The iconic character of Roy Grace returns this May in the new stage adaptation of Picture You Dead, the tour in Milton Keynes from Tue 6 – Sat 10 May.

The brand new stage production, Picture You Dead, which is adapted from the bestselling novel of the UK's number one crime writer Peter James, is embarking on a major UK Tour!

Simon Spoke to George Rainsford playing DSI Grace

Lucy reviews the show

Art crime based stories are always ones I find clever and interesting to hear. The well-known tv soap actors that make up the cast of this performance did a good job of giving the audience another version of the much loved character DSI Grace, and gave life to a plot that will be entirely new to some.

While it wasn’t entirely what I was expecting, DSI Grace felt familiar in his own way. Having never read any of the Grace novels, my experience is solely with the TV show. This play felt as though it was more faithful to the pace and construction of a novel than an adaptation of the Grace TV show. 

The story was clever, and fun to follow, with a smattering of well placed humour that had the audience laughing aloud. The characters felt well-played, though I struggled to find the “bad guy” roles intimidating - however, it’s unclear to me if that was related to the choices made by the actors or due to the source material (as I haven’t read any of James’ work, and don’t know his style of characters).

The cast used the stage well, and the set design was excellent and effective. Despite a couple of moments of stiffness in the moving parts of the set, the performance felt smooth and cleverly weaved among the different sections of the stage. 

This production features a multi-star cast, including 2024 National Television Award-winning actor, Peter Ash, who returns to the stage following his acclaimed and unforgettably emotional exit from Coronation Street in September. Peter’s other numerous credits include Footballers’ Wives and the lead role in the National Theatre’s War Horse. Joining Peter is Fiona Wade who, following 11 years in Emmerdale, took to the stage earlier this year in the hit 2:22 A Ghost Story and she will soon be seen in the highly anticipated Fox comedy series, Going Dutch. West End favourite Jodie Steele (Bonnie & Clyde, Wicked, Heathers, SIX) will star as Roberta Kilgore and one of the nation’s favourite TV doctors, George Rainsford, (Casualty, Call the Midwife and All’s Well That Ends Well at the National Theatre), will return to reprise the role of Peter James’ famous literary detective, DSI Roy Grace, which he played in the 2023 hit production of Wish You Were Dead. George will also reunite with Fiona, who he starred alongside in 2:22 A Ghost Story.

The World Premiere of Picture You Dead is the seventh Peter James book to be adapted for the stage by award-winning writer Shaun McKenna and is directed by Jonathan O’Boyle who has previously directed two Peter James stage adaptations, Wish You Were Dead (2023) and Looking Good Dead (2021-2022).

Peter James said: “It is truly incredible for me to see the seventh stage adaptation of my books coming to theatres in 2025. I am so grateful to the hundreds of thousands of people around the country who have come to their local theatre and enjoyed the plays over the last 10 years, and I am thrilled to tell you all that personally, I think this brand new play, is the best one so far! On top of that, I could not be more delighted by the fantastic cast that we have assembled to star in the World Premiere production of Picture You Dead – they are all brilliant actors and it’s going to be a great and thrilling night at the theatre!”

The story of Picture You Dead was inspired by Peter’s meeting with real-life art forger and now acclaimed copyist, David Henty: set in Brighton, DSI Grace investigates a cold case that leads him to the rarified air of fine art, but beneath the respectable veneer lurks a dark underworld of greed, deception and murder. When an unsuspecting couple unwittingly buy a potentially long-lost masterpiece in a car boot sale, they discover that their dream find is about to turn into their worst nightmare and only Grace can stop them from paying the ultimate price.

Roy Grace is a crime fiction phenomenon - the books have sold over 23 million copies worldwide, been previously adapted for six hugely successful stage productions, and transformed into ITV's critically acclaimed primetime drama about the Brighton-based detective, GRACE.  Season four of the crime series was another ratings smash-hit, with season five currently in production. And earlier this year, GRACE was declared by Her Majesty Queen Camilla herself, as her favourite literary detective!

Peter James has 20 Sunday Times number-one bestselling crime novels to his name. The world premiere tour of Picture You Dead marks the latest and seventh thrilling theatre adaptation of his books and is once again produced by Joshua Andrews and Peter James cementing the adaptations of James’ Grace books, as the most successful modern-day crime franchise on stage, since Agatha Christie.

Book your tickets now at ATGTICKETS.COM/MiltonKeynes