A FORMER Time Lord is helping transport audiences back a century and a half at Windsor's Theatre Royal this week.
Colin Baker, who played Doctor Who in the mid 1980s, even wears the sort of loud, eccentric clothes which wouldn't have looked out of place in the Tardis.
But this is a very different role - although dark and mysterious twists and turns abound in The Woman In White, a fascinating adaptation of Wilkie Collins' hugely-popular novel of 150 years ago, which is credited with firing a Victorian passion for sinister, murderous melodramas set in middle class England.
Lonely country lanes, dark corners of London and creepy graveyards are much in evidence, though mercifully there is no dry ice wafting around the stage at any point. Indeed, most of the action centres on the bright, spacious surroundings of comfortable Victorian drawing rooms, complete with the relevant trappings.
There are all the vital ingredients to make for a gripping night of theatre - eccentricity, love, anger, good and evil plus, of course, the heroes and villains. And without giving too much away, there's a happy ending which the Victorian readers of the original book would no doubt have demanded.
Colin Baker, known to a new generation of TV viewers from his appearance on I'm A Celebrity last year, is Count Fosco, friend of Sir Percival Glyde, played by Peter Amory, another familiar face, thanks to his long-running portrayal of nasty Chris Tate in Emmerdale.
Karen Ford, who was in Grange Hill for many years, is confident as housekeeper Mrs Michelson, while Nicola Weeks as Marian Holcombe, and Emily Woodward in the joint role of Anne Catherick and Laura Fairlie impress as the two half sisters at the centre of the story.
I was particularly impressed with the acting of Nick Rohan as hero Walter Hartright, and Glynn Sweet as legal expert Vincent Gilmore, who both had a strong presence on stage.
But everyone excelled, including Michael Garland as Frederick Fairlie, Richard Tate as Professor Pesco and supporting cast Melissa Thomas, Jonathan Elsmore and Paul Giddings.
If there are any criticisms to make it's only that some of the coincidences and occurrences in the plot do stretch credibility levels somewhat but the stage adaptation by Nicola Boyce, ensures that the absurdities Victorian readers were only too happy to accept are made tolerable, even gently amusing to modern day audiences without detracting from the dark and devious goings-on.
And don't get the impression that it is all doom and gloom for there are some genuine funny moments which have the audience laughing out loud.
This is a long play. It's in three acts and, including the two intervals, lasts the best part of three hours - something to bear in mind if you're relying on public transport to get home.
Despite the duration of the action, the time never seems to drag, due to a combination of some excellent acting and the breaking up of the action into quite short segments, with some scenes lasting just a matter of minutes.
The Theatre Royal is getting on in years and any restlessness among the audience is always easily detectable from the ever-growing creaks of the seating. This time there was hardly a squeak!
The Woman In White, produced and directed by Ian Dickens, is a wonderfully-atmospheric piece of theatre, crafted with skill by those on stage and behind the scenes. I doff my hat to them all.
The play is at The Theatre Royal until Saturday March 9. Contact the box office on 01753 853888 or www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk .
