All language subtitles for Travels.With.Agatha.Christie.and.Sir.David.Suchet.S01E04.1080p.WEB.H264-JAVLAR

♪♪

Suchet: In August 1922,

a young English woman arrived
at an island paradise

in the South Pacific.

Her name,
Agatha Christie.

♪♪

In Agatha's later novels,

islands would be the setting
for murder, lies and betrayal.

But no such darkness
blighted her stay here.

Instead, she dedicated herself
to a most unlikely sport.

For this, she needed a wooden
board, a sense of adventure

and a large dash
of true English grit.

Agatha Christie had taken
up surfing.

We all know the cliché
of Agatha being shy

and reclusive and reserved.

But I think
that this need for the rush,

the thrill, the race of life,

was in her all the time,

even as an elderly lady --
this need to tap

into the wildness
of the human spirit.

And this was the perfect place

for her to indulge
her new passion -- Hawaii.

♪♪

Before Agatha Christie
was famous,

she travelled the world
with her husband Archie.

The couple were part
of a special mission,

tasked with championing
the upcoming

British Empire Exhibition.

Held in London in 1924,

it was designed to boost trade

and strengthen the bonds
between nations.

Now, a century later,
I'm following in her footsteps.

I'm David Suchet
and I played Agatha Christie's

most famous detective,
Hercule Poirot,

for 25 years.

Armed with my trusty camera
I'm recreating Agatha's

incredible journey
through Southern Africa,

Canada, Australia...

and New Zealand.

-Welcome.
-Thank you.

Suchet: And I'm now following
Agatha on her holiday to Hawaii.

-Here we have a cacao pod.
-I love chocolate!

Oh, my goodness me, wow!

I want to find out
what was happening

in these countries in the 1920s.

And learn about the legacy
of colonialism.

We want that which belongs to
Africa to return back to Africa.

And through seeing
what Agatha saw...

Suchet: That is extraordinary.

Suchet:... I'll discover more
about the woman

whose work has played such
a pivotal part in my own career.

She embraced life for all
it was worth.

Wow, what a discovery.

♪♪

♪♪

Agatha's adventures in Hawaii
began on August 5, 1922,

when she and her husband Archie

arrived here after a
two-week steamship voyage

from New Zealand.

What she and Archie
witnessed must have been

beyond their wildest dreams.

A riot of colour
from flowers and tropical trees.

A landscape unlike anything
they'd experienced.

And perhaps most important
of all - a place

where they could
finally have a break.

So far, Agatha's journeys
through the various dominions

had been a whirlwind of
activity -- meeting dignitaries,

attending dinners,
listening to endless speeches

and touring
around factories and farms.

But now, coming here on holiday
with her beloved Archie;

it actually must have been
a real tonic.

Their visit to Hawaii,

situated bang in the middle
of the Pacific Ocean,

wasn't part of their
"Empire Tour".

At the time Hawaii had little
to do with Britain,

rather it was
an American territory.

The couple first stayed at
Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii.

A place where the welcome
from the people

is as warm
as the surrounding sea...

-Sylvia.
-Hey, Aloha.

-Hello.
-How are you?

I'm very well.

But I said that --
did I say that right?

-Hello? Or should I say...
-Yes. It's very British.

-[ Laughs ] So, what -- what...
-It's okay.

I'm, but I am British.

You tell me
how to say it properly.

-Aloha.
-Aloha.

-Aloha.
-Oh!

Welcome to Hawaii.

It goes nicely with your shirt.

-Oh!
-Aloha.

What a wonderful tradition.

[ Laughing ] Yes.

Suchet: Back in 1922,
as today,

visitors were welcomed
to the island

with flower garlands,
known as leis.

Sylvia is an expert
at weaving them.

I know of no other country

where you greet people
with something like a lei.

-Yes, right. Exactly.
-What's the tradition?

The tradition is,
all of Hawaii, every island,

they literally have flora
and fauna everywhere.

And in the early 1900s,

they did start putting together
leis with needles and thread

into different creations

and depends on
the seasons in the year.

You can even get,
this takes, 350 to 400 flowers.

-How did that begin?
-I would say tourism.

-Really?
Yes, tourism.

How long -- how long ago
would that have been?

It started with the steamships.
So all the lei makers.

