There cannot be anyone of a certain age who does not remember the Inspector Morse TV series set in and around the beautiful city of Oxford and its world renowned university. The iconic John Thaw, who took the title role made the character his own with his unique and inimitable style ably assisted by Lewis, his ever faithful Detective Sergeant.

Written by the late Alma Cullen, this latest reincarnation of Inspector Morse has everything that a fan of ‘whodunits’ need for a great evenings entertainment. A murder (or two), twists and turns a plenty and a whole shoal of red herrings thrown out along the winding way to the solving of the murder.

Tom Chambers, of Holby City, the 2011 Top Hat musical and an early winner of Strictly Come Dancing fame, takes the role of Inspector Morse. We should remember that he does have previous playing a Detective, as he was luckless Inspector Edgar Sullivan in the Father Brown tv series. Chambers has gone to great lengths to study Thaw’s portrayal of the character and he imitates many of his mannerisms, right down to body language and speech patterns, while simultaneously managing to make Morse his own for a couple of hours.

Set in 1987, the audience are immediately drawn into the crime scene as the entire theatre is lit as a character dies on stage. As luck would have it there happens to be an off duty detective in the audience, a perfect cue for Barrington Pheloung’s iconic musical Morse theme.

The plot is intricate but Morse ably assisted by his side kick Lewis (Tachia Newall) make a great double act, serving up self-aware asides that enhance the overall script. “There are a lot of people lying,” says one to the other after an initial interrogation of suspects. “There are a lot of people acting,” says the other. There are cynical references, too, of the possibility that one day telephones might be portable, and that computers might somehow be linked.

There are plenty of suspects, ranging from Robert Mountford’s domineering director Lawrence Baxter and his American wife Harriet (Olivia Onyehara) to Morse’s long lost love Ellen Underwood (Teresa Banham) and fading star Verity Carr (Charlotte Randle). All the characters, including Morse were at university together back in the day and to solve the crime, Morse is compelled to delve into his own past memories of those days to solve the clues and discover the murderer.

The set is functional leaving the actors to move props and scenery around the stage area as required.

The evening whizzed by and the case was soon cracked leaving Morse and Lewis to muse over their conclusions over a crossword and a half of real ale in Morse’s favourite pub The Crown.

It was a full house tonight and an appreciative audience but being honest, the subject matter was not really my cup of tea as nothing, for me, can detract from the original TV series.

Lyceum Theatre Sheffield Until 1st November