Hercule Poirot available to solve mysteries at an English country house. At the time of Christie's writing, it was considered patriotic to express sympathy towards the Belgians, since the invasion of their country had constituted Britain's "casus belli" for entering World War I, and British wartime propaganda emphasised the "Rape of Belgium". Poirot first appeared in "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" (published in 1920) and exited in "Curtain" (published in 1975). Following the latter, Poirot was the only fictional character to receive an obituary on the front page of "The New York Times". By 1930, Agatha Christie found Poirot "insufferable", and, by
Poirot Investigates Hercule Poirot to the literary world. "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim" was presented on television as a thirty-minute play by CBS as an episode in the series "General Electric Theater" on 1 April 1962 under the title of "Hercule Poirot". Introduced by Ronald Reagan and directed by John Brahm, the adaptation starred Martin Gabel as Poirot. The program was done as a pilot for a series that did not happen; instead it was the debut of the character on English-language television. An earlier program starring José Ferrer as Hercule Poirot had been filmed by MGM but never aired and in