THE world's longest running play, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, is back onstage at the Theatre Royal in Bath with four former members of the popular BBC TV soap Eastenders playing the main roles.

They are Todd Carty (Mark Fowler in Eastenders) as Major Metcalf, Kieran Brown as Mr Paravicini, Gwyneth Strong (Geraldine Clough in Eastenders) as Mrs Boyle and Joelle Dyson (Amber in Eastenders) as Mollie Ralston.

They are supported by newcomer Essie Barrow as Miss Casewell, Joseph Reed as Detective Sergeant Trotter, Laurence Pears as Giles Ralston, and understudy Jack Elliot deputising for Elliot Clay as Christopher Wren.

Whether the Eastenders connection managed to draw the large audience, I have no idea, but the cast performed to a packed house on Monday evening.

The classic murder mystery, which Christie thought would run for just a few months, was first staged in October 1952 at St Martin’s Theatre in London’s West End where the play continues to be performed 70 years on.

Directed by Ian Talbot and Denise Silvey, this touring production positively fizzes along at a fast pace, with plenty of action and a psychopathic killer on the loose in the Monkswell Manor guest house to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

As news spreads of a gruesome murder in London, a group of seven strangers find themselves snowed in at a remote countryside guesthouse.

When a police sergeant arrives, the guests discover – to their horror – that a killer is in their midst! One by one, the suspicious characters, in true Agatha Christie style, reveal their sordid pasts.

Now celebrating 70 years since its premiere, The Mousetrap is the longest running show in theatre history and remains popular despite the legacy of all those decades.

It has succeeded in keeping its audience in suspense and guessing the identity of the killer right until the very end.

Todd Carty successfully abandons his London Eastenders accent to become a suitably gruff and military Major Metcalf, while Gwyneth Strong gives a very sharp and sparky performance as the highly critical Mrs Boyle.

I also enjoyed the performances of Joelle Dyson and Laurence Pears as the hapless Monkswell Manor owners Mollie and Giles Ralston, dipping their toes into the guest house market for the first time, as well as the over-the-top exuberance of Jack Elliot as Christopher Wren.

But they were outclassed by Kieran Brown, standing in for John Altman, who stole every scene as Mr Paravicini. If he pursues his stage career in Agatha Christie murder mysteries, he could potentially become a very good Hercule Poirot.

The only performance that grated slightly on me was that of Joseph Reed as Detective Sgt Trotter. Too shouty and too excitable for my taste.

As usual, The Mousetrap’s request for the audience to keep The Mousetrap's ending a secret is still a long-running tradition so I am expressly forbidden to tell you whodunnit.

You can read the original Christie crime novel Three Blind Mice (not available in the UK) for the answer if you wish.

Personally, I’d go to watch the play, which has the Three Blind Mice nursery rhyme tune running through it to add to the suspense.

The Mousetrap is on at the Theatre Royal, Bath, to Saturday (November 26). Book a ticket if you can.