Only the days that the boat
would arrive at Aloha Tower.

-Suchet: Aha
-Kop: Which is a real place.

They had leis for
10 cents and leis for 25 cents.

-Suchet: So it was a business.
-Kop: Yes.

Aah, and when Agatha Christie
came here in 1920?

That's when it first started.

To greet
and welcome the tourist.

-What a lovely thing.
-Yes, it's lovely.

How long did it take you
to learn this craft?

I'm learning all the time.

-Yes.
-[ Both laugh ]

Kop: Literally
learning all the time.

But is it passed on, the skill?

-Yes.
-Started as a little girl?

Every child in Hawaii
learns to make lei.

We do it all our lives.

This is the
most difficult lei style,

which is called "Haku" weaving,

and it has a scent.

People love lei with scent.

So, can you smell it?

Wow, that's lovely.

And are they different lengths,
these...

Well, in Agatha Christie's time,

they were all the way down
past your belly.

-Whoa! Really long.
-Down to your hips.

Yeah. Oh!

I did make it
the extra-long length.

-But that's beautiful.
-Yes.

Were there any leis
before tourism at all?

Wearing greenery
for the warriors and the men --

it was about a hat, a shade,

a green warrior headband made to
be worn on the head like this.

Oh.

So, this is four
different kinds of greenery.

So, just smell it.
Can you smell it?

Yeah. Very, very strong,
isn't it? It's very --

So, this one plant
is like a menthol.

Yes.

But that's what
Hawaiians wanted to wear

because it gave them
that aroma and scent.

How interesting.

And this would have been made
for my wrist.

So you have someone
you can give that to?

I do.
I have someone very special.

Well, you could put it
in the hair.

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

♪♪

Suchet: Like many visitors
to Honolulu,

Agatha stayed
at the beachfront's best hotel,

the Moana.

The hotel had been opened
in 1901,

the first major hotel built
on the island

and every one of its 75 rooms
the height of luxury.

The hotel even possessed
the first

electric-powered elevator
in Hawaii.

From their balcony,
the Christies

would have been
able to observe the sport

that helped make
Hawaii famous...

surfing.

But Agatha wasn't content
just to watch.

Agatha was a fan of surfing.

Well, actually, not just a fan,
she was passionate about it.

And I think
this passion originated possibly

very early on in the tour
in South Africa,

when she and Archie
used to creep away as much

as they could
from committee meetings and surf

and enjoy the sea.

But there were only brief
periods that they could snatch.

But now, on holiday,
they could really indulge

in riding those waves.

Well, at least attempt to.

This extraordinary photo shows
Agatha standing proudly

in front of her surfboard,
presumably borrowed from Fred.

While the composition
of the photo is formal,

the swimming costume
she wears is most informal,

especially compared
to Agatha's usual attire.

I love this portrait,

as it captures an unexpected
side of her personality,

a part of her
that is little-known.

By the 1920s,
a tradition had been established

where local Hawaiians helped
visitors surf.

Known as the "Beach Boys,"

you can still spot them
on Waikiki Beach, Honolulu.

Come on over here,
reach down, grab the board

and lie down on your belly.

Alright.
Now hold the board here.

Now arch your back.
Think yoga.

Don't let the board hit you
in the face.

-You know why?
-Yeah.

-It hurts.
-Yeah.

[ Laughter ]

Suchet: Todd has been a
Beach Boy for over 30 years

and was taught by
the generation before.

Right foot up and now release.

-And smile.
-[ Laughs ]

[ Camera shutter clicking ]

Go ahead, Gerald.
Go deep water.

Suchet: He's off.
So, that was the whole lesson?

-No. That --
-[ Both laugh ]

That was just the beginning.

Okay. So, he learnt
how to sit on the board?

Correct.

You were doing
some wonderful arm gestures.

-Yes.
-What was this?

This is the paddling technique.

Oh, that's
the paddling technique. Okay.

This is the critical part
of the whole thing.

And then you were teaching him
how to stand or --

Correct. What I showed him
was your basic

Waikiki four-step
technique.

The Waikiki four-step technique.

Correct. Taught to me
by the old fellows.

All certified teachers?

They were all
certified teachers.

In those days, the Beach Boys
controlled the beach,

and we had to get a blue card
from the state,

a licence that allowed
you to do it.

