OUTSIDE, it was the hottest day of the year.

Inside, it was snowing with blizzard conditions stranding a motley band of suspects and the country’s first – and possibly only – skiing policeman in a remote newlyopened guest house.

What the audience must work out is who among those gathered in the living room is a potential victim (and the indication is that two of them may be on the hit list) and who’s a psychopathic serial killer.

I resisted the urge to jump on stage as the curtain rose and shout out ‘Whodunit’. The identity of the guilty party was known to me, having seen this 60th anniversary touring production of Agatha Christie’s record-breaking thriller in Newcastle in February (near the start of a year-long UK tour). But I was mindful of the traditional end-curtain speech by one of the cast imploring the audience not to give away the ending.

Seeing it again allowed me to appreciate the skills of Ian Watt-Smith’s production. This is a period piece in the sense that times were different – the age of ration books, guineas and the working classes.

The cast play it straight and don’t attempt to send up the old-fashioned ideals (a woman’s place is in the home, that sort of thing), but still find humour before events turn murderous.

Of course everyone is lying, hiding a guilty secret. While the characters verge towards stereotypes, some issues raised in passing, like child abuse, are as relevant today as they were then.

The actors, including a goodly number of ex-soap stars, get the tone just right, whether it’s Elizabeth Power’s elderly battleaxe, Mrs Boyle, one of life’s moaners, or Karl Howman’s suspicious foreigner, Mr Paravincini.

  • Until Saturday. Box office 0844-8713024 and online atgtickets.com/york Tours to Darlington Civic Theatre, June 10-15. Box office 01325-486555 and online darlingtoncivic.co.uk and Sunderland Empire, Oct 15-19.

Box office 0844-8713022 and online atgtickets.com/ sunderland