The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim - S2-E5
Factual error: Poirot reads a fake copy of the Daily Express with a big article about the mystery disappearance. What makes it a not so believable fake, besides the odd artwork instead of a picture (a clash of style with the real Express first pages), is that you can make out of the words of the article closest to the camera, and like it happens to other props used this season, it mentions the Abyssinian crisis...but saying that "Mr. Churchill himself made the only speech." Churchill was not in office in the 30s. (00:17:05)
The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim - S2-E5
Factual error: At Poirot's, Hastings browses a copy of Speed magazine - but it's the August 1936 issue. The story is set in mid-October 1935 (not just for consistency with the rest of the season, but also because the newspaper brought by Hastings towards the end mentions Duff Cooper as Financial Secretary for the treasury, which is a position held in that year before the elections - which are also mentioned). (00:18:30 - 00:43:40)
The Adventure of the Cheap Flat - S2-E7
Factual error: When Poirot asks O'Brian about unsolved crimes with young couples as suspects, he says "There's that Bonnie and Clyde of course, but they're at large somewhere in the American Midwest", to which Poirot replies "And let us hope that is where they remain." Bonnie and Clyde were killed in Louisiana on May 23, 1934. The episode is set in October 1935. (00:12:20)
The Adventure of the Cheap Flat - S2-E7
Factual error: Agent Burt brushes off Poirot's question saying "When will you guys understand there is no such thing as the Mafia, the Black Hand or the Cosa Nostra?" The last term he uses, while not impossible (since members of the organization were indeed referring to it as such) is a huge improbability, considering that officially FBI (and certainly the general public Burt is lashing at) came to know the real name (adapted in "La cosa nostra") only decades later with the Valachi investigations. (00:24:05)
The Kidnapped Prime Minister - S2-E8
Factual error: The Austin used by Poirot and his company to go to the attempted murder scene and back is an Austin 18, which entered production in 1937, later than the event of this season/episode. (00:12:00)
The Kidnapped Prime Minister - S2-E8
Factual error: The calendar behind Japp in Scotland Yard places November 13 as a Tuesday, but that is wrong for 1935, when the story is set (the whole season consistently goes with 1935 historical facts, Poirot in this episode makes a reference to "the Dutch", and the newspaper page Hastings shows up with at the end of the episode talks about the notorious gangster's death, happened that year). It was a Wednesday in 1935, to be Tuesday it should have been 1934. (00:34:00)
The Kidnapped Prime Minister - S2-E8
Factual error: When the former Mrs. Daniels hops on her car followed by Hastings, between them you can see a speed bump, not a feature on roads in Britain (or anywhere) at the time. (00:36:55)
The Kidnapped Prime Minister - S2-E8
Factual error: At the end of the episode, during the fitting of the jacket with monsieur Fingler (last role of character actor Milo Sperber), Hastings is reading a newspaper prop sporting a doctored first page (the real headline, which was about Italy, is replaced by the fake PM speech) of The Daily Express based on the real Friday October 25th, 1935, which is wrong in month and day of the week (the appointment was on Thursday and it's supposed to be November going by the various calendars seen throughout the episode). (00:51:00)
The Kidnapped Prime Minister - S2-E8
Factual error: Poirot in this episode has to save the Prime Minister, kidnapped before he could attend the League of Nations Disarmament Conference. This episode is set in November (the previous of the season in October), but it can't possibly be 1935, since the Disarmament conference happened between 1932 and 1934. It makes mention of the PM being vital to have at least a chance at preventing Germany's rearmament, with Hitler withdrawing Germany from conference and League of Nations entirely in October 1933. It should be noted though that the conference happened in Geneva and not in Paris like it's described here. The original material did not have this sort of inconsistency since it was set to happen much earlier in the century and for the Treaty of Versailles, where Paris would have been the correct destination. Both short story and adaptation have as prime minister a fictional "David MacAdam", with him designed to be a stand-in for David Lloyd George, just recently replaced as PM.