-Wow.
-Yes, it was very rigorous.

-Very rigorous.
-Yes.

What's your whole ethos?

Well, they say we're
ambassadors of aloha.

Beach Boys
are ambassadors of aloha.

-I love that!
Is it dangerous?

Of course!
Surfing's very dangerous.

But these waves --
they don't look huge-huge,

but they're very powerful?

Yeah.
And even on a small wave,

the board can hit you
in the head.

or somebody else's
board can hit you in the head.

I've pulled plenty of people
out of the water.

-that were in distress.
-What about the early days,

like when Agatha Christie
might have been here?

Well, like in the 1920s?

Those were the days

when Duke and his brothers
controlled the beach.

-Right.
-And they took people out.

And they would go together.

Suchet: The most famous
Beach Boy of

Agatha Christie's time
was Duke Kahanamoku.

He was a superb athlete

and won gold for swimming
at the 1920 Olympics.

But Duke's real love
was surfing,

and more than
any other individual,

he promoted the sport in Hawaii.

One of the Beach Boys
helped Agatha surf

and was on hand in case
she got into difficulty.

And she often did.

Agatha cut her feet on coral.

She was frequently
half-drowned by the waves.

And, perhaps most alarmingly,

one time, her swimming costume
was largely ripped off.

Yet, these disasters
simply spurred her on.

You make me feel
I want to have a go,

but I'm not going to do it.

-I'm not going to do it.
-Well...we can.

No, but it sounds so releasing
if you can do it.

-Absolutely.
-And what's it feel like

when you're actually standing
on that board?

It feels great.

You see, I think what surfing
does is taps into the wildness

-in the human spirit.
-I love that.

Because that's what's
so attractive about it.

That's
why everybody wants to do it.

Yes.

♪♪

Suchet: Agatha once described
in writing

what it felt like to catch
and ride the wave, and I quote.

"Oh, it was heaven.
Nothing like it.

Nothing like that rushing
through the water

at what seems to you a speed
of about 200 miles per hour.

All the way in
from the far distant raft

until you arrived, gently
slowing down, on the beach,

and foundered
among the soft-flowing waves.

It is one of the
most perfect physical pleasures

I have ever known."

Gosh, what
a beautiful description.

That's so vivid.

I can tell. When I read this,
I can really know what she felt.

The passage also reveals

how Agatha Christie must
have had a wild streak to her --

maybe not that typical
for an English lady of the time.

And I believe that even though
her public persona later in life

was reserved,

she always secretly retained
this adventurous spirit.

♪♪

Through lots of practice, Agatha
became highly adept at surfing,

but I want to find out
how unusual it was

for a Western woman to take up
this sport back in the 1920s.

Carol Philips should be
able to help.

Today, many women surf
in Hawaii,

but it used to be
very different.

When I first started surfing,
back in 1984,

I looked around in the water,
and there were no women.

-Really?
-Literally.

And I was like, "Wow.

This is -- You know,
what's going on here?"

Suchet: Undeterred, Carol
entered surfing competitions

and set up a surf school
taught entirely by women.

But the surfing community
was not impressed.

They didn't roll out
the red carpet exactly for us.

Really?

And we have dealt with,
over the years,

so much, you know, sexism,

this kind of
good-old-boy culture

where they use the excuse,
"Oh, the women --

it's too dangerous for them,
you're going to get hurt."

You really had to fight
your corner?

Oh, yeah.

But because I had been able
to conquer these waves --

-Yourself.
-Myself.

You know,
and I've got some "dude,"

if I may use a surfer term,

trying to tell me that --
what I can't do.

This would fire you,
I would imagine, into action.

Yes! Right. That would be,
like, a mild understatement.

It's gotten me to this point
in my latter years

where I tell the younger girls,

"You just go out
and you just be your surf star

and let us fight this fight
for you,

but when you get older, you're
going to have to do this, too.

Like, we got your back now."
Sorry.

You know, and you do get
a little emotional about it,

when you kind of lived
through it.

-But I can tell.
-Yeah.

You're getting emotional
now talking about it.

I mean, this is something
that is so dear to you.

And kind of on
the other side of this,

you know,
we have achieved a lot.

You really have.

I'm going to go right back
to the 1920s now,

when Agatha Christie
would have been here,

and she had a passion
for surfing.

