All language subtitles for Travels.With.Agatha.Christie.and.Sir.David.Suchet.S01E02.1080p.WEB.H264-JAVLAR

[ Dramatic music plays ]

♪♪

Suchet: In 1922,

an emerging young novelist wrote
a short story for a magazine.

That novelist
was Agatha Christie,

and the short story
is thought to be her first

to appear in print.

I'm reading a very early written
short story by Agatha Christie

called "The Wife of the Kenite."

There's no murder mystery
to solve.

There's no detectives.

There's no Miss Marple
or Hercule Poirot.

This is a revenge story.
And it's rather bloody.

I think I'm reading
a young author

trying to find out what type
of writer she's going to be.

And what is also fascinating
to me

is that this short story
is published not in England,

but in Australia.

♪♪

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,

the exhibition was designed
to boost trade

and strengthen the bonds
between nations.

Now, a century later,

I'm following
in Agatha's footsteps.

I am David Suchet,

and I played Agatha Christie's
Hercule Poirot for 25 years.

Armed with my trusty camera,

I'm re-creating
her incredible journey

through southern Africa...

Australia...

Canada...

and New Zealand.

-Welcome.
-Thank you.

And I'm even following her
on holiday to Hawaii.

I want to find out what
was happening in these countries

in the 1920s

and learn about the legacy
of empire.

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

I'll discover how this journey

influenced Agatha's life
and her writing.

Oh, wow. This is a rave review.

I wouldn't mind a review
like this

for some of my performances.

And through seeing
what she saw...

That is extraordinary.

...I'll learn 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.

♪♪

When Agatha Christie,
her husband, Archie,

and the cantankerous leader
of their empire mission,

Major Ernest Belcher,
arrived in Australia,

Agatha had barely begun

the literary journey
that would make her

the best-selling novelist
of all time.

♪♪

[ Seagulls crying ]

Instead, in May 1922,

she found herself in Hobart,
the capital of Tasmania.

♪♪

Founded as a British settlement
in 1804,

Hobart would become a notorious
destination for convicts.

I'm meeting
local storyteller Jess.

Hello. Jess?
-Hey, David.

Welcome to Hobart.
-Thank you.

...who can show me
some remnants of this history.

♪♪

This is where the convicts
that were sent here

would have got off.

That monument stands on the
original site of the gallows.

-Suchet: What, there?
-Jess: Yeah.

So, the first thing you see
when you get off the ship

is a little reminder
that you need to behave.

Suchet:
Well, that's quite a deterrent.

Yeah. You could say that.

It was a fear-based society.
[ Laughs ]

Now, look.
Just behind that monument,

I see H. Jones & Company.

And I know that Agatha Christie
and the delegation came here

and visited that --

That's a jam factory, isn't it?

-It was.
-Yes.

And indeed it was run
by Henry Jones

at one point in time.

Suchet:
The delegation had come here

to learn about
the Tasmanian fruit industry

and the modern techniques
being employed

at Henry Jones' factory.

This photo is from the 1930s.

So if you take a look
through there...

-Just look through here?
-Yeah.

Tell me, has much changed?

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

Suchet: Oh, my goodness. It's --

[ Jess laughs ]

Suchet: It's exactly the same.

Okay,
there's a horse and cart there.

But otherwise, no.
It's almost identical.

And what's interesting for me

is that I'm looking at

what Agatha Christie
would have seen.

Yes, exactly.
It really hasn't changed.

It is. That's extraordinary.

So, IXL Jams --

-Suchet: Yeah?
-It was his personal motto.

"I excel at everything I do."
-Oh!

Jam was produced at this factory
until the 1970s.

And when part of it was
converted into a boutique hotel

20 years ago,

the architects were careful
to preserve its history.

Meaning I can see much
of what Agatha saw.

This is the beautiful staircase

that was designed
to both impress and intimidate.

So --
-It's beautiful.

It's gorgeous.
It's Tasmanian blackwood.

And when you come
to see Henry Jones,

you're coming through
these doors.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

Suchet: But as Agatha recorded

in a beautiful witty
and insightful letter,

the factory's owner
was somewhat elusive,

which did not go down well with
a certain member of the mission.

