HERCULE Poirot exercises his little grey cells in Skipton Players’ latest stage production.

The amateur actors are presenting Agatha Christie’s classic whodunnit The Hollow at Skipton Little Theatre near Tesco supermarket.

The Hollow was first published in 1946 and is described as a fine example of the ‘country house mystery’.

During her career Agatha Christie used her eight houses as settings for her novels.

But The Hollow, with its pool and paths, was set in the house of film and stage actor Francis L Sullivan, who portrayed Hercule Poirot in the plays Black Coffee, Peril at End House and The Witness for the Prosecution.

Christie’s original novel begins when Dr John Christow allows his daughter to tell his fortune with cards, and the death card is drawn.

The doctor plays no attention, until the appearance of an old flame at The Hollow, where they are spending the weekend with friends.

A Skipton Players spokesman said: “An unhappy game of romantic follow-the-leader explodes into murder one weekend at The Hollow, home of Sir Henry and Lucy Angkatell, arguably Christie’s finest comic grande dame.

“Dr. Cristow, the Harley Street lothario, is at the centre of the trouble when, assembled in one place, we find his dull but devoted wife Gerda and his mistress.”

Visit skiptonlittletheatre.org.uk to book tickets.