Was she sort of an outlier
on her own

or would there have been
other women at that time

doing it with her?

She was an outlier for sure.

Suchet: The Agatha I've got to
know on this Empire Tour,

she would have loved
to be the sort of, "Right.

I'm going to be
at the forefront of this now."

She had a sense of independence
and free spirit like that.

Yes. And then this magic
happened on the waves.

She found this magical place
called riding a wave

and surfing,
and it captured her heart.

Suchet: In their own way,
both Agatha Christie and Carol

have helped encourage other
women to take up the sport.

Now women's surfing has just
gotten through the roof,

and these young ladies
are surfing at a level

where, you know, they're --
nobody can question

whether or not they
should have an event out there,

and it's just been
so rewarding to see, you know?

I think of this one girl from
the North Shore, Moana Jones.

Suchet:
Yes, the Queen of Surfers?

-The Queen of Pipeline.
-The Queen of Pipelining.

Yes.

And I'm following in the
footsteps of the Queen of Crime.

-What a marriage.
-Oh, it's perfect.

It's perfect!

♪♪

Suchet:
Agatha Christie, like me,

must have had many preconceived
notions about Hawaii --

the palm trees, the beaches,
even the famous volcanoes.

But one element of Hawaii
would've surprised Agatha...

-[ Horn honks ]
-...all the motorcars.

By the early 1920s,

Hawaii had fully embraced
the automobile,

with 9,000 cars
in Honolulu alone.

New roads criss-crossed
the island,

and it must have seemed
to Agatha

that almost everyone had a car.

When Agatha was young,

owning a car would have been
absolutely unimaginable

for a person of her status.

And what's more, cars
were considered by many to be --

wait for it --
"inappropriate for women."

And in 1908,
a newspaper stated that

"Women have not
the mechanical mind" for cars.

While another concluded that,

"It's quite a mistake to suppose
that driving a motorcar

is as easy as pushing
a perambulator."

But Agatha was a pioneer
in helping overturn

these old-fashioned prejudices,

part of a wider generation
of other young women,

who during, World War I,

had stepped in as drivers
for absent men.

And I suspect that seeing so
many modern cars here in Hawaii

must have fuelled
Agatha's enthusiasm.

Agatha loved cars and driving.

But it was only because of
her growing success as a writer

and her experiences
during this Empire Tour

was she able to indulge
this passion

when she came back to the UK.

In fact,
her novel written in 1924,

"The Man In the Brown Suit,"
a thriller

that was totally inspired
by her travels in South Africa,

it was serialised, and she used
the royalties from this

to buy her very first car --
a Morris Cowley.

I think it must have been
so exciting for her.

And I'm sure it
would have given her a sense

of power and independence.

♪♪

♪♪

You get a feel for Agatha's
love of cars in her novels,

through the sentiments
she gave her characters.

In her book "The Hollow,"
Henrietta, the young heroine,

was simply mad about cars.

Agatha wrote,
"She much preferred

to be alone when driving.

In that way,
she could realise to the full

the intimate personal enjoyment

that driving a car
brought to her."

Agatha goes on,

"Henrietta spoke of cars
with the lyrical intensity

that other people gave to
spring or the first snowdrop."

You know, for me,
this is Agatha speaking.

I mean, that mention
of spring and snowdrops

gives me the perfect
understanding of what she felt

about driving a car.

It's possibility,
it's opportunity,

and the excitement of what
could be around the next corner.

For Agatha, the exotic glamour
of this holiday

in Hawaii must have felt miles
apart from her earlier travels

though the British Empire.

Yet, the people of Hawaii

had endured a colonisation story
of their own.

-John?
-Hi. Nice to meet you.

Very nice to meet you.
David.

Professor John Rosa researches
the history of Hawaii.

These islands were first
inhabited 1,000 years ago

by skilled Polynesian sailors.

So, Hawaii is the most isolated,
human-populated place, you know,

over a certain amount of people.

-On Earth.
-Oh Earth, yes.

Wow!
So getting here was a big deal.

Yes. And, actually, an outsider,
Captain James Cook --

it's not until 1778

that the outside world literally
puts Hawaii on a map for,

let's say,
Europe and the United States.