Henry Jones was not here

to show the leader of the
delegation, Major Belcher,

around the jam factory.

And Belcher was furious.

Agatha Christie writes
in her letters back home

that "Pompous egos like Belcher

don't go down well
in Australia."

Oh. I'd say that's about right.

[ Both laugh ]

So, we'll come upstairs
and have a look.

-Right. Yes.
-Jess: You reckon?

I love the staircase.

It's a bit squeaky
in its old age, don't you think?

[ Laughs ]
-Suchet: Well, we all do.

[ Both laugh ]

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

The oldest parts
of this building date from 1823

and, like many structures
at that time,

were built with convict labour.

♪♪

So, this wall
is a very important wall.

Well, they needed
to bind the mortar.

And traditionally in England,
you use horsehair.

Horses are very thin on the
ground here in the early 1800s,

so we used a bit of possum fur,

but we also used the hair
from the convict women.

And that's some of this here
you can see in the wall.

-Suchet: Oh, you're kidding me.
-Yeah.

That's real hair from a convict?

-Jess: Yeah.
-I don't believe it.

Ooh. That leaves me quite cold.
-[ Laughs ]

It really does.

[ Soft music plays ]

And this isn't this building's
only relic of the past.

When the hotel first opened
in 2004,

some other unnerving remnants
emerged.

Jess: On opening night,
reception starts getting

panicked phone calls
from this room.

And there's blood dripping
down through the floorboards

onto their fresh, linen sheets.

So reception comes up here
very quickly.

Upon further investigation,

it turns out that the red
splotches are in fact jam.

We're above
the jam factory floor here.

120 years of jam steam
going up into the rafters,

and someone turns the heating
on.

-Oh, dear.
-And it all comes dripping
back out.

So, this here is our biggest
river of jam in the hotel.

What an amazing story.
Sounds like an Agatha Christie.

[ Laughs ]
It does rather, doesn't it?

"Rivers of Jam."
Great title for a book.

[ Jess laughs ]

♪♪

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

Suchet: Following a series
of appointments in Hobart,

Agatha and the empire delegation
left the city

and journeyed into
the island's remote interior.

♪♪

Here, they would see a very
different side to Tasmania.

We're driving
into the middle of the island.

And it's so empty.

There are hardly any cars
on the road,

and certainly very few people.

Another thing I'm noticing

is that there are more and more
power lines.

♪♪

Agatha in her letters

goes into some wonderful
descriptions of the trees.

And she writes,

"If there were nymphs
in the woods,

they would never be caught."

And that shows
a wonderful imagination

and says a lot about the way
that Agatha Christie thinks.

[ Dramatic music plays ]

But the delegation
hadn't travelled here

just to admire the scenery.

♪♪

They were on their way to see an
ambitious hydroelectric scheme

that had opened to great fanfare
a few years earlier.

♪♪

The centrepiece
of this grand project

was the magnificent
Waddamana Power Station.

♪♪

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

What a location this is.

It's so remote.

And I'm looking at
what Agatha Christie saw.

♪♪

I really feel that I'm back
in time with her now.

It's very exciting.

♪♪

When Agatha came here,

Waddamana would have been
a hive of activity,

with lots of work going on
to boost capacity.

♪♪

Hello, Ian.
-Ian: Hello David.

Welcome to Waddamana.
-Suchet: Thank you very much.

Ian: Come on in
and I'll show you around.

Lovely. Thank you.

♪♪

The power station stopped
generating electricity in 1964

but has been meticulously
preserved as a museum.

♪♪

Ian: So, David,
this is the turbine-hall floor.

And how does it work?

Well, the water
came from the Great Lake.

It was called
the Great Lake Scheme.

And so they were building
the dam,

which raised the level of the
Great Lake by about 10 feet.

And, then, that would come
down the side, down the hill,

into each of these two turbines
down here.

Suchet: So the water
would go into those?

-Ian: Yeah. Yep.
-Suchet: Turn that.

Like a water mill.

Yeah. Basically, yeah.

Yeah, like a water mill.
Spin that shaft,

and then that would then
create -- spin the magnets.

