Poirot star Suchet on 'terrific' role as oil villain

Sir David Suchet (left) plays an oil company shareholder in short film The Last Gasp

Sir David Suchet has said that playing an oil company shareholder in a short film was "really terrific" and "so different from anything I've ever done".

Best known for playing hero detective Hercule Poirot in a long-running ITV series, Sir David said his character in The Last Gasp was instead the "villain".

The film, by Bristol-based director Tom Cholmondeley, aims to raise awareness of the impact of toxic air pollution on children.

It was inspired by the true story of an Iraqi villager who launched legal action against oil company BP following the loss of his son to leukemia. It won two awards at the Phoenix Rising International Film Festival in London earlier this month.

Mr Cholmondeley said he was also inspired by BBC documentary Under Poisoned Skies, which revealed high levels of potentially cancer-causing chemicals in areas near oil fields.

He said: "[The film] is trying to highlight a problem called [gas] flaring. When oil comes out of the ground, it comes out with methane and that's burned as a waste product, which produces a kind of toxic cloud."

The film aims to raise awareness of the polluting practice of "gas flaring" in oil fields

Flaring is a way of relieving pressure from gases that build up in oil reservoirs.

The gas is burned off before the oil is drilled to prevent potential explosions.

However, some companies also burn off gas unnecessarily, if they do not believe it is worth capturing and transporting for sale.

According to the World Bank's Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership, it is estimated that flaring in 2024 released the equivalent of 389 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

"What we are really trying to do is bring attention to what is going on," Mr Cholmondeley added.

The Last Gasp sees Sir David, 79, play an oil company shareholder who is visited by an Iraqi schoolteacher, played by Waleed Elgadi, whose daughter Fatima has leukaemia due to gas flaring near their home.

Sir David said of his character: "It has been really terrific for me. It is so different from anything I've ever done.

"He's, in a sense, the villain of the piece. I've always believed the greatest villains of the world never believe they are villains."

The cast and crew of The Last Gasp, including Sir David, centre

The Last Gasp, which is 17 minutes long, won the Best Impact and Best Ensemble awards at the Phoenix Rising festival.

It was filmed over four days in Leigh Woods, near Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Dates for future public screenings have not yet been announced.