Spider’s Web is one of Agatha Christie’s most absorbing thrillers and helps disprove claims that the majority of her characters are one-dimensional.

The skilful direction of Joe Harmston, who allows personalities to be developed fully by refusing to cut a script running almost two-and-a-quarter hours, is matched by a superb cast. The result is a delightful mixture of tension, suspense and comedy.

When Clarissa – brilliantly played by Melanie Gutteridge – discovers a dead body in her home, she tries to dispose of it before her Foreign Office diplomat husband returns with a government VIP guest. She brings in three friends to help her and provide her with a false alibi because she had a motive to kill the man.

Miss Gutteridge is given excellent support from the equally talented Bruce Montague, Dennis Lill, Catherine Shipton, Ben Nealon and Michael Gabe, who is an outstanding stand-in for the indisposed Mark Wynter.

The cast members provide an extra dimension by being animated even when others are speaking. Full marks also to designer Simon Scullion for his 1952-style set, which includes an antique desk with a secret drawer and a concealed cupboard opened by moving a book.