TALK about being thrown in at the deep end.

You are a professional actor making your first ever appearance in your home city – give or take a few miles – and one of the leads has to withdraw from the run there.

If Marcus Taylor was nervous about the prospect of playing Major Courtney in The Ladykillers it certainly did not show at The Lowry.

For me it seemed like the Sale actor had been playing the archetypal English military man forever, displaying a flawless comic timing that can only be admired.

In fact that flawless comic timing is a hallmark of the entire production, with the whole cast evidently enjoying every minute of their time on stage. I enjoyed every minute of this highly watchable crime comedy.

Based on the Ealing comedy and adapted by Graham Linehen, the man behind TV classic Father Ted, the story revolves around a lovable old bat, Mrs Louisa Wilberforce (Michele Dotrice) who takes in five lodgers she believes are a musical quintet.

But this lot are more interested in bank notes rather than musical ones, and in reality they are planning a robbery.

While the gang are clandestine criminals, they are more likely to shoot themselves in the foot rather than cause serious harm.

The Ladykillers is not the Marcus Taylor Show though - all the cast are excellent, perfect for their roles, Dotrice is very good value as the lovable Louisa and I really enjoyed Chris McCalphy as the lumbering, gormless One-Round.

Fantastic, feel good fun and a real antidote to our seemingly never ending winter. It would be a crime to miss thi