But, of course, you know,
Pacific Islanders,

Native Hawaiians have known
where this place is...

-Of course.
-...for centuries.

Suchet: Native Hawaiians
ruled these islands

until the end of the 1800's.

It was around then
that the U.S.A.

began to challenge
their independence.

Hawaii was still a kingdom,
a constitutional monarchy

all the way up until
the overthrow in 1893.

-Yes.
-There's a provisional,

or a temporary, government led
by American businessmen

for the most part.

And it's not until 1898

that the United States decides
to, you know,

essentially take Hawaii.

Then Hawaii becomes a territory
of the United States.

And what happened
to the royalty?

Well, the queen
that was overthrown?

-Yes.
-Queen Lili'uokalani.

She lives into the 20th century,
until 1917,

very well respected
by native Hawaiians, of course.

Prince Kuhio is actually heir
to the throne,

if Hawaii still had a kingdom,

and he sadly passes away
in 1922,

the same year
that Agatha Christie is here.

Right.

Suchet: The Americans
had a vested interest

in deposing the queen
and taking over Hawaii.

They were making a fortune
out of sugarcane and pineapples,

which grew easily
in the fertile soil.

When Agatha was here,

she mentioned
sugar plantations in particular,

and pineapples.

Yes. So, the primary industry
in the early 20th century

would be sugar, which had been
around since the mid-1800s,

and by the early 1900s,
pineapples

were starting to be a larger
and larger industry.

And I think Agatha Christie --
she was surprised,

as many people are today, to see
them growing like cabbages

you know,
and not from a tree, right?

I thought they were growing
from a tree.

Suchet: All the labour needed
for the plantations

would radically alter
the ethnic make-up of Hawaii.

So, when Agatha was here,
was it multicultural?

Oh, yes. Even by the '20s,
it was certainly multiethnic.

It's because sugar plantations
require a great deal of labour.

So we're going to have
Chinese and Portuguese

coming in the mid-1800s.

Japanese in 1885 onward.

-Japanese?
-Yes. Yes, coming from Japan.

But if you jump forward
to the 20th century,

things really start to change,
I would say, during the '20s,

when Agatha Christie is here.

A lot of that
is the anticipation

by the United States
that there's going to be

possibly a war with Japan
at some point.

You have a great deal
of military build-up

in the 1920s and in the '30s,

preparing for the possibility
of a major conflict with Japan.

-Even then?
-Yes, even then.

In fact, it's in the early '20s

that a significant portion
of the U.S. Navy

has naval exercises here.

And you also have an increase
in Navy personnel.

Suchet:
As American sailors flooded

into Hawaii for R&R,
so tourists, like Agatha,

were also beginning to arrive.

Definitely,
by the early 20th century,

you do have Americans
who are coming,

and they're popularising
how beautiful Hawaii is and

how it's a great stopping point
to other parts of the Pacific.

But it's usually a more elite,

wealthy set of tourists
who are coming by steamship.

So Agatha was probably
amongst a very few number

of tourists at that --

Right. We're talking
about slightly more than 10,000

per year in the '20s.

-And now?
-And now,

about 9 or 10 million per year.

That's a very
significant number, isn't it?

Yes.

-John, thank you so much.
-Sure, sure.

You've made it all sort of,
like a jigsaw, come together.

Suchet: The uneasy relationship
between the American colonisers

and native Hawaiians
is highlighted by the story

of a cultural art form.

When Agatha was here in 1922,

the famous dancing and music
known as hula

was already popular.

The hula girl, with her flowers
and cellophane skirt,

was a powerful symbol
of Hawaii,

but what was presented
as authentic was anything but.

Now, in an attempt to preserve
the real meaning of hula,

Mapuana teaches
the traditional version

by going back to its origins.

Agatha experienced
the hula dancing,

so what would she have seen?

In the 1920s, she
wouldn't see traditional hula.

More than likely,
what she would have seen

was what we call today
hula ohana.

And that is our more modern
hula, because that's

when Hawaii was being promoted
as a tourist destination.

I see.

When you say traditional
hula and the more modern hula,

do forgive me, but the only hula
I've ever seen --

You remember
the 1950 film "Blue Hawaii."

-Yes.
-Yes.

Elvis: ♪ Let's go on
a moonlight swim ♪

Suchet: Elvis Presley and the
grass skirts and the lei.

