Peter James Picture You Dead UK Tour - Review

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Tue 25 Mar 2025 - Sat 26 Jul 2025

With twists galore, prolific crime writer Peter James' plays featuring detective Roy Grace have become popular theatre tours. He's the modern-day Agatha Christie with fans including Queen Camilla, so, I wasn't surprised to see an almost full auditorium on opening night at Malvern Theatres.

The UK tour of this new show, Picture You Dead, runs at Malvern Theatres until Saturday March 29. It then moves on to venues from Salford Lowry to Birmingham's The Alexandra , Cheltenham Everyman and many more listed below.

It's a pretty jovial start that may fool you into thinking James has moved into cosy crime instead of his usual brutal storylines around Brighton. No need to fear; he hasn't lost his killer instinct.

There's less focus on DS Grace's personal life in this one, but instead, the human drama revolves around a likeable couple, Harry and Freya Kipling. The pair have ended up finding a long-lost art treasure at a car boot sale, which unwittingly opens them up to the attention of unscrupulous art lovers.



They are played by EastEnders' Ben Cutler and Emmerdale actress Fiona Wade, shown above, and just two of the many well-known faces from TV in this stage adaptation.

The clever set designs in James' plays are known for overlapping each other to show various characters' lives. Something that's worked so well, it's back again in this caper. We get to know Harry and Freya in their bijou living room, while nearby, art lines the walls in a grand house hiding secret masterpieces, and there's a paint spattered workshop.

There's plenty of wit in this latest installment, especially as the couple end up on Antiques Roadshow for a hilarious scene with presenter Oliver De Souza, pictured above. Adam Morris plays him beautifully in a Bargain Hunt meets Antiques Roadshow caricature kind of way.

Yet, although there's gentle comedy, there's a heavy dose of violence too that may make some squeamish. There was one audible gasp from the audience in Malvern at a particularly bloody moment.



Among the suspects is the formidably chilling Roberta Kilgore. James has created some wonderful female characters in the past, and she is another. Experienced stage star Jodie Steele has cut her teeth in shows from SIX to Wicked and plays Roberta with panache, stealing every scene she's in. Then there's theatre stalwart Nicholas Maude, who seems to relish in being sinister and wild-eyed as crazed art fanatic Stuart Piper. Their scenes together are a devilish delight, as pictured above.

Most intriguing of all is cheeky ex-con Dave Hegarty, played by Coronation Street's Peter Ash, pictured below with George Rainsford as Grace. Hegarty is a former passport forger who now paints copies of legitimate masterpieces after getting out of prison.

James based this character on real-life art forger David Henty, who learned how to copy paintings after doing art classes while behind bars. You can tell how involved James was in his research as there's so much depth to Hegarty's character.

There's also so many twists and red herrings along the way that you can't help but keep changing your mind over whether to trust him or not.



With so many fascinating characters in Picture You Dead, it's no wonder that DSI Grace merges into the background a little. He's following up on an old murder case linked to stolen art, but the suspects' lives grab more of the attention this time around.

George Rainsford, of Casualty and Call the Midwife fame, is back playing Grace on stage after starring in a previous UK tour of Wish You Were Dead and he fits the role well enough. He's less brooding than Jon Simm's approach in the ITV version Grace, giving the detective a lighter, friendlier tone.

The time flies by, and the plot is packed with surprises. It may not be as hard-hitting and grim as James' previous mysteries, but it puts plenty of suspects in the frame. Picture You Dead is a thoroughly satisfying, entertaining thriller that will feel picture-perfect to James's die-hard fans.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars


Picture You Dead UK Tour Dates

See more information and how to book tickets at the UK tour website here .

25 March – 29 March 2025
Malvern Festival Theatre

1 April – 5 April 2025
Norwich Theatre Royal

16 April – 19 April 2025
Salford The Lowry

29 April – 3 May 2025
Shrewsbury Theatre Severn

6 May – 10 May 2025
Milton Keynes Theatre

13 May – 17 May 2025
Newcastle Theatre Royal

20 May – 24 May 2025
New Brighton Floral Pavilion

27 May – 31 May 2025
Cheltenham Everyman Theatre

3 June – 7 June 2025
Sheffield Lyceum

10 June – 14 June 2025
Glasgow Theatre Royal

17 June – 21 June 2025
Bath Theatre Royal

24 June – 28 June 2025
Birmingham Alexandra Theatre

1 July – 5 July 2025
Truro Hall for Cornwall

8 July – 12 July 2025
Bradford Alhambra Theatre

15 July – 19 July 2025
Worthing Connaught Theatre

22 July – 26 July 2025
Southend Palace theatre

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