Arthur Hastings Arthur Hastings Captain Arthur J. M. Hastings, OBE, is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie as the companion-chronicler and best friend of the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. He is first introduced in Christie's 1920 novel "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" and appears as a character in eight other Poirot novels and plays, in addition to being the narrator of several others. Hastings is today strongly associated with Poirot, due more to the changes in the television adaptations compared to the novels. Many of the early TV episodes of "Agatha Christie's Poirot" were adaptations of short stories, in most of
Hercule Poirot original story, Sophie Hannah. The novel was called "The Monogram Murders", and was set in the late 1920s, placing it chronologically between "The Mystery of the Blue Train" and "Peril at End House". A second Hannah-penned Poirot came out in 2016, called "Closed Casket". The first actor to portray Hercule Poirot was Charles Laughton. He appeared on the West End in 1928 in the play "Alibi" which had been adapted by Michael Morton from the novel "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd". In 1932 the play was performed as "The Fatal Alibi" on Broadway. Austin Trevor debuted the role of Poirot