Poirot: Collector's Set 3 contains three fifty-minute Poirot episodes. "The Kidnapped Prime Minister" starts off the set, though it's the weakest of the three; it's an entertaining episode as is the norm for Poirot, but I found it fairly easy to figure out the central mystery early in the plot. "The Adventure of the Western Star" and "How Does Your Garden Grow" are both extremely entertaining mysteries that keep the viewer mentally engaged from start to finish as Poirot handles a high-profile jewel theft in one and a convoluted murder case on the other.

The choice of episodes for this DVD is admittedly rather odd, though; since the Collector's Set 1 and Set 2  presented six out of the nine episodes from the second season, one would expect the third set to finish up the lot. Instead, we get "The Kidnapped Prime Minister" and "The Adventure of the Western Star" from the second season and "How Does Your Garden Grow" from the third, leaving one uncollected episode from the second season. Hercule Poirot himself would have been troubled by the untidy organization of the episodes, but for the less fastidious viewer, it really doesn't matter: the episodes can be viewed in any order, and given Acorn Media's excellent track record in this regard, we can hope for an eventual release of all the episodes.

Though I'm a fan of the feature-length Poirot episodes as well, the Collector's Set 3 does present a compelling argument that the shorter, 50-minute format might be actually a more effective length for the Poirot stories. Each of these episodes is adapted from a short story rather than a full novel, and generally features a tightly-woven plot that keeps on a brisk pace from start to finish.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of collecting the full Poirot set is getting to know the recurring characters. In addition to Poirot himself, the secondary characters of Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser), Chief Inspector Japp (Philip Jackson), and Miss Lemon (Pauline Moran) are very well portrayed, managing to enliven the episodes with a great deal of personality despite their smaller amount of screen time. The episodes of the Collector's Set 3 are particularly enjoyable in that respect, as "The Adventure of the Western Star" gives Hastings a bit more time in the spotlight (which he doesn't necessarily use to his advantage, poor chap), and "How Does Your Garden Grow" allows for Miss Lemon to shine a bit as well.

Video

As with the other Collector's Sets, Set 3 is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The image quality for the three episodes included here is below average. The print is fairly grainy, but more to the point, the colors are substantially washed-out. All three episodes are rather muddy-looking, and "The Kidnapped Prime Minister" is downright grayish. It's watchable, especially given that it's a transfer of a television show, but it's a bit worse overall than the earlier two collections.

Audio

As always, the focus of the Dolby 2.0 soundtrack is on the dialogue, and it does its job satisfactorily. The sound balance between the elements of music, dialogue, and background noise is well-maintained. Most importantly, the actors' voices are clear and distinct, and the overall sound is clean.

Extras

The special features in the Collector's Set 3 are all text-based: biographies of Agatha Christie and David Suchet, cast filmographies, and miscellaneous Agatha Christie material, including some interesting background on the character of Chief Inspector Japp in the novels and their film adaptations.

Final thoughts

Any Poirot fan will want to add this DVD to their collection, despite the slightly disappointing image quality: who can pass up three more great mysteries with Hercule Poirot? Those viewers who have not yet had the pleasure of encountering Monsieur Poirot will find the Collector's Set 3 to be an excellent place to start, with three entertaining stories that can be viewed in any order.