The 10 best Agatha Christie adaptations

Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express kicked off a new wave of Agatha Christie adaptations in 2017, a fitting successor to Sidney Lumet's 1974 take on the author's blockbuster thriller. But it's far from the only Christie book to make for a great movie or TV show. Here, we present 10 excellent adaptations with enough thrills and surprises to fuel a week-long marathon.

John Guillermin's Oscar-winning take on Death on the Nile features the great Peter Ustinov as Detective Poirot, and makes the most of its Egyptian setting. The whole cast is excellent, but three all-time great actresses are used to delicious effect: Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, and Angela Lansbury.

This Miss Marple adaptation helmed by Guy Hamilton is fairly loose, but it still follows the twisty Christie formula. Come for Angela Lansbury's grounded take on Jane Marple, but stay for the glorious sight of Elizabeth Taylor and Kim Novak laying into each other with juicy dialogue to boot.

Arguably the most acclaimed film on this list, Billy Wilder turned Christie's play (itself based on a short story) into a thrilling courtroom meller. With perfectly-pitched tension and high drama, it's no wonder Witness scored Oscar nods for Best Picture, Director, and Actor (Charles Laughton).

This long-running ITV series created by Clive Exton might be the most essential adaptation for any Christie fan on this list. At 70 episodes, the show managed to take on every single Christie title that featured Hercule Poirot, and David Suchet's iconic performance of the character is worth the binge alone.

Warner Bros. produced this made-for-TV film, in which Peter Ustinov reprised the role of Poirot. Based on Christie's Three Act Tragedy, the film shifts the action to Acapulco, Mexico. It marks Ustinov's second-to-last take on the detective (he played him six times total), and, more importantly, one of his best.

Another TV film starring Ustinov as Poirot, Thirteen at Dinner is more notable for Faye Dunaway's flamboyant take on Jane Wilkinson, a popular actress–turned–prime suspect. She's great, but returning favorite David Suchet would not say the same of his own performance: He once called his turn as James Japp "possibly the worst performance of my career."

Where ITV had a Poirot series, it also had a Miss Marple series. The Emmy-nominated drama starred both Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie in the title role, and actually moved beyond straight adaptation of Miss Marple novels, eventually venturing into Christie's broader body of work.

Lifetime's quietly stunning adaptation of And Then There Were None is easily one of the most underrated adaptations on this list. Craig Viveiros directed the atmospheric miniseries with a dark, off-kilter energy, bringing Christie's locked-room mystery to gorgeous and compelling life. Don't miss this one.

Another Guy Hamilton-directed Christie film, Evil Under the Sun didn't earn as much attention as other flashier Christie projects of its era, but deserves a closer look. Maggie Smith and Diana Rigg provide wicked supporting turns and Cole Porter contributes an immersive, unsettling score.

George Pollack's celebrated take on 4.50 to Paddington remains one of the most popular Christie film adaptations, decades later. The author famously disliked the movie, but critics rightly praised its smarts and solid performances. Dame Margaret Rutherford gave a stellar turn as Miss Marple that, for many, first brought the character into the public imagination.