David Suchet: 'Retiring Poirot Will Be An Emotional Ordeal'

Veteran British star David Suchet has ruled out reprising his role as famous fictional detective Hercule Poirot after the character is killed off.

The actor wants to seek out challenging new scripts after playing Agatha Christie's Belgian sleuth on Tv for more than 20 years, and insists he will not return even if new mysteries are written with the consent of the late author's estate.

He tells Britain's The Times newspaper, "I'm going to play him dying. After 24 years playing a character, and you kill him off, that's where you should stay. I've always been known in the series as Agatha Christie's Poirot. I'm so grateful to her that I don't think I really want to do another one... I've been told I'm the longest running actor to play the same character in a (detective) series."

Suchet admits he is so worried about filming the character's death, which occurs in the last episode of the upcoming 13th and final series, he has asked producers to shoot it early so he doesn't end his long-running stint on a low note.

He adds, "Psychologically, it would have been very hard for me to leave as he dies. He's been a part of my life for so long, it'll be an ordeal to let him go."