John Buchan's The 39 steps

This is Patrick Barlow's Olivier Award winning stage adaptation, based on John Buchan's gripping whodunit - memorably filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935 - is now in its fourth year at the Criterion Theatre in the West End.

Nothing has been cut from this hilarious version of Britain's most spell-binding thriller - legendary scenes include the chase on the Flying Scotsman, the escape on the Forth Bridge, the first theatrical bi-plane crash ever staged and the death-defying (or nearly!) finale at the London Palladium!

With four actors playing a minimum of one hundred and thirty-nine roles, it's the most astonishing theatrical tour de force of the year.