Instead, Hastings is spellbound by Bella at the hotel, as he watches her sing (she is a hotel singer here, not an acrobat). Bella/Dulcie and Hastings don't meet on the train as in the novel. Here, the twins Dulcie and Bella are merged into one character (Bella Duveen), a sensible change, since the confusion as to their identity is nothing more than a red herring in the original story. Another significant change is the Hastings-Cinderella/Dulcie subplot. Instead, Renauld (who is revealed to be the owner of the hotel, as well as being involved in the business in Santiago) consults Poirot at the hotel. Consequently, there is no letter from Paul Renauld.

Also, Poirot and Hastings arrive in Deauville ('Merlinville' in the novel) on their own account, since Hastings is taking Poirot to a golf hotel (a nice reference to Hastings's hobby throughout the series and the books). This first case is also reported to have occurred only ten years previously - not twenty as in the novel. The newsreel footage outlines the Beroldy case, revealing a major plot point very early on - perhaps too early. To begin with, he adds a newsreel sequence as the opening sequence (which had almost become the norm for the episodes by now). Horowitz remains faithful to Christie's text, making only minor (but in some cases significant) changes. It was adapted for television by Anthony Horowitz and directed by Andrew Grieve. This episode was based upon the novel The Murder on the Links, first published in 1923.

Poirot murder at the links