And then that would then create
that electromagnetic field,

which creates electricity.

This is huge.

How did all this machinery
get here?

By horse-drawn bogie carriages
on a wooden railway.

Suchet: That's unbelievable.

Ian: Over 10 years of
construction, basically, yeah.

25,000 tons of material
were brought in here.

-Suchet: Unbelievable.
-Ian: Yeah, massive. Absolutely.

And those first two turbines

were what was powering Hobart
in 1916.

-Suchet: Yes.
-Ian: Now, when Agatha was here,

we actually were buildings
number three, four, and five.

Suchet:
How noisy would it have been?

Well, if you know
the jet engine,

the noise a jet engine
would make...

-Yes.
-...all nine of those
up and running

would be the sound
of a jet engine.

Suchet: In Britain in the 1920s,

electricity was still expensive,
and the industry was fragmented.

So the delegation
must have been fascinated

by this new technology.

Ian: So, come on in, David.
This is the engineer's office.

And this is how Agatha
would have been here

on 5 May, when she visited.
-Suchet: Really?

Ian: Yes, absolutely.

This is the engineer's logbook

that we took stats
every half an hour

of every machine
that we had down here.

And these, this red line
here in particular,

is of interest of the power load
that Hobart was using.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 power trips

on that particular --
or power outages.

-Five power cuts in one day.
-Ian: In one day. Yeah.

So we really are

at the pioneering stage
of hydroelectricity.

Absolutely, yeah.

And presumably,
the whole of Tasmania

would have been
incredibly proud.

With the introduction
of electricity

into Tasmania with hydro,

it brought us from childhood
to adolescence, basically.

-Really?
-Yeah, yeah.

And we just grew and grew.
-Wow.

Constructing this power station
in such an inaccessible place

was no mean feat.

A village had to be established.

And Ian's wife, Maureen,
was born here.

[ Dramatic music plays ]

Well, I hasten to add I wasn't
here in the early days, David.

-No.
-I've looked up
the history of it.

Being here in the early days
was not easy.

The privation
was pretty significant.

They gave you a canvas tent,
a straw mattress.

You had to buy your own shovel,

and you had to catch
your own food.

And what
were the conditions like

when Agatha would have
been here, for example?

Well, they were much better.

There were houses,

and there were workers
that were living here

and families
that were living here.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

♪♪

I mean,
she came on the empire mission

for the Great Exhibition.

So this must have been
a very important point

in its development.

I think
it's a significant marker.

And that's why it's now
a national engineering monument,

because of what
it actually contributed

beyond just Waddamana
and a power line to Hobart.

It was the first example

where you could actually
generate power from one place

and transmit it
significant distances.

[ Film reel clicking ]

♪♪

It's one of the first places
in the world

that they could actually have

industrial, commercial,
and domestic power.

It changed the landscape,
'cause people had paid work.

There were industries now
that employed people.

And I think that, that whole
notion of what started here,

has expanded across our state.

We're 100% renewable.

Standing here, you'll see
the old pipelines coming down.

And up on that hill,
you'll see the wind turbines.

-Suchet: The next generation.
-Maureen: The next generation.

So, our government
talks about Tasmania

as the battery of the nation.

We here at Waddamana say

Waddamana was the first cell
of that battery.

I like that, too.

So, if you wanted
a good battery,

you had to have a good start.
And this is it.

What a significance.
-It is.

-And what a legacy.
And, I mean,

Agatha would have come here
because it was so unique.

We just say to ourselves often,
"Waddamana -- what a place."

Because actually, it has been a
place that's transformed lives.

Waddamana -- what a place.

Maureen: Yes. [ Laughs ]

[ Dramatic music plays ]

♪♪

Suchet: This power station
showed Agatha a modern Tasmania.

But when she returned to Hobart,

she was able to indulge
one of her own interests

and explore
the island's history.

♪♪

She visited the Tasmanian Museum
and Art Gallery,

where some of what was on show
in 1922

is still on display today,

including depictions
of the earliest days

of the penal colony.

