Susie Blake is the new Miss Marple in York Theatre Royal's The Mirror Crack'd

She last appeared there in February 2017 in the premiere of Murder, Margaret And Me, cast as Margaret Rutherford, such a memorable Miss Marple on the big screen, as recalled in a Philip Meeks drama that explored the relationship between the actress and queen of crime writers.

Now she stars in Rachel Wagstaff's new adaptation of Christie's 1962 novel The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side that aims to bring emotional depth and psychological insight to a story of secrets, loss and revenge, performing in a company with strong Yorkshire links. Co-stars Sophie Ward and Joe McFadden had regular roles in the moorland series Heartbeat, as did director Philip Franks.

"I've always wanted to play Miss Marple, since the 1960s when I saw Margaret Rutherford playing her," says Susie, who follows in the footsteps of Angela Lansbury in the 1980 film of The Mirror Crack'd and Joan Hickson and Julia McKenzie in television adaptations in 1992 and 2011 respectively. "That character performance immediately drew you in.

Susie Blake's Miss Marple in The Mirror Crack'd. Picture: Ali Wright

"I loved her Lady Bracknell in The Importance Of Being Earnest, her Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit. I loved her so much. I know she's not fashionable any more as Miss Marple but I was drawn in as a child, seeing her as this safe, cuddly lady who would work things out for you.

"I thought 'that's what I want to do with my life' to tell stories and be part of mysteries because every play is a mystery, isn't it?"

Playing Rutherford an actress famed for her Miss Marple in Murder, Margaret And Me has "not really" influenced Susie's own performance. "Philip, our director, said, 'This is your interpretation now, Susie, no-one else's'. Miss Marple is from a certain period. Her boyfriend, whom she talks about, was in the First World War. My mum was born in 1917, and she and her friends were, you know, 'good eggs'. They had a certain turn of phrase. So, I met some quite useful people growing up."

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Revisiting Christie's books has helped Susie to put her stamp on a beloved character. "I've been re-reading Pocketful of Rye and there are some very good descriptions of her in there. I go back to that rather than watching other people playing her to find out what makes Miss Marple tick.

"I'm absolutely loving re-reading the books. The people are so clearly drawn. Reading them all together, like I'm doing, you think: these are a multitude of people that she's observed. Agatha Christie is a Miss Marple herself in order to work these intricate stories through."

Asked to summarise Miss Marple's character, Susie says: "She's fascinated by people, she's obsessed with finding out the truth and she'll go on nitpicking until she gets it. She hates evil and injustice, and she hunts it down. She's relentless in her pursuit of the truth and will go on digging away and digging away.

"Rachel Wagstaff has written a very good script and she's made Miss Marple a much clearer character: someone who wants to find out the truth. Not in an unkind way but she will go on at somebody, go on delving until she gets what she wants.

"Rachel is a wonderful writer, like how she gives Miss Marple a bit of history, so you get to know why she's alone. This is her first Christie adaptation; she's very in with the family and I hope she does more of them."

In Christie's story, a wind of change is blowing through 1960s' England, even reaching the sleepy village of St Mary Mead, where a new housing estate is alarming the villagers as much as it intrigues them. Still more unsettling, a rich American film star has bought the manor house. Jane Marple, confined to a chair after an accident, is wondering if life has passed her by, but a shocking murder demands she must unravel a web of lies, danger and tragedy.

"Rachel's adaptation is not what you're expecting. It worried me at first: are people expecting an old-fashioned Agatha Christie repertory production? But it's not like that at all!" says Susie. "Philip has really brought out the characters, with 12 actors on stage. That's a lot to deal with and he's made them very likeable and individual and you kind of don't want any of them to have done the crime."

Susie's Miss Marple will spend much of The Mirror Crack'd walking on crutches. "She's sprained her ankle, right at the top of the show," she reveals. "I start in a chair, then crutches, then finally a stick. They're not easy to use, these old wooden crutches I think they might be museum pieces, beautifully shaped so I've had to learn how to use them. I must try not to limp because at my age [72] that could be disastrous. But being on crutches is a good ruse for slowing things down to allow her to work things out!"

"I've been very lucky that I haven't ever had a theatre injury," she adds. Keeping herself fit, during the tour's Eastbourne run, Susie went swimming in the sea each day, chatting with the regulars at the beach huts. Next week, she heads to York, sketch book by her side. "That way you get a good memory of a town," she reasons. As for the future, "I'd love to be the next Miss Marple on telly. Wouldn't that be nice?"

The Original Theatre Company in Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd, York Theatre Royal, October 4 to 8, 7.30pm; 2pm, Thursday and 2.30pm, Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

By Charles Hutchinson