The Adventure of the Western Star - S2-E9
Factual error: Assuming the episode is in line with the others of the season and it is set in 1935, a few vehicles shown are slightly too recent. The plane waiting for South Africa is a Beechcraft Model 18 (first produced in 1937), the train going to Yardly has a SR Q locomotor first produced in 1938, and the truck that slows Japp down before getting to the airport is a Bedford M-Type, a model first produced in 1939 (the specific one used in this episode is from 1947).
The Mysterious Affair at Styles - S3-E1
Factual error: The movie opens with Hastings watching a news film about the "New Flanders Offensive." It says that on "7th June 1917 General Haig attacks Ypres", but at the beginning of the year Sir Douglas Haig was promoted to Field Marshall. A news propaganda reel would surely have called him with the appropriate title. (00:00:35)
The Mysterious Affair at Styles - S3-E1
Factual error: At the local food store, Poirot is talking with the shopkeeper. In the background are plenty of food packages that show the great care for authenticity that is a mark of the series. I feel like disputing at least a couple; the Polly box with a parrot is a Taormina American-made can that should be a product of the 20s, and the Brown and Polson's Patent Corn Flour has a claim on the box that says "65 years world-wide reputation." The patent is a 1856 one and the annexed name is from 1859 (previous ads with established date show that year as the one they started counting from); in 1917 the box would have not said "65 years", it hadn't even reached 60. (00:19:20)
The Mysterious Affair at Styles - S3-E1
Factual error: Poirot is taking a break from the prosecution' speech and is walking with Hastings, explaining to him Mary Cavendish's jealousy. In the street, they pass by a truck (registration plate MR 5496) that is a Morris-Commercial 1-Ton model. Morris began productions in the early 20s, and we are in 1917 for this episode. (01:17:45)
How Does Your Garden Grow? - S3-E2
Factual error: At the very beginning of the episode, Katrina visits the Soviet embassy. It is written in big letters; "Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic", while the correct official name was "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics." (00:01:45)
How Does Your Garden Grow? - S3-E2
Factual error: Poirot and Miss Lemon go to the riding school to meet the solicitor of the deceased. Parked in the road right as the camera pans, and featured for a few seconds, is a car Morris Eight series II, a 1938 model while the episode (as made abundantly clear by the fair invite and banner) is set in 1935. (00:28:25)
The Million Dollar Bond Robbery - S3-E3
Factual error: As the title of the episode says, it's a million dollar robbery, in bonds. Problem is, as seen when the bag is loaded, the million is in 50 dollar bonds, which was the lowest single denomination for Liberty Bonds. 20,000 big bond notes would never fit in that bag, and would weigh a lot! Funny mistake, considering that the reality of 'weight' of a sum is a problem in many movies dealing with regular dollar bills, but bonds would have much fewer limitations as for the denomination of a single note (could have been a pile of bonds worth $10,000 or $5,000). (00:19:50)
The Million Dollar Bond Robbery - S3-E3
Factual error: The stock footage of the Queen Mary coming back from the US and docking in Southampton is not in black and white, and it certainly is more recent. The crowd wears colorful clothes, no hats, neon lights are used for the building illumination, and the cars parked are of modern design. It's a post-WW2 world, not 1936. (00:38:40)
Factual error: Florence Carrington is killed on the train while she is leaving London for the weekend. When Poirot and Hastings examine the newspapers she could have been looking the day she was killed, the headline of "The evening news" in Poirot's hand announces the world record set by Malcolm Campbell at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, which happened on 3 September 1935, a Tuesday. (00:27:40)
Factual error: At the end of the episode, Hastings is reading a sports newspaper. The episode is set in 1935, and a weekend, but what he is reading there announces the jockey Billy Parvin substituting Fawcus riding Galdennis, and Golden Miller and the ticket for the sweeps, making the newspaper a March of 1933 one. (00:50:55)
Wasps' Nest - S3-E5
Factual error: When we see the cover of Vogue magazine where Molly Deane appears, the recreation is not bad (the lettering used is not a classic Vogue one but something very similar was used for instance in August of the same year as portrayed), but the bar at the bottom gets the date wrong, putting it down as September 10th 1935, when Vogue always had 1st and 15th of the month as date of the release, no matter the day of the week. Also, it completely omits for instance the price. Would be a pretty difficult magazine to sell without that, real Vogue covers have that detail prominently displayed. (00:03:20)