Looking at this picture
of guard dogs

across the narrowest part
of the peninsula,

to stop convicts escaping,

I can only imagine
what it was like

for convicts to be brought
all the way from England...

[ Soft music plays ]

...some for major crimes,

but, also, minor crimes,
like stealing bread.

But as more people arrived
from overseas,

Tasmania's indigenous population
were driven from their lands

and almost wiped out.

♪♪

By the time of Agatha's visit,

they were treated as little more
than museum pieces.

♪♪

The displays even included
the skeleton

of a Tasmanian Aboriginal woman,
named Truganini,

who had died in 1876.

♪♪

Today, these remains
are no longer in the museum,

thanks to the hard work
of campaigners

from the Tasmanian Aboriginal
community.

Theresa: Hello. Ya pulingina.

Now, you must be Zoe.
-I'm Zoe.

-Hello. How do you do?
-So nice to meet you.

-And you must be Theresa.
-I certainly am.

-What a pleasure.
-Pleased to meet you.

♪♪

Suchet: Dr. Zoe Rimmer
and Theresa Sainty

are going to show me
where Truganini now rests.

♪♪

They're taking me downriver,

to a place that is highly
significant in their culture.

♪♪

The Derwent Estuary is home

to many rare and beautiful
plants and animals.

[ Seabirds crying ]

♪♪

But its shores are also the site
of an old penal settlement

where Tasmanian Aboriginal
people were incarcerated.

♪♪

Welcome to Putalina,
also known as Oyster Cove.

Theresa:
While it looks beautiful today,

it wasn't such a nice place
for our people

back, you know,
in the 1800s, in 1847,

when our people
were transported here...

including Truganini.

Well, she was said
to be the last

Tasmanian Aboriginal person

and represented
the extinction of our people.

As the last survivor
of those 47 people

that were brought here
to Putalina,

Truganini was really well-aware

of the treatment of her people
after death.

There was a lot of collection,
digging up of graves,

collection of human remains,

sending them
to museums overseas.

And sadly, two years later,

she was dug up
by the Royal Society.

-She was?
-Zoe: Yeah.

♪♪

I can't believe
that human beings would do that.

And what happened then?

So, her remains were on display
at the museum

from about 1907 to 1947.

Suchet:
Why did they say that Truganini

was the last
Tasmanian Aboriginal,

when it's obvious
that she wasn't?

Zoe: Well, it was convenient.

By that point,
there was the thinking

that Tasmanian Aboriginal people
were so primitive

that we were doomed
to extinction anyway.

And calling Truganini the last

was really about alleviating
that colonial guilt.

By the early 1970s,

the Tasmanian Aboriginal
community really started

to campaign for both recognition
of identity.

But, also, part of that campaign
was for the repatriation

of Truganini's remains
to the community

so she could be given
a proper ceremonial farewell.

Her remains were cremated

and brought out here
into the channel and scattered.

[ Dramatic music plays ]

This area is Truganini's
traditional homelands.

-Is it?
-So she's -- you know,

it's a beautiful
and significant place now.

It really is.

♪♪

Following the return
of Truganini,

the community really took on
that fight,

to have all of our ancestors

returned from museums
around the globe.

Suchet: Today, the Tasmanian
Aboriginal community

are working with the museum
to curate displays,

which is helping them rediscover
their culture and language.

And can you now speak
the original language?

I can speak
our revived language.

So it's not exactly the same

as what language spoken
before invasion

and throughout the colonisation.
-No.

But all languages change.

How do I say,
"Thank you very much"?

Both: Nayri nina-tu.

So, to you both,
I nayri nina-tu.

Nayri nina-tu to you, too.

[ Laughter ]

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

Suchet:
After their tour of Tasmania,

Agatha and the delegation

swapped island life
for the mainland...

♪♪

...and the hustle and bustle
of the big city.

♪♪

Here, in Melbourne,

a whirlwind of appointments
and activities awaited them.

♪♪

One of these was a dinner
at the Grand Hotel,

now called the Windsor,

where,
according to the newspapers,

Major Belcher flattered
his hosts with a rousing speech.

This is Ernest Belcher,

the leader
of the British delegation.

