Poirot (TV Series) The Theft of the Royal Ruby (1991) User Reviews

A total delight

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 28 September 2014]

"The Theft of the Royal Ruby" is a Christmas episode, one which demands a special viewing around Christmas, even if you've already seen it. It is so warm and atmospheric will the feel of the Christmas season, it will put you right in the holiday spirit. And let's get real, sometimes these days it's hard to get in the mood.

With Miss Lemon and Lt. Hastings away for the holidays, Poirot is looking forward to Christmas alone in his comfortably heated apartment, a box of chocolates, and a few of his favorite things. It just doesn't work out that way. Poirot is summoned to help recover an incredibly valuable royal ruby, owned by the bratty, insolent Prince Farouq of Egypt. He let some woman try it on, and of course she walked away while wearing it. He's desperate.

One of the few individuals aware of the ruby's presence in England is a well-known scholar on Egypt, Colonel Lacey. Poirot consults him, and the Colonel invites him to spend Christmas with his family. Poirot tries to wriggle out of it, but gives up and agrees.

The family is very gracious, and Poirot's cover is that one of Lacey's daughters is seeing a man, Desmond Lee-Wortley, who has an unsavory reputation. Poirot, as far as Mrs. Lacey is concerned, is there to check him out. Also there is a man who is assessing the Lacey valuables, as the Colonel is having financial difficulties and has asked him to discreetly evaluate what he has so that he can sell some pieces.

Calling upon the children in the family, Poirot works on setting a trap for the ruby thief.

Really lovely and fun episode, with Poirot enjoying the family atmosphere and having a much better time than he expected.

A Poirot mystery sans Hastings, Lemon and Japp

[SimonJack · 8/10 · 7 February 2018]

Two things are out of the ordinary in this episode of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. It is one of the very few in which Poirot is all alone. That is, that none of his usual three other cohorts are in the story. It's Christmas time, and Captain Hastings is off to Scotland, while Miss Lemon is visiting her sister in Torquay on the English Channel Coast. Chief Inspector Japp never gets a call at Scotland Yard to help solve this mystery.

The second unusual aspect is the inclusion of children who have a nice part in the story. Christie might have had some more such stories, because the rapport and comfort Poirot's character has around these young teenagers is quite good and pleasant.

Poirot was looking forward to a quiet Christmas all alone with his reading, some music and imported exquisite chocolates he has just picked up. Two official looking men intercept him and coax him into their limo - the Home Secretary urgently needs to see him.

As a result, Poirot goes for the Christmas holidays to the Lacey's home where he is most welcome, and seems to enjoy the festive time. But this is all related to the theft of a gargantuan ruby from the prince heir to the throne in Egypt. There is some connection, but the plot is spotty about how the ruby appears in a plum pudding. Fortunately, Poirot has one of those gatherings toward the end when he explains things - otherwise we viewers might permanently be left in the dark.

One other thing to note about this episode is Poirot's respectful and overly polite treatment of the Lacey servants. Fans are used to the sometime pompous or arrogant demeanor of Poirot - especially when around his associates, the peerage and upper classes of England. But, he is noticeably different in his deference to and kindly treatment of the working classes. It's a nice extra attribute of his character. David Suchet plays Poirot superbly in this manner as in all ways.

And, one thing must be said about Prince Farouk. The actor, Tariq Alibai plays the part well as the snobbish, arrogant, poor-mannered and spoiled brat 19-year old prince. We all dislike him immensely. Bravo for that performance, Mr. Alibai. The overall tenor of the plot and people is delightful, and the intrigue and Christmas holiday airs add up to make this a very enjoyable film.

Here's a favorite line from the film. Mrs. Lacey, "Never good telling a young girl that a man has a bad reputation, is it?" Hercule Poirot, "It is often, I believe, an added attraction."

