Hercule Poirot

Hercule Poirot was a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. He debuted in one of her first six novels. When asked why she made him a Belgian, Christie said they make such lovely buns. During her investigations of the murder of Professor Peach at Eddison Manor, she quoted her character when she said "Use the little grey cells," a reference the Tenth Doctor immediately recognised. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp)

The Tenth Doctor said that Hercule Poirot could solve any case by just sitting back and thinking. (PROSE: The Stone Rose)

Clyde Langer thought that Holcote House was the sort of place where one might have expected to find Hercule Poirot trying to solve a murder. (AUDIO: Children of Steel)

After calling everyone aboard the Tsuranga together, the Thirteenth Doctor remarked that they were "probably wondering why [she] called [them] all here", before apologising for how that sounded a "bit Poirot". (TV: The Tsuranga Conundrum)

Poirot would call everyone into a room to say who did it. The Eleventh Doctor did similar in 18th century Italy. (PROSE: Dead of Winter)

A Belgian detective once visited Paris for the summer and worked with Inspector Anton Jarre to solve a case regarding an old lady in the Hague who was poisoning her nephews. (PROSE: The Death of Art)

Behind the scenes

 * Unlike fictional detectives Sherlock Holmes or Thomas Carnacki, both crossover characters who appeared in Doctor Who novels, Poirot is not public domain in the UK.
 * The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Death in the Clouds are both Poirot novels named in The Unicorn in the Wasp.
 * Pastiches of Poirot in the Doctor Who universe have included Emil Dupont in Ship of Fools and Hercule Smith in The Sleuth Slayers.
 * He has been played by Maurice Denham and Peter Sallis on BBC Radio, Andrew Sachs in Revenge of the Pink Panther, David Mitchell in sketches on That Mitchell and Webb Look, and David Suchet in the ITV series.