"With regard to butter,

I can say quite honestly

that I've only tasted
one quality in Australia,

and that is the best."

I think he got
a round of applause after that.

And towards the end
of the speech, he said,

"In throwing yourselves
heart and soul

into the complete cooperation
of Australia

in this great undertaking,

you're not only
helping yourselves,

but you're also helping
the empire."

[ Soft music plays ]

♪♪

As for me,
I'm here for afternoon tea

with a man said to be

Australia's
biggest Agatha Christie fan.

♪♪

So, Scott, thank you very much
for being with me.

And have you collected items
that relate to Agatha?

So many items.

-Have you?
-Yes.

This here
is my most treasured possession.

And that is Agatha Christie's
favourite brooch.

I was there
in the auction house,

but two other people
were bidding against me.

I just kept putting
my hand up,

and the hammer came down,

and the auction house erupted
in applause.

And I just thought,
"Oh, no. What have I done?"

Well, I think you've done
something extraordinary,

and I'm thrilled to bits
to be able to see it,

let alone to touch it.

Do you have any special
knowledge of her time here,

when she came in 1922,
on her British Empire mission?

Here we have Agatha Christie's
second book,

"The Secret Adversary."

And it is...

signed.

Oh, I say.

This was published in 1922,

so just before
they left England.

And it's made out
to Max Coleman.

Suchet: Have you managed
to find out anything

about this elusive Max Coleman?

Well, I may have.

This is the passenger list
for the TSS Aeneas...

-Yes.
-...on that trip from
South Africa to Australia.

And right at the very top here,

we have a Mr. MGD Coleman.

Oh!

I wonder.

I wonder if that's the same.

I like to think it is.

Well, they must have been
together.

Otherwise,
she wouldn't have signed it.

And what is interesting to me

is that she was accompanying
her husband,

and she was sort of
a wife following.

But in actual fact,

she was becoming somebody
in her own right,

somebody that the public
was beginning to recognise

that here was a real talent.

And there --
there's a passenger,

carrying one of her books
already.

So...

-It is amazing.
-It is amazing.

And from then, of course,
she just -- it was an explosion.

In fact, by the time
Agatha arrived in Australia,

the local press were beginning
to pay attention, too.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

The state library in Victoria

is the oldest public library
in Australia

and holds a fascinating
collection of articles

written at the time
of the delegation's visit.

Oh, right. So, this
is "The Secret Adversary"

in the newspaper The Age,
Saturday, March 25, 1922.

And...yeah. It's a review.

"Here are the proper ingredients
of a detective story --

intrigue, murder,
and desperate undertakings.

And it ends in
the final dramatic touch

to the interest
of a well-told tale."

That's a rave.

I wouldn't mind
a rave review like that

for some of my performances.

And now a profile

with a very good photograph.

"Policewomen are no longer
a novelty.

The sight of a woman lawyer
excites no comment.

But a woman writer
of detective stories

is still somewhat of a pioneer."

Well, she's right at
the beginning, isn't she?

She goes on to reveal that,

"I'd never written a book,

and my sister dared me
to write a detective novel

in which the reader
could not spot the murderer,

though having access to the same
clues as the detective."

'The Mysterious Affair
at Styles'

is the result of that bet."

She's obviously beginning
to think...

of herself
as a professional writer,

because she mentions here,

"'I don't think I shall ever
write poetry again.

Detective stories
pay so much better,'

she confessed with a frankness

which makes her
particularly charming."

I do know
in researching Agatha Christie

that there came a point
where she became very reclusive.

She was not a fan of the press
at all.

She hated giving interviews.

But here, it's a lovely,

open, warm conversation
with a journalist,

very unlike, as I say,

the Agatha Christie
that I came to know much later.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

This young Agatha strikes me

as confident, carefree,
and curious --

qualities that would have
equipped her well

for the ongoing rigours
of the empire mission,

an itinerary that included
a tour

of the local timber industry.

In the 1920s,

a busy network
of sawmills, trains,

and bush trams were harvesting
timber from the forests

to the east of Melbourne.

♪♪

Today,
the Puffing Billy Railways

is the last surviving remnant
of that network.