Rather obvious but with much to redeem it

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 26 June 2012]

I have always been a big Agatha Christie and Poirot fan, so naturally I do love the Poirot ITV series. The Theft of the Royal Ruby is not one of the jewels of the series(After the Funeral, Sad Cypress, Five Little Pigs and Wasp's Nest) but hardly one of the bad eggs either(in fact none of them are actually terrible as such, but there have been three or four disappointments like Taken at the Flood, Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Adventure of Johnnie Waverly and Cards at the Table). I do agree that in regards to the story there are far more ingenious entries to the series, the story here doesn't hold that many surprises in regard to the perpetrator's identity and there seems to be a lot of coincidence also. However, the adaptation is very sumptuously made, as ever elegant and evocative with lots of attention to detail, and the music is of the hauntingly beautiful quality you'd expect. The dialogue has many droll and intelligent moments, and the acting is very good with David Suchet as always impeccable as Poirot. But what also made the episode worth watching was its sense of warmth and atmosphere for the Christmas season, it does have a likable and heart-warming feel to it which I loved. In conclusion, not one of the best but worth watching all the same. 8/10 Bethany Cox

A delicious Christmas pudding

[dbdumonteil · 24 December 2006]

A Christie story which is not unlike Conan Doyle' s style (the king of Bohemia affair) .Here Poirot has got to help an arrogant spoiled Arabian prince to recover an invaluable ruby (and catch the thief too) .The plot takes to us to the de rigueur (modern this time) desirable mansion where the suspects stay.And as it is Christmas,they are making plum pudding in the kitchen:one for Xmas meal and another one for new year's day.And would you believe it? Poirot finds a precious stone in his pudding.But didn't someone warn him? Do not eat any pudding!Anyway,we are told -and it was not the first time-that he likes chocolates best .

As sweet as Christmas pudding.

Lucullan

[njboden · 8/10 · 27 August 2020]

An enjoyable, unusual and festive mystery. It's a bit obvious with too many coincidences as other reviewers have said but the unusual way Hastings, Lemon and Jupp don't appear and the fact that it's a theft mystery rather than a murder one make it memorable. Some endearing scenes and dialogue, along with the fact that I learnt a new word ('Lucullan', meaning 'gourmet' or 'lavish'), means that this programme merits a score of 8 out of 10

Mostly good fun

[kaberi-893-642316 · 8/10 · 13 June 2016]

For the most part, this is an entertaining episode. There were not too many extra frills necessary to fill this out, but I did appreciate the way they used Egyptology to connect Poirot to King's Lacey, (although, the prince being from Egypt, I don't see why they couldn't have made more of a connection there). I enjoyed Poirot's playfulness here, from his initial reaction to the Belgian chocolates, to his mango cutting demonstration, to his willingness to play along with the little "show" the kids were putting on for him, to the gracious way he treated the maid who tried to warn him. (Annie Bates? Didn't the maid from the Adventure of the Clapham Cook also have that name? And didn't she also get similar treatment from Poirot? Coincidence?) In the original story, the villain was shown to be a very unpleasant fellow, I wish they had spent a little more time with that here. But mostly, I was unhappy with the way they portrayed the prince as such a childish brat. That was unnecessary, I thought.

A fluffy but likable episode

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 27 May 2008]

Hercule Poirot takes up the case of the theft of an Egyptian prince's family ruby, a theft executed by a woman the prince had just met. But Poirot thinks that the woman must have had an accomplice; the trail leads him to an Egyptologist, and he is invited to spend the Christmas days with him and his family.

Story-wise, this is one of the fluffiest Poirot mysteries: the identity of the bad guy(s) is exposed pretty early on, and the success of the investigation depends on a few too many helpful coincidences (if the kids hadn't crashed the first bowl of Christmas pudding, the ruby would not have been found in time; if Poirot hadn't by chance (as even he admits) seen his coffee being drugged, he would have been drugged, etc.). What helps this episode is the warm and likable family it presents, giving you that Christmas "feeling". (**1/2)

First rate. The kind of cosy detective drama you want to stick on at Christmas time.

