Writer Kevin Elyot’s (Forty Winks, Mouth to Mouth) new version, based on Christie’s novel, was originally booking until Feb. 26 but will now close three months after the first preview on Oct. 14. The show opened Oct. 25, 2005.

The thriller’s original title of “Ten Little Niggers” was later changed to the slightly less offensive “Ten Little Indians”.

In Steven Pimlott’s production, And Then There Were None stays loyal to Christie’s original vision, with the action set in 1939 in an island mansion to which ten guests have been mysteriously invited.

The cast includes Graham Cowden, Tara Fitzgerald, Richard Johnson and Gemma Jones.

And Then There Were None represented an effort to update the world’s most published novelist for modern audiences. There is even talk of a computer game version of the thriller to be launched in the spring. But speculation that Pimlott’s production might add a second long-running Christie thriller to the capital’s theatrical landscape has been proved wrong.

As And Then There Were None fails to reach its original booking period, the long-running The Mousetrap at St Martin’s Theatre continues into its 53rd year.

Further productions at the Gielgud have yet to be announced.