In Farewell, My Lovely Marlowe (Toby Stephens) seems to me more than usually at risk of being beaten up, something makes us wonder why he chooses to remain a private detective. Maybe it’s because of the memorable people he encounters, such as Moose Malloy (Richard Ridings), in search of his beloved Velma (Claire Harry), who now lives under the name of Ann Riordan and who turns Moose in to the police.

In Mary Peate’s production, it seemed that Marlowe was in control of his destiny, as he recounted past events, while commenting sardonically on them through asides. Although he did not appear to learn from experiences (if he did, he might not have continued working on Moose’s behalf), he could reflect on them; and perhaps console himself with a bottle of bourbon. However this control was nothing more than an illusion: we understood that fate was actually in charge of Marlowe, as he was inadvertently propelled into a series of ticklish encounters, from which he only just emerged intact. Perhaps Marlowe understood this by the end of the adaptation, as his tone grew more and more cynical. In the crime-ridden Los Angeles of the 1930s, where everyone seemed to be out for themselves and where qualities such as community, friendship and loyalty no longer existed, it seemed inevitable that fate would control human beings, rather than the other way round.