Hampstead murder mystery Witness for the Prosecution marks five years

Agatha Christie was persuaded to adapt her 1925 short story following the success of The Mousetrap in 1952.

Her original tale of wealthy middle-aged Emily French, clubbed to death in her Hampstead home, wasn't primarily a courtroom thriller. But Christie, who spent the war years in her Hampstead flat in Lawn Road, turned it into a twisty two-hour Old Bailey-set drama which debuted in 1953.

Witness for the Prosecution at the County Hall (Image: www.elliekurttz.com The entire copyright in the Photographs is retained by the Photographer at all times throughout the world. A)

The latest cast features a commanding turn by Dugald Bruce-Lockhart as the barrister determined to get Emily's young friend Leonard Vole acquitted. Harry Reid is by turns terrified, heartbroken and naive as the accused man, while Naomi Sheldon is his cryptic, cold "foreign" wife Romaine who becomes the titular witness.

Naomi Sheldon as Romaine in Witness for the Prosecution at the County Hall , London (Image: www.elliekurttz.com The entire copyright in the Photographs is retained by the Photographer at all times throughout the world. A)

Staged in marbled, period surroundings, Lucy Bailey's well-paced production blends humorous courtroom exchanges with unsettling moments, as the audience decide whether Vole left Hampstead at 9pm to walk back to Somers Town, or was the last to see Emily alive.

Outsold only by The Bible and Shakespeare, the Queen of crime has dominated the genre in the century since her first hit. With the recent success of Knives Out and See How They Run, and enduring phenomenon of The Mousetrap - Witness looks set to run and run.

Harry Reid as Leonard in Witness for the Prosecution at the County Hall , London (Image: www.elliekurttz.com The entire copyright in the Photographs is retained by the Photographer at all times throughout the world. A)

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