As a school kid, we devoured Agatha Christies at the rate of two a week. Part of the secret was that we began reading the book at page 72 or thereabouts.
We discovered this into our fourth Agatha Christie, the version of white cover Christies we had in school started around Page 72. Till then Christie spent her time describing characters, villas and the countryside, something that our young minds did not have the patience to wade through. The murder usually took place on this page.
I believe a similar strategy would be needed to watch the show as well. The shows seem to be 2 part affairs. Having read all of the Poirots, it makes sense to watch only the second part. This would reduce watching to thrice a week and ensure I have some well needed sleep.