Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective, created by Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, one play (Black Coffee), and more than 50 short stories published between 1920 and 1975. It is almost 25 years since the detective Hercule Poirot, created by Agatha Christie and played by David Suchet, made his debut on ITV. The first of 70 episodes of Agatha Christie's Poirot, a minor short story called The Adventure of the Clapham Cook, was broadcast in January 1989.