The Colin Mcintyre Classic Thriller Season back at Theatre Royal, Nottingham

The Colin McIntyre Classic Thriller Season is back for a dose of madness, mystery and murder this August.

Now in its 37th season, the much-loved repertory season of psychological thrillers, detective mysteries and classic whodunnits, by Tabs Productions and Theatre Royal, Nottingham, opens on Tuesday, August 6 and runs until Saturday, August 31.

Karen Henson, co-producer for Tabs Productions, said: “We're delighted to be back at the beautiful Theatre Royal this summer. Travel back in time to the 1930's with Doctor Who's Nicholas Briggs, returning as the bumbling Inspector Pratt in Murdered to Death, and London’s swinging 70's for Fatal Encounter. Writer Ira Levin, author of Rosemary's Baby and Deathtrap, wings us over the pond for Veronica's Room. Finally, we land back in London in 1914 for The Mysterious Mr Love.

“Who needs a holiday when you can time travel with us?”

First in the line-up is Murdered To Death by Peter Gordon, on stage from August 6 to 10.

It’s a hilarious spoof in the best Agatha Christie tradition, with an assembled cast of characters guaranteed to delight: Bunting the butler, an English Colonel with the prerequisite stiff upper lip, a shady French art dealer, the high-class debutante, bumbling local inspectors and a well-meaning local sleuth who seems to attract murder.

They’re all here, and all caught up in the side-splitting antics which follow the mysterious death of the owner of a country manor house.

Will the murderer be unmasked before everyone else has met their doom, or will audiences die laughing first?

Next up is Fatal Encounter by Francis Durbridge, from August 13 to 17.

Howard, a well-known book publisher, is concerned for his wife, Joanna. Since returning from the country, she has become unusually distressed, nervous and mysterious.

When Howard arrives home to find Perry, a former friend, has been shot by Joanna in a struggle, the story takes a sinister turn. It soon becomes clear that no one can be entirely trusted.

Then from August 20 to 24, is Veronica’s Room by Ira Levin.

This totally absorbing spider’s web, entwining fantasy and reality, is by master thriller-writer Ira Levin, author of Rosemary’s Baby and Death Trap.

Susan, a young Boston college student, is persuaded by the McKays, housekeepers of the Brabisant mansion, to impersonate the dead Veronica, to solace their employer living in the past and believing Veronica to be alive and angry with her. Once dressed in Veronica’s clothes, events take a surprising turn of events.

Closing the season is The Mysterious Mr Love by Karoline Leach, which will be on stage from August 27 to 31.

He’s a dapper man; an aging roue, a self-described con man with a heart of gold — and the greatest con in the world, he says, is love.

She is self-effacing; strictly steerage type that no one notices. All she’s good for, she says, is making hats and eating biscuits.

This Edwardian psychological thriller offers an edge of romance, plenty of conniving, a dose of comedy and sharp suspense, as tense and as twisty as an Argentine tango.

The season is sponsored by Smooth Radio.