♪♪

[ Bell clanging ]

All aboard, all aboard!

Suchet:
Mike is a stationmaster here...

All aboard!

Suchet: ...and has some stories
to tell me about the writer

who made Hercule Poirot
so globally famous.

-Can I get your autograph?
-Yes. Of course you can.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

-Suchet: Hello. Mike.
-Mike: Yeah.

Sir David, lovely to meet you.

-Lovely to meet you.
-And welcome to Puffing Billy.

Please come up here
and board our train.

-Thank you.
-Come up here.

It's so good to have you
with us.

It may not be
the Orient Express,

but I'm told
riding this train...
-Mike: There we are.

Suchet: ...is an experience
like no other.

You get the opportunity --

the unique opportunity
to sit on the sills.

Because nowhere else in the
world can you do that legally.

As we're moving along,
you'll see knees out everywhere.

It's all been set up so that
it's quite safe to do so.

And people absolutely love it.

[ Whistle blowing ]

[ Dramatic music plays ]

♪♪

Suchet: First opened in 1900s,

the Puffing Billy Railway
spent over 50 years

serving local communities

before a major landslip
forced its closure.

♪♪

However, in the 1960s,

a group of dedicated volunteers
got it back on track,

and it's since grown
to become Australia's

premier preserved railway.

♪♪

Mike, how long have you been
a stationmaster?

I've been volunteering
at Puffing Billy

for I think nine years.
-Have you?

Mike: And...

But I've come through the ranks.

I started as a trainee.

I absolutely love it.
-Yeah.

It's in my blood.
I don't know why, but it is.

My father was a locomotive
driver, steam trains early on.

And I think railways just form
part of my genetic make-up.

Is this the sort of train
that Agatha would have been on?

It would have been a much more
rustic version of this train.

-Okay.
-No passenger carriages.

In fact, she mentioned how,

sitting on boxes
on the trucks --

'cause the trucks were being
taken out to the mill.

Well, this photograph
shows that.

And it's a wonderful image,

because it shows
people travelling

the way they did then.

But the danger was that
there's a steam locomotive there

which is fuelled by wood
which throws out sparks.

And Agatha told the story

where, sitting on the train,

she had someone with her,

because that person
had to help her

if she should start smouldering

in more than two places
at the same time.

Suchet: [ Laughs ] Yeah.

So she didn't catch
completely alight.

Suchet: That's extraordinary.

Mike: Now, whether she travelled
on the timber

on this journey or not,
I'm not sure.

But I'd like to think she did.
-Suchet: Yes.

Mike: The more you read,
the more you find

there was this side to her.

-Yes.
-Mike: Which really fed into
her writing, I think,

her imagination.

She was drawing from experience.
-Yes.

And her sense of adventure.
-Mike: Yes. That's right.

-And excitement.
-Mike: Yes.

Now, when she visited sawmills,
this was obviously part

of the Empire Exhibition.
-That's right.

A lot of these trees
you see here are,

they're either mountain grey
gum or mountain-ash.

And they're quite famous
for constructions timbers.

-Suchet: Are they?
-Mike: Yeah.

She always says that,
"I always notice vegetation

and trees before anything else."
-Mike: Yes, yes.

She would have been
thoroughly enjoying the journey,

even though
she may have been smouldering.

But --
[ Both laugh ]

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

♪♪

What I've learnt is more about
Agatha Christie herself,

which seems to reinforce
an opinion I'm developing

of this young woman,

full of adventure,
full of spirit, courageous,

and quite unlike
a lot of women

of her class,
of her background at the time.

She embraced life
for all it was worth.

Wow. What a discovery.

♪♪

♪♪

Having discovered
this new side to Agatha,

I'm beginning to think
she channelled

her own adventurous spirit

into her novel
"The Secret Adversary,"

which features
not the older Poirot,

but two young sleuths

just returned
from the First World War,

Tommy and Tuppence.

♪♪

Tommy, like Archie,
had fought in the war,

whereas Tuppence
had been a nurse, like Agatha.

This book
would have really resonated

with readers
at the end of World War I,

because Tommy and Tuppence
are skint.

