The book Death on the Nile is long and complicated, but superb all the same, and one of my favourite Christies. The Peter Ustinov film is one of the better outings of his as while it wasn't completely faithful, it boasted a superb cast and it was sumptuous to look at. This adaptation for me is slightly inferior to the Ustinov film, and the only one of two to make me feel that way (the other is Evil Under the Sun). Starting with the pros first, it is breathtaking to look at. The Egyptian scenery and the costume and set designs were top draw, the script captured the style of the book perfectly and the music was excellent. And the acting was great, David Suchet is impeccable as Poirot, and Emma Malin is a superb Jackie, gorgeous and expressive. Frances DeLa Tour gives a first rate performance as Salome Otterborne, the same character that Angela Lansbury overplayed so deliciously in the 1978 film. In fact the only weak performance came from Emily Blunt as Linnette, she looked the part (more than Lois Chiles I'd say) but she wasn't quite bitchy enough. As a matter of fact, neither Blunt or Chiles quite nailed Linnette quite right. And there are slight improvements over the 1978 film too, one is that the pacing is faster, the other is that it is more faithful to the book, the murders are closer to the ones in the book and the ending done in Romeo and Juliet style is closer too. However, there are one or two flaws, namely the direction from Andy Wilson, it wasn't absolutely abysmal, but it wasn't quite as efficient or as suspenseful as it could've been. Also there were times where I felt that I had been told too much too early, and this was a similar problem I had with Murder on the Links. All in all, this is a very good episode. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox