Craig McLachlan, triple threat, whips up a musical.

Minor Spoilers.

By day he’s been filming The Doctor Blake Mysteries, by night performing in The Rocky Horror Show -and somewhere in between it all, Craig McLachlan has managed to co-write a stage musical.

McLachlan remained tight-lipped on the secret project but he did tell TV Tonight, “It’s with some producers in the US who are very keen, rocking out to it on a daily basis and loving it. So it will have its debut overseas. But we will get it back here eventually.”

Legendary Rocky Horror creator Richard O’Brien also encouraged the project McLachlan developed with a co-star.

“It’s definitely more Book of Mormon and Rocky Horror end of things than The Sound of Music,” he said.

“It’s nuttier than a Scorched peanut bar.”

Meanwhile Dr. Blake fans are set for more whodunnit drama as the hit series returns to ABC next week.

On set, McLachlan was upbeat about both script and working with his fellow crew.

“Today is a particularly emotional day without giving anything away, but we’re just having a ball. All the familiar faces are here, beyond Nadine and I. All the crew are back, doesn’t that speak volumes? Everyone wants to be here,” he said.

“Remembering that for December Media and the ABC, there are gigs out there who would pay some of these fine people a little better. That’s just the reality of it. But they want to be here. That’s f***ing great. I love it. I just delight in this mob every day.”

The mix of period settings, whodunnits and chemistry between McLachlan and Nadine Garner has worked a charm. The show is ABC’s #1 local drama, together with international sales and now a fourth season.

“The murder mystery thing is fun –how can it not be? The procedural stuff is fun. But always, always, always for me it’s the human stuff -the stuff between Lucien and Jean. The fact that he gives a damn about people and the truth,” he explains.

“There’s even more of that this time around. George (Adams, creator) and the team have managed to crank it by a few more degrees.

“With S1 you just never know until it gets out there in the big wide world how it will go. You have a sense of ‘All for one and one for all.. let’s see if we can create some magic here.’ But how do you sustain it? We seem to be managing.

“Some of the scripts come in and we think ‘You’ll never get that shot in 18 days!’ But we do.
So I’m enjoying it as much, perhaps for different reasons, as I did when we first kicked off. Definitely.”

Season 4 kicks off with Jean Beazley (Nadine Garner) returning to Ballarat, ready to finally pursue romantic feelings with Lucien Blake. It picks up from a cliffhanger where the two were parting -possibly forever.

“One of her sons’ wife was pregnant and it looked (like) Lucien was typically so wrapped up in a case and getting to the bottom of it. But what the audience didn’t see was Lucien ran and jumped on the bus,” McLachlan recalls.

“The Ballarat locals who gathered to watch the scene very quickly pieced together what was going on. So when you have to do a second take because the locals have cheered because Blake has run down down the street and jumped on the bloody bus…. we thought we’re on the right track, here!

“God knows what would have happened to me if I hadn’t jumped on the bus as Dr. Blake!

“It was a great finish to the season.”

Joining this season is Anna McGahan and Rodger Corser, but McLachlan says while Nadine Garner is back as Jean there are still unanswered questions to keep fans guessing.

“It picks up with Lucien coming back before Jean –and audiences may interpret that as things not working out….

“But folks rest assured, everything is ok.

“There is a lovely scene where Lucien is in the house alone and the phone rings. Without thinking, before he hears another voice, he says ‘Jean?’

“So we let the audience think ‘Is she or isn’t she coming back?’ But we couldn’t do that to you folks, of course she’s coming back!

“But what happens once she gets back?”

The Doctor Blake Mysteries returns 8:30pm Friday February 5 on ABC.