They've got no money at all.

And we know that there was

terrific unemployment
after the war.

Tommy, for example, in the book,

was unemployed for 10 months.

And there's a lovely quote
from Tuppence

saying, "'Money, money, money.

I think about money
morning, noon, and night.

I daresay it's mercenary of me,
but there it is.'

'Same here,' agreed Tommy,
with feeling.

'Well, I've thought over

every imaginable way
of getting it, too,'

continued Tuppence.

'There are only three --

to be left it,

to marry it,

or to make it.'"

And of course
that was a similar situation

with Archie and Agatha.

And, well, we all know
that Agatha made money

by writing her novels.

And the rest is history.

I think in creating
Tommy and Tuppence,

she was creating characters

that would have really,
in their situation,

resonated with readers
across the empire.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

More than 300,000 Australian
troops served overseas

during the First World War,

and many of those who made it
back were in need of work.

The government were eager
to help returning servicemen

rebuild their lives,

and soldier settlements
were established

throughout the country.

Australian newspapers reported

that the empire mission visited
one such soldier settlement.

And to find out
what they would have seen,

I've come to one
that survives to this very day.

♪♪

Six hours north of Melbourne
lies Red Cliffs,

a town that clearly takes pride
in its past.

Before the war,
this would have been scrubland.

But in 1920, returning soldiers
were allocated farm plots here.

How do you do? Hi.
-Diane: Hello there. Very well.

Suchet: And Matt?

-Matt: Oh, g'day. Hi.
-Suchet: Hi.

Diane and Matt's ancestors

were some of the settlement's
first inhabitants.

♪♪

My great grandfather
was James Alonso Cook,

and he was a soldier settler.

He fought in Gallipoli

and in France and Belgium
and Egypt.

It didn't really leave him
in the best state afterwards.

He suffered from gas badly
in France.

He decided that this area
would be a good place

to start his life after the war.

And then in, yeah,
December 1920,

he was very fortunate
and was allocated a block.

My actual grandfather --

he was enlisted
when he was 38 years old.

So he wasn't a young man
when he came.
-Suchet: No, he wasn't. No.

Initially, they lived
in very, very basic means --

maybe tents --

and something
that we would perhaps

refer to as a shanty.

[ Soft music plays ]

So, this is one of
the early houses

in what's called Tent Town.

So, the one-room house like that
would often have a family in it.

And you see the walls there
are made

probably with hedge and sugar
bags covered with plaster.

So dirt floors,
all very basic construction.

Talking about this whole area
just being scrubland,

how was it cleared?

So, yeah. So, fortunately,
they got some help

from our good friend Big Lizzie
over here.

Suchet: Oh. That's Big Lizzie?

Matt: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So yeah.
So, she's a huge machine.

She's sometimes called the
biggest tractor in the world.

She also had a trailer
that went along behind her.

And I believe that trailer
had its own blacksmith.

And the family did live on it.

Suchet: A family lived on it?

Diane:
And I think they also had a cow
that walked along, as well.

The cow might have actually been
able to travel faster

than Big Lizzie herself.
-Suchet: Yes.

So, I've got a lovely quote
from Major Belcher,

the leader
of the empire expedition here.

When interviewed
by a local paper,

said, "He asked
one soldier settler

how much experience he'd had
with agriculture.

And the reply was,

'Just as much as you would know

by driving a tram
down the Lambeth Road.'"

[ Both laughing ]

Diane: Originally, all the
plantings were a sultana vine.

They all had to learn
what to do,

and there was trial and error.

Because of poor irrigation,

a lot of those original
plantings failed,

and they had to be replanted.

So there was a measure
of heartbreak.

Quite a few of them did --
were able to make a go of it,

despite all the hardships
they'd had in war.

And they managed
to get through that and thrive.

But unfortunately, quite
a number of them were unable to,

in some cases
because they were injured,

or were otherwise damaged
by the war.

[ Soft music plays ]

Suchet: While soldier settlement
schemes elsewhere in Australia

often ended in failure,

Red Cliffs
has continued to thrive.

This has turned into
a very prosperous town.

