Not long before his death John Buchan saw Alfred Hitchcock's film version of his novel The Thirty-Nine Steps, and pronounced it a better story than his own, writes David Bellan.

What 'Hitch' had understood is that what makes a good book does not necessarily make a good film. So he had taken what he needed a stalwart hero and a succession of bizarre characters and gone his own way.

In their adaptation for the stage, Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon clearly came to the same conclusion. While probably more faithful to the book than Hitchcock's or indeed the other two films of the book their version contains elements of all of them.

A questionable change, though, is presenting the whole thing as a comedy which gradually moves into pure farce and even into the realms of panto in the form of Kern Falconer's outrageous Scottish landlady, and with exchanges like "Watch my rowlocks!", "Shut up you Volga boatman!"

So what we get might have surprised John Buchan, but judged in its own right it is an enjoyable fast-paced send-up of the story.

A cast of only three supporting actors, Kern Falconer, George Sewell and Catherine Rabett, present a kaleidoscope of characters from variety performers to one-eyed spies, detectives and gutsy heroines.

As the hero Richard Hannay, Simon Williams has just the right air of bemused determination. He is the idle toff who, when up against it, discovers in himself an unsuspected resourcefulness.

There is a wonderful scene in which the fleeing Hannay blunders into an election meeting and finds himself making a speech in support of a candidate whose name he doesn't even know.

We follow him across Scotland, enviably handcuffed for much of the time to Ms Rabett, Prince Andrew's one-time flame. He jumps off trains, climbs bridges, crash-lands aeroplanes, is assaulted by puppet dogs and eventually unveils the secret of the thirty-nine steps.

Sadly, as we know, his efforts were not quite enough to avert war but he certainly gets full marks for trying!

Perhaps by the end the comedy has become a little too broad, but there's no denying that this production was getting the laughs.