I don't consider Ustinov as Poirot to be definitive--that compliment belongs to Suchet, for perfection, and Finney, for artistry.
Ustinov strikes me as rather like Branagh--it's enjoyable to watch them for who they are, not for the part they occupy.
About once a year, I get out Warner Bros Agatha Christie Classic Mystery Collection, the "updated" Agatha Christie's, starring, amongst others, Peter Ustinov, Helen Hayes, Bette Davis, Anthony Andrews, Jean Stapleton, Faye Dunaway, and David Suchet (as Inspector Japp).
Ustinov has fun as Poirot, and I enjoy watching him have fun. And he has a gift for comedic timing. His sidekick, Jonathan Cecil as Hastings, sometimes gets bypassed, but the Ustinov-Cecil-Stapleton's scenes in Dead's Man's Folly are quite funny and excellently paced.
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