[jamesraeburn2003 · 10/10 · 2 August 2023]

Hercule Poirot's hopes of a quiet Christmas are dashed when he is summoned by the Foreign Office's Mr Jesmond (played by David Howey) to recover a priceless ruby stolen from Prince Farouk (played by Antony Zaki), the heir to the throne in Egypt. The mystery sees him spend Christmas with the archaeologist Colonel Lacey (played by Frederick Treves) where he finds it concealed in the Christmas pudding. Thinking that he has completed his case, he returns the ruby to the arrogant 19-year-old Prince who shows little gratitude and lambasts him for not catching the thief. Tempted to walk away Poirot is convinced by Jesmond to carry on until the culprit is discovered since it is in the interests of the British Government that Prince Farouk should take the throne. It is believed that the theft may be part of a plot by rebels who want to overthrow the monarchy and end British rule in Egypt. But who could the thief be? The Colonel since it transpires that he has taken a hit on the stock exchange and isn't at all keen to sell any of his treasured artefacts to cover his losses? Desmond Lee-Wortley (played by Nigel Le Vaillant), a suave, engaging but rather untrustworthy type who has impressed the Colonel with his knowledge about Egypt? The Colonel's wife, Mrs Lacey (played by Stephanie Cole), dislikes him because her granddaughter, Sarah (Helena Michell), is infatuated with him. Using the ruby as bait and with the help of the children: Bridget, Michael and Colin (played by Alessia Gwyther, Edward Holmes and Jonathan R Scott), Poirot hatches a cunning plan to trap the thief...

All in all, The Theft Of The Royal Ruby is first rate entertainment. The kind of cosy and cuddly detective drama you want to stick on at Christmas time after dinner. It is essentially an engaging, easy on the eye and light hearted mystery with some delightful humour and charm, which is all brought off by a top notch cast, the screenwriters Anthony Horowitz and Clive Exton and director Andrew Grieve. There is a classic scene where Poirot demonstrates to his host the correct way to peel a mango. When he is quizzed about how he acquired this particular skill, Poirot replies: "A certain duke taught me". This is actually a humorous reference to a real life incident, which is delightfully recounted in David Suchet's excellent memoir Poirot And Me. The mystery side of things holds one's attention and there is an exciting climatic chase through the Home Counties involving vintage cars and a light aircraft as the villains attempt to escape justice. Another delight is the way in which the assorted guests at the Christmas get together in the country house interact with Poirot with the same sort of delight you get from reading a good whodunit novel as he gradually pieces together the clues and sets a trap for the guilty party.

The Theft of the Royal Ruby

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 21 February 2018]

I think this story was a bit light but it still took two people to adapt it.

Poirot who is looking forward to spending Christmas with his demi kilo of chocolate is suddenly called in by the Foreign Office to help out an imbecilic Egyptian prince who has lost a valuable ruby.

Poirot ends up spending Christmas with the family of an Egyptologist in their wonderful art deco mansion with several other guests.

It may look rather obvious who could had been involved in the theft and I thought the adaptation might blindside us a bit. It did not and it also had to rely on several coincidences as well.

This episode does not feature Miss Lemon and Captain Hastings who have gone away for Christmas. It also features a more warmer version of Poirot who could not help worry about the people of Egypt if this prince ever became king.

Short and sweet

[grantss · 7/10 · 18 August 2016]

It's Christmas time. A priceless ruby is stolen from a visiting Egyptian prince. The British Foreign Office, eager to maintain cordial diplomatic ties with Egypt, enlist the help of Hercule Poirot in finding the ruby and its thief. In order to investigate the theft, Poirot visits Colonel Lacey, a foremost Egyptologist. Poirot ends up spending a few days at Colonel Lacey's estate. On Christmas Day, much to Poirot's surprise, the ruby turns up in a plum pudding...

Short and sweet - one of the shortest Poirot episodes, but it packs a fair bit in. The theft is intriguing, though the plot gets a bit contrived and unconvincing with the reappearance of the ruby. A tad far-fetched and schemes for the sake of schemes after that.

Still, reasonably interesting and entertaining.

"There is but one Hercule Poirot, and I am he."

[bensonmum2 · 7/10 · 6 August 2015]

The British government enlists Poirot's help in recovering a very large, valuable ruby stolen from an Egyptian prince.

