Thankfully, he recovered quickly ... and this week he's giving audiences a few frights in The Business of Murder, at the Connaught Theatre.

He plays Superintendent Hallett in Richard Harris' consistently compelling thriller, which runs until May 17.

Todd - Gabriel Kent in The Bill - arrives at a flat belonging to Stone (Nick Waring), who asks him to investigate his son's drug dealings.

There's some early comic touches which go down well with the audience but the story-line swiftly takes us down a blind alley, which makes for a slightly slowish, if edgy, start.

But the pace picks up as the story chages direction with the arrival of a successful TV writer, Dee, played by Jacqueline Roberts.

She has been sent a script which Stone's "wife" has supposedly written but suspicion is aroused when his partner fails to appear.

The "guessing game" then hits top gear when Hallett returns and we discover the detective has been having an affair with her.

To reveal anything further would spoil it for anyone thinking of seeing the play... but rest assured, there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you on your toes throughout.

And I defy even the most hardened whodunnit expert to guess the final twist of the knife which brings proceedings to a close.

The fact The Business of Murder has run in London for eight years tells its own story really, and is testimony to the powerful story-line.

But it takes a fine cast to pull it off - and here, this Ian Dickens production is especially fortunate.

Todd Carty is impressive as a Sweeney-style copper prepared to break a few rules in "getting his man" and Jacqueline Roberts is extremely convincing as the play-within-a-play writer.

But pride of place has to go to Nick Waring - echoes of Matt Damon in The Talented Mr Ripley here, I thought - whose sinister side gradually emerges and helps drive the story along.
T
he three-room, five-door set makes for a cramped set at times, but that minor point aside, this is a genuine "five-star" whodunnit that has you guessing all the way.

Tickets from the box office on 01903 206206.

-------------------------------------
Click here to go back to leisure.

Where are you? Add your pin to the Herald's international readers' map by clicking here.

Email the Herald: letters@worthingherald.co.uk