"Murdered To Death" by Peter Gordon.

Tabs Productions.

Colin McIntyre's Classic Thriller Season.

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

This is the first of the Inspector Pratt trilogy of Agatha Christie style spoofs, performed by a troupe of my favourite actors.

Yes, it's that time of year again when Tabs Productions bring their rep style productions to the Nottingham Theatre Royal for four weeks of scintillating thrillers; each one very different from the previous week. This week is the comedy thriller.

The play introduces the inept and bungling Inspector Pratt, who battles against the odds and his own incompetence to solve the murder of the house’s owner. It soon becomes clear that the murderer isn’t finished yet; will the miscreant be unmasked before everyone else has met their doom or will the audience die laughing first?

The play is set in a country manor house in 1936, where Mildred, her niece Dorothy, and butler, Bunting, await the arrival of their guests. Once everyone has arrived and settled into the house, someone is murdered and a classic ‘whodunnit’ begins. With the murder comes the arrival of Inspector Pratt, an hilariously incompetent yet stubborn detective, and Constable Thomkins, the much more level-headed of the duo. And of course, one cannot forget Joan Maple, who counts herself ‘unlucky’ for the fact that whenever she goes anywhere, murder always seems to follow her. almost reminds you of Agatha Christie’s iconic Miss Marple, don't you think? 

The script for this play is so well written and packed with so many spoonerisms and comedy lines that your ears need to have their brakes removed to be able to catch every single comic line.

When a group of actors perform together with the regularity that these actors do, you get a feeling of instant chemistry, and that's because the chemistry is with this lot on and off stage and know each other so well that acting with each other is like popping round to see a family member; it's loving and natural. And when you come to comedy, that is so very important, which is what makes a play like this so incredibly enjoyable.

The actors are like your favourite ingredients of your favourite cake. When all the ingredients are in place the taste is superb and you relish every mouthful.

Every actor, in this play, brings a lovely exaggeration of a character, taking the characteristics just over the top enough without making them unbelievable.

Susan Earnshaw plays Mildred Bagshot, the wealthy owner of Bagshot House, who has invited friends over for a get together and a meal. Susan is one of those actors who does not have to try too hard to be funny. It's not too long before we discover that Mildred has a secret that she is not willing to give up on, but how far is she willing to go to get what, or who she wants?

Juliette Strobel is Dorothy, the niece. We soon discover that there's a certain negative feeling between the niece and Elizabeth Hartley Trumpington, and it doesn't just run to the pair's fashion choices.

David Gilbrook is Bunting The Butler. This is a brilliant physical comedy role, and there's no one better to play this role than David. Buntings' liking for sherry becomes obvious and the effect that this tipple has on his ability to carry out his duties as retainer becomes apparent, making an already comical character into an even more funnier character.

Colonel Charles Craddock is played by Jeremy Lloyd Thomas. Over the years, and the more you see productions by Tabs, the more you recognise the kind of character that the individual actors suit best. Like David, Jeremy slots so comfortably into the given character, like slipping on a favourite pair of slippers. The Colonel is in his sixties, dresses in tweeds and is very confident in an ex army kind of way.

Margaret Craddock, the long suffering "old girl" of a wife is played by Sarah Wynne Kordas. Sarah is one of those actors, I've found is completely chameleonic and you have to really look hard to identify her due to the wigs and costume completely turn Sarah into an almost unrecognisable other character. Margaret Craddock is very sharp with her speech, but is also very sharp with what she knows, and what she knows could either be the making of the character or their downfall.

Hannah Blaikie plays Elizabeth Hartley Trumpington; what a mighty fine name that is as well. A lady belonging to high society, but is there something that this woman is not showing to her fellow guests?

David Osmond is Pierre Marceau. David is a name that will be well known to the Thriller Season audiences, and this time around brings a French accent along with his character. An art dealer in his early thirties, well dressed and has provided Mildred with the art shown in her sitting room. But is that accent just a little too "French"? Sacre bleu! And are those works of art as counterfeit as the accent? Mon dieu!

Karen Henson is Joan Maple. Maple is an amateur sleuth but everywhere she turns up, she seems to attract death and murder, well I suppose that is good for an amateur sleuth, just not very good for the people who she comes into contact with. Karen is a brilliant character actor, as are all of these cast members, and slips into character superbly.

Constable Thompkins is played by Pavan Maru. Poor Thompkins has to put up with the physical bunglings as well as the verbal bunglings - is there such a word as "bunglings" I wonder? - of his superior, in rank only, of Inspector Pratt. There's a comparison of intelligence with Thompkins and Pratt to Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes. Does Thompkins get the recognition he deserves though?

Nicholas Briggs revives his role as Inspector Pratt, the role he played at the Nottingham Theatre Royal back in 2012. Pratt has so many spoonerisms to deliver, and at such pace, does he even get one of the names of the characters correct throughout? There are lovely echoes of the physicality of Basil Fawlty with Pratt, and the verbal acrobatics of linguists like Kenneth Williams and Ronnie Barker in the delivery of this brilliantly funny script.

Directed by John Goodrum, this fast paced comedy manages to keep the final revelations, and twist to the very end. Shooting people has never been made as much fun as in this play.

Conal Walsh's set design is beautiful, just look at the photos. The style is class and the props are so well matched with the era of the design and costumes.

Lighting Design is by Michael Donoghue and Sound Design is by David Gilbrook. Just everything about Tabs Productions is perfect and that includes the sound and light design and operation.

Geoff Gilder has designed the costumes which are perfect for every character. You instantly get an idea of the character and who they are just by looking at the clothes that they wear.

Every box that you can imagine in the world of theatre is ticked in this production. The script is one of the cleverest and funny, the comedy is in abundance and the actors know exactly how to deliver what is needed, character and delivery wise to make a play perfect.

Oh, and even though you see who pulls the trigger, don't believe every thing that you see on stage!

This first of four plays in the 2024 Classic Thriller Season, "Murdered To Death" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 10 August.