The Theft of the Royal Ruby is another very enjoyable episode. While not among the best of the series, it's still a fine entry in the series. The mystery here isn't really much of a mystery, but the episode is still well worth watching. As I've written numerous times, the attention to period detail in these episodes is near perfect. The cars are always so amazing. I also enjoyed the Christmas feel in this episode. It's not like the Christmas I'm familiar with, but it looked all warm and welcoming. David Suchet does a fantastic job with Poirot. At the end of the episode, you can see the Christmas spirit written all over his face. Other standout performances come from Frederick Treves and Stephanie Cole as Colonel and Mrs. Lacey. Not surprising, though, given their resumes.

There's a moment in this episode that really works and almost threw me off the right track. The fake murder staged by Poirot caught me by surprise. Poirot's reaction is perfect. Nice job.

If I have one big complaint, it would be with the character Prince Farouk. His spoiled brat act is way over-the-top.

Unbelievable plot holes (SPOILERS)

[john_smith_564 · 2/10 · 21 February 2016]

It amazes me sometimes how some events in Agatha Christie's stories are just dished out as perfectly normal and logical, when a moments thought would suffice to show how utterly ridiculous those assumptions are.

For example (SPOILER), in The Mysterious Affair at Styles we are asked to believe that the murderer, with an incriminating letter in his hand and hearing people approaching in the corridor, then decides to take the time to carefully tear it up into three little strips, roll them up, and place these strips in plain sight in a container on the mantelpiece. INSTEAD of just putting the letter in his pocket when he leaves.

Similarly, my enjoyment of this ruby episode was marred by too many logical inconsistencies. For example (SPOILERS START HERE), do we seriously have to believe that a thief who stole a priceless ruby is suddenly so spooked by realizing that Poirot is a detective, that this person then decides to chuck the ruby into a Christmas pudding while all of them are busy mixing the pudding in the kitchen? Come on.

Also, Poirot sees one of the thieves slipping something into the nightcap meant for Poirot. Poirot then has no qualms substituting the cup of his poor host with his own. Firstly, how did Poirot and the thief know which cup on the tray was meant for Poirot? Secondly, how did Poirot know that it was a sleeping draught and not poison?

Poirot also discovers a mysterious letter in his bed warning him not to eat the pudding. It turns out that this letter was written by the maid who overheard the plotters in the church. First of all, the church scene is utterly unbelievable. The plotters are standing right in the middle of the singing congregation and discusses their plans openly and loudly, so loudly that the maid in the next row had no trouble hearing every word. Very hard to believe that they would be so ridiculously stupid. Secondly, why did the maid write the letter instead of just talk to Poirot about what she heard?

Then, Poirot stages a fake 'murder' ostensibly in order to draw out the thief. He plants the ruby underneath the hand of the 'murder' victim, where the thief discovers it when testing her pulse (as asked to do by Poirot). The thief then slyly takes the jewel and hares it out of there.

This event is supposed to prove that this person is the original thief of the ruby. But, of course it doesn't! Many (bent) people in that situation would also take that ruby and try to get out of there. This does not mean it was the original thief! Yet Poirot presents this as 'proof' of that fact.

Also hard to swallow, is that after setting all this up, Poirot simply lets this guy take the ruby and walk away! THEN Poirot asks the people in the house if they might possible know where this thief might be going to! Lucky him, someone thinks he might be going to a nearby airstrip. Now suddenly it is action stations and a "no time to lose" scenario, and the thieves are apprehended quite by luck, and only because the police 'just happens' to arrive at the airfield in the nick of time.

Just too horribly ridiculous too enjoy. Was it written this way, or is it just this adaptation?

The Order of the Golden Snake has a ruby to find.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 31 October 2015]

The festive season, and a foolish, conceited young Egyptian Prince is duped into handing over a ruby of immense value to a young woman at a Hotel. Poirot is called in to help.

I like the Christmas backdrop, it's authentically done, the music, decorations etc. It's a nice looking episode, the home of the Lacey's is gorgeous, I'm sure it's a property that's popped up a few times in TV dramas.

