"Inspector Morse House Of Ghosts"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

This is the first ever stage version of this iconic TV character, and it's long overdue because the television series is watched still by millions of Morse and John Thaw fans, so it's only natural to transfer Morse from the TV screen to the stage.

The mystery unfolds when a young actress, playing Ophelia in a performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet, suddenly dies on stage. Detective Chief Inspector Morse, who just happens to be in the audience and watching, takes charge of the situation and embarks on his investigation. What begins as a suspicious death inquiry takes a darker turn when Morse, together with DS Lewis, uncovers a connection to sinister events in his own past, twenty-five years earlier, in 1962.

Tom Chambers stars as Morse, who seems to be obsessed with Schubert's music, which is strange as TV Morse's favourite composer was Richard Wagner.  I personally didn't spot too much of the TV Morse in Tom Chambers' portrayal; he seemed to be not sullen enough and I'm sure that John Thaw's character would not have used the word "rutting" to describe  the act of making love. Anyway, this isn't TV Morse it's theatre Morse and this is Tom Chambers, not John Thaw.

That said, an actor only does what a Director says, and a Director can only direct from the script by the writer.

Lewis, Morse's trusty sidekick, is played by Tachia Newell.

Teresa Banham is Ellen, Morse's partner, well at least for the night out at the theatre to see "Hamlet". It's almost like a University reunion as the Director Lawrence Baxter is also from the same Uni, but a year above Morse. Morse still has a thing for her, that's obvious, and there's a nice "will they, won't they" atmosphere between Morse and Ellen.

James Gladdon is Freddy, the Geordie hunk, who does a runner from the production after a call to his agent, but is that a well timed exit of has he something to hide?

Spin Glancy is Justin, this play within a play's Hamlet, who we see first on stage in his role as the Prince of Denmark. As soon as his Ophelia collapses on stage, coughing up blood, he completely loses it and goes into complete meltdown in his dressing room. Obviously the white powder he shoves up his nose isn't helping, but it's also obvious that there's something else troubling young Justin!

Robert Mountford doubles up as Lawrence Baxter, the Director of the play within the play, and Monsignor Paul Kincaid. Kincaid back in Uni seems to be a bit of a lad with the Uni ladies, but his choice of job as a man of the cloth is completely at odds for this lusty lothario, we discover a quarter of a century on.

Olivia Onyehara plays Harriet, Baxter's American wife. They have been trying for a baby and just as she gets the result that they have both (we assume) wanted, something happens to Lawrence..... you may guess what!

Charlotte Randall is Verity, the Uni lush, and things haven't changed much in the last 25 years, which is good news for Morse because, after a few drinks, she is ready to spill all the gossip from backstage and the habits of the actors.

Eliza Teale plays Rebecca, the actor who plays the role of Ophelia, who we have confirmed dies in the first scene, which leaves Eliza to become available for ensemble parts, along with Josh Katembela.

Directed by Anthony Banks, he ensured that the pace of the play matched what we'd have seen on a TV episode, and what I did like was the way that the scenes  were changed, which made the visuals episodic. keeping the pace right up there.

Written by Alma Cullen, who also worked on several of the television episodes. 

On a personal level, I'm not sure if it's the way the story was written or the Direction but it all seemed to unravel, as in what happened to Rebecca, very fast, in comparison to the actual story telling of the play. It just seemed to me as if an important lynch-pin was omitted and all of a sudden we were given what had happened, how Rebecca's demise occurred, the motive, and method, practically all in one sentence, and then it was the final bows and exit music.

It's always a big ask for any theatrical production to live up to a successful television show and character like Morse. Some I have seen have been successful, and then there are some like this one that just fell short of what I had expected. That said, if Morse's name had not been attached to the play, and was performed as a stand alone murder mystery, it may have worked better, for me anyway. It wouldn't have been the first time that the names had been changed to protect a successful franchise like Inspector Morse.

By the way, I didn't guess who did the dirty, or the reason(s).

"Inspector Morse House Of Ghosts" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 4 October.