-Yes. Yes.
-That's the modern?

-That's the more modern, yes.
-Okay.

Modern hula, the accompaniment
is with stringed instruments,

with the ukulele, the guitar,
the bass, the piano,

the steel guitar.

It's very melodic and sometimes
a little bit kolohe,

-a little bit rascal.
-Yes.

I had an opportunity to learn
the more traditional chanting,

drumming, the
more ancient dances

that had been passed on from the
1800s, some from pre-contact.

So the traditional hula goes
way back.

Way back, yes.

Our older dances
that we have maintained

through generations
are very sacred.

[ Woman chanting in
native language ]

-Can men do hula?
-Anybody can do hula.

-Anybody. Right.
-Yes.

Any gender, any age.

The hula and how it's presented
all depends on the story,

the purpose of it,
what the message is.

They all have
very clear messages.

You're actually talking
about a form of movement

that is a language.

-Yes.
-I mean a communication.

Exactly.

But you're talking about
a language that goes way back,

-before the written word.
-Way back. Yes.

Our history
has all been orally transmitted

until the missionaries came
and started writing things down.

And then it became written
down for the first time.

-Yes.
-That's very interesting.

Around the corner here,
we have a group

that's practising one
of our ancient dances

that's pre-contact.

Oh, how great.

This is a prophecy chant
that foresees

that our temples will come down.

And the chants go back
how many years?

Probably to the 1600s, 1700s.

I want to introduce you
to David.

-Hello.
-This is David.

What a pleasure to meet you.

We're going to take it
from the beginning.

Make yourself comfortable
right there.

Suchet:
Over the centuries,

hula has been
through extraordinary changes.

The dance originated
as a religious practice.

Then, in the 19th century,

public displays were banned
for being too vulgar.

Since the 1920s,

hula's been a highly
effective tourist attraction.

And now, finally, Mapuana
is returning hula to its roots.

My goodness.
That was absolutely amazing.

Thank you all so much.

And I have to confess,

I have never seen anything
resembling what you

have just demonstrated
ever in my life.

You must be exhausted. I
just want to ask you one thing.

What do you feel

while you're dancing
this particular type of hula?

I feel powerful dancing
this hula,

because it's about holding on to
our culture and our traditions.

That's important.

Thank you.
What a wonderful answer.

Mapuana hopes

that by reinvigorating
the traditional form of hula,

she'll allow people
to discover what

the real Hawaii is all about.

You know, living here in Hawaii,
we're challenged every day.

There's so many
outside influences

that can take us
into the Western world.

Those dances need to be shared
and seen over and over and over

so that we are connected to
this very Earth

that we come from and that
we don't evolve into something

that doesn't feel
Hawaiian anymore.

It says to me
something about the basic nature

of being human, as well.

Yes.

Suchet: The arrival of outsiders
into Hawaii

didn't just have an impact
on the people.

The industries
the Americans introduced

also dramatically altered
the landscape.

Over the last century,
much of the environment

has been devastated.

So I was fascinated
to hear about a group of farmers

who are restoring parts
of the ancient rainforest.

Lawrence has offered to show me
how this area has changed.

The land that we're driving
through right now,

as far
as you can see to your right

and as far
as you can see to your left,

100 years ago,
would have been sugarcane.

So, that would have been
sugarcane

when Agatha Christie came
here in the 1920s?

There would have been a lot
of sugarcane.

And then there still is
some pineapple over

on that ridge there,
but there would have --

all of this area would have been
planted to either one of those.

Right.

Suchet: To create the
plantations of the late 1800s,

much of the original forest
was chopped down.

The pristine woodland
was no more.

It was probably as close
to a perfect ecosystem

that had been untouched forever.

Native forests filled
with native animals,

and it was completely destroyed.

Suchet: Now, at the north end
of the island,

Lawrence and his team

are successfully restoring
a key section of rainforest.

Boone: So, here we are.
That's our farm.

And that is the forest.

And what's really,
really cool is there wasn't

anything over
6 inches tall when we started.

And now 15 years later,
there's 60-foot mahogany trees.

-It's incredible.
-Wow. Mahogany.

Boone:
Mahogany, koa.

Most places, you don't expect to
see a forest go from nothing to,

50 or 60 feet over your head
in your lifetime.

