The Same Man Has Played Detective Poirot for 25 Years, But Now He’s Out of Mysteries

In 1989, when actor David Suchet began playing Detective Hercule Poirot on the TV series Agatha Christie’s Poirot, it’s unlikely that he could have guessed where it would take him. Now, 25 years later, Suchet has played Poirot in a whopping 70 separate mysteries — and it’s come time to hanging up the mustache. Though other long-serving actors may give up a role for a variety of reasons, Suchet didn’t really have much of a choice: the series has run out of Christie stories, having covered what The Guardian calls all of the “substantial” fictions about him. (Poirot appears in dozens of novels and short stories, as well as a play.)

The lucky 13th season wrapped up its U.K. broadcast last November with Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case, and the five-episode season begins broadcasting for U.S. audiences on July 27 on PBS and July 28 via the streaming service Acorn TV; the final three episodes will be available for U.S. viewers only via Acorn.

As one of the characters in the trailer premiering above puts it, “this is a terrible loss for the world.” Chances are she’s not talking about Poirot, but for Agatha Christie lovers the sentiment fits.