Actor takes last bows as Hercule Poirot

British actor David Suchet has spent a quarter-century bringing to life a certain fussy Belgian sleuth with a mustache as impeccable as his intellect and crime-solving skills.

For Suchet's dedication to Hercule Poirot through 70 TV adaptations of Agatha Christie's works, he has been rewarded with the sort of critical praise - "miraculous" and "splendid" are among the applied adjectives - that any fellow classically trained actor would envy.

Fan reaction can be similarly fervent.