Poirot star DAVID SUCHET What I know about love, marriage and acting at 80

When David Suchet was 25, he played Scrooge at the Liverpool Playhouse. He wasn’t living in the city, so the company arranged his accommodation for the show’s run. On a chilly Sunday evening in 1971, Suchet arrived at Lime Street Station and travelled to the stage door where he’d been told a man would give him the keys and address of where he was staying. But when he got to the theatre, the man wasn’t there.

He had no money, no telephone and no idea where to go. So he trudged to the police station and asked if he could spend the night. ‘Nobody believed my story. The officers probably thought I was homeless.’ Still, the police let him sleep in a cell and, the next day, Suchet went to rehearsals in the right sort of mood to play one of the most miserable people in fiction.

Today, the 79-year-old is revisiting the character in more comfortable circumstances. For the past week, Suchet has been in a cosy West London studio, recording various Charles Dickens ghost stories – including A Christmas Carol – for a nine-episode audio drama series on Walnut.

It’s a happy, circular moment for one of Britain’s favourite actors. Since that initial Scrooge gig, Suchet has been in more than 100 plays, 25 films and 60 television shows – including, of course, a 24-year stint as Hercule Poirot. He was awarded an OBE for his services to drama in 2002, a CBE in 2010 and, in 2020, he became one of a small group of actors to receive a knighthood. Next year, Suchet turns 80; this is what he thinks of his life so far…

On acting

Suchet was born in London’s Paddington, the middle child of three boys. His mother, Joan, was a dancer-turned-homemaker and his father, Jack, was a surgeon. He was sent to boarding school aged eight and, that year, performed in his first play. It was Alice Through The Looking Glass and Suchet’s part was an oyster. ‘My brother John was at the same school and was two years older than me. He played a daisy. He didn’t have any lines.’

Oysters – who wore capes as costumes – were supposed to shuffle on stage with their backs to the audience. ‘But I suddenly got very homesick. I knew Mum and Dad were out there so I came on the wrong way around, because I wanted to see where they were. A teacher from across the room shouted: “Suchet! Turn around!” The next morning he tore shreds off me. That was my debut.’

Other school roles were more successful. At 15, Suchet did so well as Macbeth that his teacher recommended he audition for the National Youth Theatre. He did and got in. ‘And that was the beginning, really. I decided that acting was what I wanted to do.’

On Poirot

He got the Agatha Christie Poirot job in 1989 when he was 43. ‘I was asked to do the first ten short stories (ten episodes) and that was it.’ The shoot lasted four months and, at the end, he made a speech. ‘I said: “Who knows whether there will be any more, but if there’s not, thank you very much.”’

Well. Over the next 24 years, the actor did 13 seasons of Poirot – each time only on a year’s contract, each time not knowing if the show would return. There were 70 episodes in total.

When, in the 2013 finale, Poirot died – Suchet thought he’d never hear about the character again. ‘How ignorant was I?!’ The series has since been shown in more than 70 countries; Suchet still receives – and answers – stacks of fan mail, and he’s recognised regularly. ‘This morning I was in a taxi and the driver said he had just finished watching the complete works of Poirot – for the fourth time!’

On love and marriage

Suchet met his wife, the former actress Sheila Ferris, in 1972 at the Belgrade Repertory Theatre in Coventry. On Desert Island Discsin 2009, he said: ‘I immediately fell in love with her. Totally. Love at first sight.’ Their first date was to a Chinese restaurant, and, after the meal, they stayed out until 4am, sitting on a bench, chatting. They have a son and a daughter, and next June will celebrate their 50-year wedding anniversary. ‘When we got married we didn’t have a penny,’ Suchet says. ‘We couldn’t have a honeymoon, but my parents gave us a gift of one night at the Savoy Hotel. I took (Sheila) back there for our 40th anniversary and I put 40 roses in the room.’ Last week, Suchet booked the same Savoy room for their 50th anniversary. He has a plan for when they get there but won’t reveal it.

He has his mottos and maxims for a happy marriage. He and Ferris try not to go to bed on an argument (‘it doesn’t always work, but we do try’) and they always keep what he calls a ‘rep mentality’. The idea refers to the attitude they developed in their early fun, badly paid days working in rep theatre. Mostly, though, ‘I think the greatest thing for us has been laughter. Not just laughter for the sake of laughter, but the ability to keep things in perspective. To say: “It is what it is and let’s deal with it if we can.”’

On memory

Next year, Suchet is starring as Thomas Becket in a touring production of the TS Eliot play Murder In The Cathedral. ‘I’m finding (line learning) more difficult now – because the brain does age,’ he says. One trick he has is to say the lines to himself in the mirror. But the most important thing with memory is to keep exercising it. Suchet thinks of the brain as a sponge: it will absorb things better if it’s already damp. ‘And the only way the brain can be moistened is by learning three or four lines a day.’ Those lines could be memorising something in the newspaper, for example. ‘Just dampen it, dampen it, dampen it.’

On routine

He wakes up at six most mornings and does not touch his phone or computer until seven. ‘I look forward to that first hour, nobody can get you.’

He doesn’t laze about, though. ‘It’s important to have something to get out of bed for. At my age there is the trap that if you’re not working, you can wake up, look at your emails, have a coffee and you’re still in bed. No! I get out of bed, and my wife and I have a strict routine.’ It consists of: Wim Hof breathing – which involves doing 30 rapid breaths; Five Tibetans – a sequence of yoga poses; stretching and balancing exercises; resistance training every other day; and 30 minutes of meditation.

The couple have been doing the routine for ‘a very, very long time’. Even when they don’t feel like it. ‘Someone once told me it’s good for humans to do things they don’t want to do. I think about that a lot.’

On narrowboats

For their first six years together, Suchet and Ferris lived on a narrowboat. It was called Prima Donna and the duo would travel on it along the UK’s waterways, from one rep theatre to another, seeking work. ‘We were like a snail with our house on our back.’ Prima Donna was also 52-feet long and six-feet wide. ‘A lot of people wouldn’t be able to do that. But we’ve always loved the intimacy.’ (Today, Suchet and Ferris live between a London flat and a rented house in Wiltshire. But they still keep a narrowboat in a marina in Northampton.)

On diet

In person, Suchet is small and slim. (He wore a padded suit to play Poirot.) And, he says, he and Ferris ‘try to eat healthily. We try to be disciplined.’ He begins each day with ‘a bowl of kefir, a drizzle of olive oil and a banana’ at around 9am. Sometimes he might have two boiled eggs, too. Lunch is simple – ‘something like egg mayo’ – and the couple eat their evening meal at 6pm. ‘Big meals, late at night, are not conducive to a good night’s sleep.’

On birthdays

Suchet turns 80 in May. ‘When I hear you say, “you’re turning 80”, it does come as a huge surprise.’ Psychologically, he feels ‘about 30’. He’s not planning a party – but not because he’s miserable about the prospect. ‘I had a big party when I was 50 and I was sorry I did. Because now I look back on that and say: “Oh, that was when that big moment was.” Now I just want 80 to be part of the joy of ageing. And, while I feel well, I don’t want to make (80) into some big milestone. I just want to carry on as normal!’

Charles Dickens’ Ghost Stories is available for free on all podcast platforms