A Case for Poirot

Being a big fan of Poirot, it was pleasing to read that Mr. David Suchet had been awarded CBE. Mr. SUchet's Poirot is quite a contrast to the more humorous portrayal by Mr. Ustinov.

WHen I first came to the U.S. in 1983, Eurythmics with Annie Lennox had released their melodious song, 'Sweet dreams are made of these.' Ms. Lennox, who received the OBE award, is a great humanitarian, in addition to being a talented singer and songwriter. An excellent cast of artists and humanitarians.

New Year honours: Actors take centre stage as Cowell and Forsyth miss out | UK news | The Guardian: "Despite the best efforts of the tabloid press, there were no knighthoods for either Bruce Forsyth or Simon Cowell, but veteran actors Sheila Hancock and David Suchet were both awarded CBEs, as was the composer and broadcaster Howard Goodall. Representatives of the arts and media make up 7% of the honours list.

Harriet Walter, best known as a classical actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company – most recently as Cleopatra opposite Patrick Stewart's Antony and as Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart in the West End and on Broadway – is made a dame, 11 years after becoming a CBE. Reacting to her award, Walter said: "I have reservations about some parts of the honours system. I fear it's not very fair and I think there are lots of people not recognised who should be." But she added she was able to "square the circle" by acknowledging the award would allow her to speak up in defence of the theatre.

Few actors can have had a more varied career over more than 50 years than Hancock, ranging from The Winter's Tale and Titus Andronicus for the RSC to the musicals Sweeney Todd, Cabaret and Sister Act in the West End, as well as roles in Carry on Cleo and EastEnders. She also appeared as a panellist on Radio 4's Just a Minute. She was awarded an OBE in 1974 for her services to drama.

Suchet, too, is a veteran of the classical stage as well as numerous film and television parts. He is best known for playing Hercule Poirot for more than 20 years in 65 adaptations of the Agatha Christie-inspired thrillers, the last of which is to be broadcast next year.

Goodall's award comes for his work over five years to promote music education. The Bafta, Brit and Emmy award-winning composer has written classical music such as Eternal Light: a Requiem, as well as well-known television theme tunes including QI, The Vicar of Dibley and Blackadder.

Recipients of CBEs also include John Lloyd, the producer behind Blackadder, QI and Not the Nine O'Clock News, and Mark Damazer, the former controller of BBC Radio 4, who became head of St Peter's College, Oxford in October.

Among the OBEs are guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson, once of Fairport Convention but also a writer of lyrics for Robert Plant and Elvis Costello; veteran lyricist Herbert Kretzmer, whose career encompasses newspaper, television and theatre criticism, songs for That Was the Week That Was, and the lyrics for the long-running musical version of Les Misérables; and Manchester-born actor Burt Kwouk, the long-suffering manservant Cato in the Pink Panther movies, who is honoured for helping to pave the way for other actors from the Chinese community.

The former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox receives an OBE, not for her musicianship, but for her services to Oxfam and Aids charities in Africa. She said: "As somewhat of a renegade, it either means I've done something terribly right – or they've done something terribly wrong.

"I'm getting my fake leopard pillbox hat dusted and ready. I was never much of one to win prizes … and certainly never placed too much value on their acquisition. Therefore, "I take this as more of an appreciation for the gentle turning of the years for someone who's enormously grateful for being able to breathe more or less freely in a totally insane world."