THE original production of The Ghost Train was, apparently, tipped to close in its first week. Ninety years later, the play is still going strong.

Set in the drab waiting room of a remote railway station, it is a comedy mystery following a collection of characters who find themselves stranded late at night after they miss their connection. There, they hear about the local legend of a ghost train that brings death in the night.

Jeffrey Holland is excellent as the uncooperative station master, billed at the top of a fine cast including Corrinne Wicks (given too small a role), Tom Butcher, Sophie Powles and David Janson.

Every twist and every shock moment is perfectly judged in Patric Kearns’ production. This is a play in which the slamming of a door or window on designer Geoff Gilder’s set has the power to make the audience start.

Arnold Ridley’s play was an enormous hit first time around – some 40 years before its author would find a new fame as Private Godfrey in Dad’s Army. It was filmed three times over a few years, most famously with Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch, and it’s easy to see why it was so popular. It is cosy, gently spooky, entertainment, with more than its share of funny dialogue, not least from an excellent Tom Butcher as the Bertie Wooster-style dandy.

On a night when the real world was all rain and election, this expertly played production was perfect escapist entertainment.