It boasts a strong cast Stephanie Cole, Freddie Treve, Helena Michell, all are good value, Tariq Alibai is a little hit and miss the ignorant young Price Farouq, it ends with a bit of farce.

Not the strongest episode truth be told, but it's an intriguing enough watch, the Christmas setting certainly adds to the atmosphere. It's quite an obvious outcome, you'll probably deduce it quicker then our Belgian's grey cells. How is definitely more interesting then who.

Festive fun 7/10

Was Poirot really necessary ?

[Sulla-2 · 7/10 · 26 August 2020]

Poirot is asked to at Christmas at a Country house in order to find a stolen ruby. It is clear that the secret service knew who stole it and where they were going to be.

Why didn't they just arrest them ?????

"I do not know who wrote it!"

[pedroedro · 7/10 · 15 September 2019]

This is a Christmas episode, in this Poirot is asked (almost in a "kidnapping" "blackmailing" kind of way to recover a royal ruby lost by a Egyptian prince. I thought this was a good episode, not great, but it had enough elements to make it work. The most obvious of all would be the "Christmas vibe" the episode shows, it's very competent in that sense, it's fitting to see it at Christmas, even the end has a little Christmas instrumental playing in the back as Poirot leaves. It's very well done. What I also enjoyed was the maid character, although she shows not a great deal of importance to the plot, she shows much charisma, and earns a fairly odd ending scene with Poirot thanking her for trying to help , it was a nice touch. We don't have Hastings and Miss Lemon here (I believe this is the first one without both of them) and it does give a different feeling to the episode, not meaning it's bad, it's just different, and being a Christmas episode, it was acceptable. There are three things I didn't particulary care about, however, 1) It's blazantly obvious the culript as soon as we meet him, I was kind of hoping it would't be him, I wanted to be surprised. 2) The moment in the church where the maid overhears the couple talking about getting rid of Poirot it's kind of ridiculous, who on earth would talk over a church song (out loud) about having to kill a person, in the volume they were shown speaking it's odd Poirot didn't hear it himself. 3) Probably the most down side of the episode, it's how Poirot gets it all solved by a set of coincidences, too convenient, it's very forced, that he sees the coffee being drugged, as it is that the cake it's droped by the kids, forcing the cake to be switched, which ultimately it's the reason Poirot solves it all, I would much prefer if Poirot found a way of switching the cakes for a made up reason, like him being allergic to an ingredient or something along those lines. But overall it's a good episodes, if not for these misshaps it could've been great. 7/10 ******* Peter Shelby

Walk Like An Egyptian.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 28 May 2014]

Dame Agatha used to work some of her experiences as an archaeologist's wife into her stories. The influence of Egypt is here, but it's tangential. And the story, though involving, is weakened by the fact that some of the events that Poirot witnesses are only revealed in the flashback in the dénouement. It's a kind of cheating when the author holds back information from the viewer and expects him to follow all the shenanigans.

The episode is redeemed by a couple of the usual succulent blonds, including Helena Michell, who looks a little like Nina Foch, if Nina Foch had ever been thoroughly glamorized and put on display in her youth. The maid, Siobhan Garahy, is attractive too, and terribly sweet, though dumb. I wish she were my maid. Rosita comes here only to shout orders at me, I think. She seems to get so much pleasure out of it that she ought to be paying me.

The plot? An obnoxious Egyptian prince has his royal ruby stolen by a cabal of English people who want to help Egypt achieve independence from Britain, a ridiculous idea if there ever was one. Next they'll be hollering they want the Brits out of India. Give them an inch -- Hercule Poirot is enlisted to help recover the jewel. He does so, by means that make no sense whatever, but the boy prince isn't satisfied. He wants the thief to be caught and punished. A bit reluctantly, Poirot does what justice demands. He is rewarded by the prince with The Order Of The Golden Snake, whose motto is "me vexat pede." As I plow through these stories, one after another, on ACORN TV, it's becoming more difficult to review each of them. After all, there are a handful of other reviews and a synopsis of each, so it's hardly worth while to hash out the plot all over again. I'm doing what I can to pick out the elements of each episode that make it distinctive, if there are any such elements.