Having made its debut some 70 years ago, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is the ‘world’s longest-running play’ with a continued capacity to put bums on seats. It’s touring version makes a welcome return to the Midlands this month with former Grange Hill and Eastender actor, Todd Carty, starring alongside Gwyneth Strong (Cassandra in Only Fools And Horses) and Eastender’s baddie, John Altman. What’s On recently caught up with Todd to chat about his current role - and more...

What attracted you to The Mousetrap, Todd?
I saw it about 40 years ago, when I was a much younger man. I remembered it being such a great play, and I’ve always been an Agatha Christie fan, having first gotten hooked on her storytelling by seeing the Margaret Rutherford/Miss Marple films on TV. Now here I am 40 years later playing Major Metcalf in the UK & Ireland tour. It’s fantastic.
 
How would you describe Major Metcalf and his role in the story?
He’s a retired Army major and one of the guests in a guesthouse in the countryside. All of the characters have a secret and a mysterious background that audiences can’t quite put a finger on. The audience becomes the detective, trying to work out who’s up to no good and who isn’t, along with the real detective on stage. Major Metcalf appears to be a typical ex-Army guy. He enjoys the odd drop of brandy in the evening and maybe the odd drop of Scotch at lunch. On the face of it, he seems to want to help people, but every now and then the characters in the play disappear and we don’t know what they’re up to, Major Metcalf included.
 
The show is celebrating its 70th anniversary. How do you account for its longevity?
I honestly don’t know. We’re opening at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, where it premiered back in 1952 before a short tour and then moving to the West End, where it continues to play. I think basically we all like a whodunnit because we’re all amateur detectives; we’re all modern-day Columbos. I’ve been to see the show again recently, and in the audience there are kids of 13 right up to grandmas and granddads, all going ‘He did it’ or ‘No, it was her or him.’ When I first saw it, I couldn’t quite work it out myself, but it’s great fun trying to figure out who the killer is.

You came to fame in Grange Hill. What are your memories of that time?
Not to give my age away, I’d been acting since I was four. I loved doing all those adverts when I first started out, but Grange Hill changed my whole life. One day I was happily going to school, the next day I was Tucker Jenkins. The day before it first aired in 1978, nobody on the tube knew who I was, then the next day it was ‘Bang!’. Anonymity was a thing of the past.
 
What have been your favourite jobs over the years?
I loved doing EastEnders and The Bill. I also did five years on and off playing Patsy in Spamalot, and that was brilliant. I’d sing Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life every night and there’d be seven and eight-year-olds singing along, Mum and Dad singing it, Granny and Granddad, and they all knew the words.
 
What do you most enjoy about doing stage work?
It sounds obvious and clichéd but it’s the audience. When you’re doing a panto and all the kids are getting involved and shouting back, going ‘Oh yes he did!’ and ‘Oh no he didn’t!’, it’s a great feeling. Plays are different, but the audience is listening to every word, and with The Mousetrap they’re thinking ‘Ooh, I thought it was so and so.’ I love live theatre, and it’s especially pleasing now, after the pandemic, when people who work in theatre had a really tough time. It’s great being around other actors and crew members again. I can’t tell you how much it warms our hearts to be back in front of an audience.
 
What are you most looking forward to about taking the show around the country?
Just the different reactions from different audiences. They always vary depending on where you are in the country, and every night is different, with different reactions to different parts of the show. There’s a real appetite now for seeing good shows and supporting theatre. A lot of the people coming along will be Agatha Christie fans, but they also tend to bring family members and friends with them, saying ‘You’ve got to come and see this.’ That means a whole new audience is introduced to the show, as well as existing fans. As for the cast and crew, we’ve been really happy during rehearsals, and I’m sure we’ll be just as happy when we’re on the road.

The Mousetrap shows at The Alexandra, Birmingham, from Mon 31 October - Sat 5 November; Malvern Theatre, Worcestershire, from Mon 30 January -  Sat 4 February; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, from Mon 13 - Sat 18 February; Lichfield Garrick, from Mon 27 March - Sat 1 April and Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Mon 3 - Sat 8 April