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Gillian Rhys

The passengers are settled into their seats and the train is about to depart when a dapper, mustachioed young man dressed in tweeds hurries through the carriage.
“I don’t actually have a ticket, I’m looking for a compartment to hide in,” he announces, before disappearing through the mahogany doors to the next car. While we are left bemused in his wake, a pair of equally stylish women sashay through, murmuring between themselves about needing champagne.
Something sinister is afoot; not so much Murder on the Orient Express, more Murder on the British Pullman.
We’re on board the British Pullman in Victoria Station, London for A Moving Murder Mystery journey. The immersive theatrical performance called Dead On Time has been created specifically for the train by Private Drama Events.

Before even leaving the station we have been transported back to 1951. Not just because of the lavish vintage Pullman, owned by hospitality and leisure company Belmond, but a vivacious group are on board who have been enjoying the Battersea Pleasure Gardens at the Festival of Britain.
The real-life festival took place in the 1950s around the country and several of the British Pullman carriages were part of a luxury train that transported passengers to and from attractions. For the purposes of the plot, today, we are to believe that we’re travelling on a Pullman between festival locations.
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As we sip on champagne, the news breaks that one of the glamorous group has been found dead. Our task is to figure out which of their number is the killer over the next few hours, as the train travels from London via Canterbury to Dover and back, while lunch is served.
But before we tuck into Coronation guinea hen followed by asparagus soup and line-caught wild English sea bass, at each of our place settings, amid the bone china, silver cutlery and cut glass, sits a magazine. “Luxury LocoMotives” is packed with information about the characters/suspects and littered with clues.
As the train departs, passing Battersea’s park and power station, a hush descends as everyone pores over their copy with a concentration that editors of in-flight publications would envy.

I deduce that all the characters’ surnames correspond with the names of the British Pullman’s 10 carriages (each with between 20 and 26 seats), including Felicity Gwen, a formidable high-society hostess, Danny Zena, a flamboyant jazz musician, and Julie Ibis, a beguiling film star. We’re seated in Vera and its character namesake is Gordon Vera, a well-connected philanthropist.
All the train’s a stage as the actors flounce in and out of the carriages.
“I suggest you go to the lavatory in pairs,” Felicity Gwen advises us. “But no funny business.”

Without giving too much way, the production is cleverly conceived and the actors, all dashingly dressed and perfectly coiffed and made up, play their parts to perfection.
Each suspect conveys their version of events of the previous 24 hours, which may be vital clues or simply red herrings.
Sometimes their paths cross, which leads to slick interaction. We passengers are drawn into the drama as the actors address us directly, ask us questions and ad lib amusingly. Julie Ibis doesn’t miss a beat when she spots my husband taking her picture while she’s reading out a piece of evidence that has come to light – she poses dramatically, giving her best angle.

Throughout the performance, the Pullman stewards expertly serve a five-course lunch, replenish wine glasses and chat to the passengers. Our engaging steward, Patrick, tells us that Nelson Mandela and a young Prince Charles, now King Charles III, had travelled in our carriage – presumably without having to find a killer.
After dessert (coconut dacquoise with mango, passion fruit and pineapple cream), with an hour left to solve the murder, passengers are working through the evidence and discussing their theories. Some are involving fellow travellers across the aisle while others are happy just to sit back in their comfortable armchairs and enjoy the show.
In the style of Hercule Poirot, there’s a group denouement in each carriage to reveal the murderer as the train heads back into London. A young couple in our car who were the most diligent in questioning the suspects are rewarded for their super sleuthing with a prize.

As for who did it, we are all sworn to secrecy until the chief inspector can be informed.
Dead On Time, A Moving Murder Mystery on the British Pullman runs twice monthly (once in September) until the end of November.


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Murder mystery experience on British luxury train – cleverly conceived, perfectly acted, and with a delicious five-course lunch to boot

“Julie Ibis” in A Moving Murder Mystery, an experience onboard a luxury British Pullman train that travels from London to Dover and back. Photo: Private Drama Events / The Other Richard

A British Pullman train passes through Dover in Kent, England. Photo: Getty Images

“Danny Zena” in A Moving Murder Mystery. Photo: Private Drama Events / The Other Richard

“Felicity Gwen” in A Moving Murder Mystery. Photo: Private Drama Events / The Other Richard

All 10 suspects in A Moving Murder Mystery. Photo: Private Drama Events / The Other Richard

“Ivan Perseus” in A Moving Murder Mystery. Photo: Private Drama Events / The Other Richard

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Travel & Leisure

A Moving Murder Mystery journey sees guests on board a British Pullman try to uncover a murderer among a group ‘travelling to see the 1950s Festival of Britain’
The actors’ amusing ad libs and direct interactions with passengers draw participants in as the train travels from London’s Victoria station to Dover and back


A murder mystery experience on a luxury British Pullman train is cleverly conceived, perfectly acted and comes with a delicious five-course lunch to boot.


Britain

Luxury travel