No.

Suchet: These farmers are
bringing back the ancient forest

in order to produce a new crop.

The trees of the rainforest
encourage the growth

of cacao trees,
which the farmers

then use to make chocolate.

At the farm...

You won't get lost.
Don't worry.

Suchet:
Ah! Hi!

...I meet up with Seneca,
the business partner of Lawrence

and the key driver
of the cacao operation.

We've got thousands
and thousands of hardwood trees

working together
with thousands of cacao trees

to produce cocoa pods,

cocoa beans
that we make chocolate out of.

Lawrence was telling me that
they protect the cacao tree.

Yeah. The hardwood trees
hold space for the cacao tree.

They protect it from the wind
and the sun

and they hold the soil
together, too.

So they're protecting
the entire site

in a whole envelope
of lovely care.

I just adore chocolate.

And, so, well, the character
that I play, Hercule Poirot,

adores chocolate.

I mean, he goes to bed
every single night with a cup

of hot chocolate and his Bible.

I'm not sure
what he does first --

first read the Bible
or drink the chocolate,

but I think he drinks
the chocolate.

Yeah.
Why don't we go into the orchard

and get a closer look at some
of the cacao.

Fantastic.
Thank you.

♪♪

Out working in the fields
is Duke.

So, here, we have
a ripe cacao pod on the tree.

I've never seen this ever
in my life.

The only thing I've ever seen

is chocolate wrapped up
on a supermarket shelf, so...

Sure. I mean, I think that's
pretty common for most folks.

So, when it's this size,
it's ready for picking?

-Yeah. Ready for harvest.
-It's prime time.

-Yep.
-Sure.

-Wow. Can I touch it?
-Yes.

We can even pick it
and take it off the tree

and see what's inside.

Oh, my goodn--
Oh, my goodness me! Wow!

And there it is.
Have a smell.

It's a delicious tropical fruit.

-That's amazing!
-Mm-hmm.

-Yeah.
-It's like an animal coming out.

Yeah, for folks
who aren't used to it,

it can be a little bit
kind of a shocking fruit to see.

It's a very typical
tropical fruit.

It's custardy.
It's a little viscous and slimy.

But if you'd like to,
grab a couple of those seeds,

just pop them in your mouth,
and suck on them.

-What, from this?
-Yeah.

Do you want me to
hand them to you?

So, just take
two or three of these.

Don't chew into the seeds.
It's a little bitter.

Just suck on them.

Wow!

That's extraordinary!

Just straight out of the pod,
in my mouth.

It tastes citrusy,
like almost lemon.

Yeah, it is a tropical fruit.

I've never tasted anything
like it.

It's one of my favourites.

Yeah, we're snacking
up here all day.

So,
how does this become chocolate?

What we're after
is what's inside there.

So all that purple mass --
that's the future chocolate.

How amazing.

The fruit's super-important,
though,

because it's the fuel
for the fermentation

that's going to condition
this seed

and allow it to taste
like chocolate.

Goodness me.

Well, Lawrence is going to bring
us an even better treat

-that comes from our harvest.
-What's this?

Well, I just happen
to have here a bar

of Lonohana Estate chocolate.

-Oh, my goodness!
-This is our...

To be able to taste
that chocolate in the farm

we thought would be pretty cool.

If you let it melt, you'll get
the most story from the flavour.

That is beautiful.

It's fantastic!

I mean, to eat this here
after I've seen the pod open,

the fruit, and now this,

I'm not kidding, this is
really something very special.

-Thank you all.
-Yeah.

What a treat.

I'm so impressed
these farmers manage

to create delicious chocolate

while simultaneously restoring
part of the rainforest.

When Agatha was here,
it was just barren and bare,

and the sugarcane
plantations just depleted

the whole landscape.

And then to come here in this
almost like a grove,

full of greens, full
of wonderful, positive energy.

I really feel it in here.
I feel...

I mean, it may sound stupid,

but I really feel all the trees
here are so happy to be here.

And they're giving to us
and they're giving to them.

I just find it extraordinary.

♪♪

♪♪

Before I got here,
my understanding of Hawaii

was based largely on
all those clichés associated

with the island,

many of which were born in the
1920's, when Agatha was here.

