon on here, as I recently listened to the rather hectic (but fun and even moving at times) play “The Man of Destiny” by George Bernard Shaw starring David Suchet as Napoleon and Paola Dianisotti as “The Lady.” I found it on Internet Archive in case anyone else wants to hear it.
Also – ahhhh! Reacher Gilt! “Going Postal” is one of my top favorite Pratchett novels. Gilt is quite a character and I bet Suchet had fun with the role.