Poirot bows out

Millions of people are expected to tune into ITV tonight to watch Hercule Poirot's last ever case before the brilliant detective calls it a day for good.

Here are a few facts about the long-running show, its star and its main character:

• David Suchet has starred in 70 Poirot adaptations over 24 years.

• In that time he has starred opposite more than 1,000 actors including early appearances by future stars including Damien Lewis, Michael Fassbender and Hugh Bonneville.

• Poirot's character is obsessively tidy and is described as feeling that a speck of dust on his clothes would be "as painful as a bullet wound".

• Suchet, who in the past wore a fat suit to play Poirot, went on a diet and lost two-and-a-half stone to play the detective as an old man in the final episode.

• Poirot's first appearance was in the novel The Mysterious Affair At Styles which was published in 1920.

• Among the other actors to have played the detective are Peter Ustinov and Ian Holm.

• Suchet was suggested for the role by Agatha Christie's family, and her daughter Rosalind Hicks told Suchet she was "absolutely convinced" her mother would have been "delighted" with his performance.

• He is the brother of newsreader John Suchet, who initially told him he shouldn't touch the role "with a barge pole".

• He almost quit the show while filming the first episode in 1988 due to a clash with director Ed Bennett over how faithfully he should portray some of Poirot's stranger mannerisms - in this case, placing a handkerchief on a bench before sitting down.

• A fan once wrote to him to say that her children loved him so much as Poirot she was taking them to see him in Timon of Athens at the Young Vic. Suchet met them personally before the show and had tea with them.

You can watch 'Curtain: Poirot's Last Case' on ITV tonight at 20:00

It's the end of an era tonight. Millions across the country will sit down to watch ITV as the curtain comes down on Agatha Christie's world famous detective, Poirot.

After 25 years in the character, David Suchet will no longer be using his little grey cells or waxing that famous moustache.

The final episode is appropriately called 'Curtain' and the man behind Poirot has been speaking to Simon Parkin.

Click below to watch David's chat with Simon Parkin

You can watch 'Curtain: Poirot's Last Case' on ITV tonight at 20:00