But I've found the real Hawaii
to be far more interesting,

and I'm sure that
Agatha was equally fascinated.

And that's
why I'm keen to find out

how Agatha's
travels influenced her writing,

and so I'm meeting
Professor Michelle Kazmer,

an expert on crime literature.

I think
that by reading her books,

especially in the '20s and '30s,

the content
and the travel seems to me

very dominant compared to other
literature at the time, really.

Yes, Agatha --
she loved to travel,

and it's reflected in her work.

You see every mode of travel.

I mean, people are travelling in
"The Secret Adversary,"

and they're travelling
all the way through.

"Nemesis"
is a travel-oriented book.

"Passenger to Frankfurt"
is a travel-oriented book.

So she never leaves
that love for travel aside.

And the other thing
I've noticed,

especially in her portrayal
of young women,

especially in the early books,

she writes women
with passionate feelings.

Yes.

So when we talk about
a reserved, shy,

reclusive Agatha Christie,

this is not the Agatha Christie
I've met on the Empire Tour.

Oh, absolutely not.
She's surfing in Hawaii.

She loves to get into the ocean.

She likes to play golf.
She likes to go on long walks.

She's just a very
physically vigorous person.

Well, my goodness, haven't
I experienced in her footsteps?

-My goodness me.
-Right.

Do you think a lot
of her travels

have influenced her writing?

Oh, absolutely. And, in fact,
islands, right, like this one.

Islands show up in her books
all the time

because islands are
a wonderful literary device.

I mean, they're beautiful places
to be, but they're also a way

to accumulate people
of different social strata,

different personality types
who wouldn't necessarily

normally all be together
in one place,

and you get them isolated
from their normal lives

so they also might behave
in ways

that they don't
typically behave.

So anytime we can travel

and get people isolated
in a setting

is a perfect setting
for a crime novel.

Yes.

And the fact
that she did all of this travel

herself means that she can
also talk about the logistics

and the practicalities of travel
in a very realistic way

and sometimes even
the inconveniences of travel.

So whether it's standing
in line at Cooks

to buy a ticket or waiting
for a porter to get your luggage

and just sort of standing there,
you know, haplessly.

But what's interesting with
Poirot is, yes, he does travel,

but he doesn't like it.

No, he doesn't like it at all.
Absolutely.

But she has great fun with him
because he doesn't like it.

I think she's a great people
observer in her normal life.

Oh, yes.

I mean, I knew Harold Pinter
very well and I knew

that he would listen to people
on buses and things like that.

But I think,
if she was here on this beach,

she would be watching people.

She'd be observing people
and absorbing this into herself

and working out,

"Well, maybe I can use
that person in a story".

-Would you agree with that?
-Absolutely.

And she never wanted
it to be anybody she knew well.

She avoided people
she knew well.

But I have a feeling,
if she were here at this moment,

she would be noticing
what they were wearing,

how they were walking, and sort
of extrapolating reasons

why they were acting the way
they were

and building backstories
as she went,

and then, of course, frantically
writing it down in the notebooks

that she kept with her,
absolutely.

I know that
Agatha Christie is your chosen

and specific calling or subject.

For sure.

Do you think that she
genuinely deserves the title

"The Queen of Crime"?

Absolutely. For anything that
you can think about

crime fiction,
Agatha either did it first,

if she didn't do it first,
she did it best,

and, often, she did it both.

So when you say,
"Oh, this has been overdone,

it's been done too many times,
it's trite,"

no, but she's the one
who invented it.

And if she didn't,
she's the one

who did the canonically best
form of it.

And I absolutely stand by that.

She was absolutely brilliant,
start to finish.

♪♪

Suchet: I'm coming to the end
of my adventures in Hawaii.

I've had
an unforgettable experience,

just as Agatha did
a century ago.

I think Agatha's time here
with Archie was very special --

for them both.

For Archie, a chance to get away
from all his duties

in the Empire Mission,
and for Agatha,

a chance to spend
quality time with the husband

whom she loved so much.

And a holiday here
must have been something

that most Brits in the 1920s
could have only dreamed of.

And Agatha threw herself
into so many activities,

her favourite, of course,
being surfing.

But all good things must come
to an end,

and so it was
with their holiday.

And they had to prepare for the
itinerary of the Empire Mission

and their next stop and mine --
Canada.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