Jason Durr to Star as Poirot in BLACK COFFEE Tour

Heartbeat's Jason Durr stars as Agatha Christie character, Hercule Poirot, in Black Coffee at New Victoria Theatre, starting August 14. Joining Durr is Harry Potter actress Georgina Leonidas, Not Going Out's Deborah Grand, and Coronation Street's Oliver Mellor, Peak Practice's Gary Mavers, and Soldier Soldier's Ben Nealon.

Few actors come with sleuthing skills as sharp as Jason Durr who continues his celebrated run as the diminutive detective Hercule Poirot in the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie's, espionage classic Black Coffee this autumn. As the Belgian investigator, Jason is now set to get his "little grey cells" working in the celebrated crime collective's latest production which re-opens at New Victoria Theatre, Woking on August 14th.

Having recently appeared on UK stages in the title role of Sherlock Holmes: The Best Kept Secret, Jason Durr's previous detective training saw him emerge as a household name following starring roles in hit television series such as Lewis (ITV); Midsomer Murders (ITV) Miss Marple: The Blue Geranium (ITV); Inspector Morse (ITV); The Chief (ITV) and, of course, Heartbeat (ITV) where he consolidated his heartthrob status playing the role of PC Mike Bradley for six years.

Jason is joined by Georgina Leonidas who shot to international fame playing the cursed Katie Bell in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1&2. Prior to this, film and stage credits included Wizards Vs Aliens and Father Brown for TV and Little Cosette in LES MISERABLES. With her number of credits climbing, it would seem that Georgina is certainly one to watch for the future. Bill Kenwright is delighted to have her joining the cast of this delectable thriller.

Joining them is Deborah Grant who has starred in numerous television shows including Not Going Out, Peak Practice and Bergerac and Oliver Mellor, who for 4 years played Dr. Matt Carter in Coronation Street, before appearing as beloved vet, James Herriot in a UK tour of the stage show All Creatures Great and Small. Also appearing are Agatha Christie Company regulars Gary Mavers who is best known for playing heart-throb doctor Andrew Attwood in Peak Practice and Ben Nealon, perhaps best loved for his role as Capt. Forsythe in the ITV drama Soldier Soldier.

Trained at LAMDA, Jason Durr's additional theatre credits include: Donkeys Years (Rose Theatre Kingston) The Mummy (Belgrade Coventry) Sherlock Holmes (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Volcano (number one tour/West End); (RSC). Other TV credits include: New Tricks (BBC); Above Suspicion (ITV); Numb3rs (Paramount/CBS); Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice (both Clasart Film Productions); Fooling Hitler (Tiger Aspect); Bugs series three (Carnival/BBC); Christmas (World Productions/Channel 4); Femme Fatale (BBC2); Gawain and the Green Knight (Thames TV); The Paradise Club (BBC); Iphigenia at Aulius (BBC)Jupiter Moon (BBC) Film Credits Include: True True Lie (Castel Films); Porridge (Moonstone Film Lab); The Killer Tongue (Lola Films); Between Two Worlds (BFI); Young Soul Rebels (BFI) In A Heartbeat (Lovelight/Raoul Girard Productions) Down Dog (Apropos Films).

A quintessential English country estate is thrown into chaos following the murder of eccentric inventor Sir Claud Amory, and the theft of his new earth shattering formula. Arriving at the estate just moments too late, one man immediately senses a potent brew of despair, treachery, and deception amid the estate's occupants. That man is Hercule Poirot.

From the pen of the great Dame Christie - (who, having sold over 2 billion books worldwide, is outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare) - Poirot debuted in Christie's 1920 novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, making his first - and only - stage outing in the mistress of murder's debut play, Black Coffee.

The Belgian investigator went on to become one of world's most cherished and long-lived fictional characters, appearing in 33 novels, one play and more than 50 short stories published between 1920 and 1975. To this day he remains the only fictitious character to receive a front-page obituary in the New York Times.

Intrigue and suspense form the back-bone of this classic spy-thriller which follows The Agatha Christie Theatre Company's hugely successful; The Hollow, The Unexpected Guest, And Then There Were None, Spider's Web, Witness for the Prosecution, Verdict, Murder on the Nile and Go Back For Murder.

Black Coffee tours until November 2014. Further casting to be announced. For more information visit www.kenwright.com.

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