Poor old Sherlock Holmes. The one and only self-styled consulting detective comes home to roost in David Stuart Davies’ hour-long concoction that looks at what is effectively Holmes’ last trip... in more ways than one. It’s 1916, and Holmes returns to the rooms in Baker Street he once shared with Dr Watson. Holmes has just been to Watson’s funeral, and all he has left now are old war stories he regales to the thin air where he conjures up the spirits of Moriarty, Inspector Lestrade and a cast of many. Originally written for the late Roger Llewellyn, Holmes is resurrected in Gareth Armstrong’s gothic looking production by Nigel Miles-Thomas, who brings a steely and gimlet-eyed presence to Holmes.

While Davies’ script has enough familiar yarns to keep Sherlockians happy, it goes beyond a greatest-hits set to bring some of his personal frailties to the fore as he attempts to numb the roar of the modern world. This is brought to fevered life with a low-key intensity that sees Davies, Armstrong and Miles-Thomas tap into the complexities of Arthur Conan Doyle’s hero with unsentimental insight in a welcome addition to the ever-expanding Holmes universe. 
Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act, Assembly Rooms, until 24 August, 2.30pm.