We owe all of that to our
original soldier settlers,

'cause they were
pioneering stock.

They really were.
-Suchet: They really were,
weren't they?

♪♪

I found that very moving.

♪♪

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

♪♪

And I think
for Archie and Agatha

to come to a soldier settlement

must have been
a very personal experience.

There, like that. 1, 2, 3.

♪♪

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

I think to witness
a soldier settlement,

to see how the soldiers
were being looked after,

and presumably
with their families,

must have resonated on a very
deep and personal level.

I think they were probably
very moved,

and, also, very impressed.

♪♪

[ Dramatic music plays ]

The quest to find new things

to showcase
at the Empire Exhibition

meant the delegation travelling

into the vast landscape
of New South Wales.

♪♪

Their destination was the remote
Yanga Station.

The homestead sits
in Yanga National Park,

where Elizabeth is a curator.

Hello, Elizabeth.
-Elizabeth: Oh, hello, David.

-Suchet: Hello.
-Elizabeth: Lovely to meet you.

Very nice to meet you.

Why would the empire delegation
come to Yanga?

What were they interested in?

I think that the main reason
would have been --

one would have been the wool,

because it was a huge, you know,
wool-producing property.

I was just having a look
at this book,

the Yanga Paddock Book.
-Suchet: Yes?

Elizabeth:
And what I've discovered

is that there were 94,099 sheep

shorn the year
that Agatha was here.

-94,000?
-Elizabeth: Yes. And 99.

Went in for a haircut?

Elizabeth: Yes. And the station
was enormous.

It was probably
the largest freehold station

in the Southern Hemisphere.
-Suchet: Really?

[ Soft music plays ]

But wool wasn't
the only business at Yanga.

The owners
were also at the forefront

of the Australian
frozen-meat industry.

And the homestead benefitted
from some of their innovations.

So, this is our
refrigeration shed.

-My goodness!
-Elizabeth: Yes.

I've never seen anything
like this.

♪♪

This is where they made the ice.

And the gas
travelled through the pipes,

and expanding and cooling
as it went.

And, then,
here is the brine tank,

and inside that was salty water.

And the freshwater
was put into tins,

and then it was lowered
into the brine tank,

and then it became frozen.

And then they pulled it out,
it was ice.

And do you think Agatha Christie
would have been surprised?

Yes. She probably
would have been,

because in that year,
it was brand-new.

It had just been installed
that year that she came.

So I'm sure she would have
probably drunk milk

and used butter that
would have been stored here,

and maybe even some meat.

[ Whimsical music plays ]

Suchet:
Nowadays, Yanga Homestead is run
as a museum...

♪♪

...with very few changes since
the time of Agatha's visit.

♪♪

So, David,
this is the dining room.

So this is where she would
have sat to have her dinner

and possibly her lunch
with Archie and with Belcher

and with the station manager,
Mr. Besley, and his wife.

♪♪

Suchet: Yanga must have given
Archie and Belcher

plenty of food for thought,

as farming featured extensively

when the Australia Pavilion
finally took shape

at the Empire Exhibition.

[ Film reel clicking ]

But there's evidence to suggest
that during her time here,

Agatha was able to step away
from the business of the empire

and into Yanga's
idyllic gardens.

♪♪

Here's the photograph of her.

She's sitting in a deck chair...

just in front of an orange tree,
like this one here.

And what's interesting to me

is that she seems very relaxed,
very happy.

In fact, I wouldn't have minded
taking this myself.

It's very well-composed.

I think it's a lovely
environmental portrait.

Agatha and the delegation

continued to tour
around Australia

for several more weeks.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

♪♪

But beautiful Yanga
is where my journey ends.

♪♪

What a wonderful way
to end my journey in Australia,

than sitting here
where Agatha sat,

trying to mirror
the same position.

And what I've learnt about her

at this stage in her career,

she was really developing
a sense of self-confidence.

I think she had no idea at all
when she left England,

that by the time
she got to Australia,

she was going to get rave
reviews for her second novel.

And it must have made her
really think very seriously,

"Yeah, I'm going to become
a writer."

And for me personally,

I wonder whether she
was thinking of her next Poirot.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